Category Archives: Reviews

Mapping the frontier of empathy: Bea at Shadow Theatre, a review

Posted on January 25, 2025 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The Varscona stage is dominated by a bed. And in the opening moments of Bea, we see a young girl using it the time-honoured kid way — bouncing on and off it, dancing, singing along with … Continue reading →

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The improbable magic of theatre (as discovered by goblins) in Goblin: Macbeth. A review.

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Three striking, masked figures — pointy ears, black topcoats — stride through the Citadel box office lobby from … the Lee Pavilion? the parking lot? the cosmos? And they instinctively know how to gather an audience … Continue reading →

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The fun of not one but two redemption stories. Die Harsh: The Christmas Musical at the Orange Hub, a review

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Nothing says Christmas like a villain redemption story, I think we can all agree. Die Harsh: The Christmas Musical, Grindstone Theatre’s very funny contribution to seasonal cheer, has two. And, in this original creation by the … Continue reading →

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A holly jolly “Christmas horror musical” at Workshop West: Krampus, a review

Posted on December 16, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca If you’ve cracked your sweet tooth on the hard candied nut of family togetherness, or you’re blinded by the glare from your neighbour’s seasonal light display, there’s gruesome fun waiting for you at Workshop West. Straight … Continue reading →

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Fascinating, and nerve-wracking: Cycle pedals a provocation. A review

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca There is something valiant, energizing, and scary as hell, about the show that’s currently spinning its wheels faster and faster at Mile Zero Dance. The man we meet in Cycle does something we all know how … Continue reading →

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There’s magic in those high-strung puppets: Little Dickens, the Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes at Theatre Network, a review

Posted on December 6, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca As Bah Humbug!s encircle the globe at this time of year, know this: There is nothing in the world like Ronnie Burkett’s riotous adults-only Little Dickens, in which the high-strung marionette artistes of the Daisy Theatre, … Continue reading →

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The fury of desperation: the punk rock play Brother Rat at Edmonton Fringe Theatre, a review

Posted on December 5, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca If there ever was a show that demanded the audience ‘listen to me!’ and won’t take no — not to mention maybe, or we’ll see and maybe get back to you later — for an answer, … Continue reading →

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Hello! The Book of Mormon rings our doorbell again, at the Jube. A review

Posted on November 20, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Hello! They’re back. There was a time — 14 years ago when The Book of Mormon instantly became the hottest ticket on Broadway — that assorted cultural prophets predicted fearlessly that the puckish lampoon of religion, … Continue reading →

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Big, fun, the craziest show in town: the Mayfield celebrates the big 5-0 with Flashback Fever, a review

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca It’s the craziest show in town. Flashback Fever: the Mayfield Dinner Theatre is throwing a time-travelling bash onstage in honour of the theatre’s 50th anniversary. It’s big and it’s fun. Think about the improbability of it … Continue reading →

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‘Staying together is the happy ending’: The Ballad of Johnny and June at the Citadel, a review

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca What happens to a happy ending “when it comes in the middle”? The’s what John Carter Cash, the only son of Johnny Cash and June Carter, wonders as he speculates onstage about his lineage and his … Continue reading →

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