Category Archives: Reviews

Revelling in the make-believe of theatre: Pith! at Teatro Live, a review

Posted on February 11, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The pith helmet has returned to Edmonton. And with it, playwright Stewart Lemoine’s invitation, in a well-travelled 1997 comedy both charming and riotous, to have an exotic, liberating adventure in the theatre, along with its three … Continue reading →

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Negotiating the darkness of the world: thoughts about This Is The Story Of The Child Ruled By Fear

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca We are, none of us, dread-resistant, times being what they are. That sense of being alone and untethered in a universe that’s a chaos of crises and emergencies is a feeling lots of us know. It’s … Continue reading →

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Stories and who gets to tell them: The Drawer Boy, funny and moving at Shadow Theatre, a review

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca With The Drawer Boy, Shadow Theatre revives a play that both in itself and its inspiration proved a defining moment for a truly Canadian theatre — and does it proud. In Michael Healey’s heartwarming and tough-minded … Continue reading →

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Up against a dark and maddening universe: Donna Orbits The Moon, a review

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca If you’ve ever found yourself furious (and really who hasn’t?) for no reason you can pinpoint, you’ll take to Donna. The middle-aged woman we meet in Donna Orbits The Moon is used to being cheerful and … Continue reading →

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The ‘bad bitches who bought the palace’: The Spinsters, a little review

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca I’m late to the ball, but in the nick of time — it ends today — I caught The Spinsters. And I want to tell you about this highly unusual dark off-centre comedy (for the +14 … Continue reading →

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Heart and hilarity: Made In Italy at the Citadel, a review

Posted on January 12, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca There has to be a big table. That’s what Salvatore, the eminently hospitable patriarch of the Mantini clan, tells us at the outset of Made In Italy. And that’s what its creator and star Farren Timoteo … Continue reading →

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A clown dreams his own funeral in Corteo: the Cirque du Soleil at Rogers Place, a review

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The Cirque du Soleil has always been a purveyor of the death-defying (gravity be gone!). Corteo, the 2005 Cirque show that’s ensconced for seven performances at Rogers Place, turns its imaginative eye on death: a clown … Continue reading →

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‘Chwismuss will never be the same’: Die Harsh The Christmas Musical from Grindstone Theatre, a review

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca If you think the frozen-hearted Mr. Scrooge is a hard sell for Christmas cheer — “are there no workhouses; are there no prisons?” — just you wait till you meet the “hero” of Die Harsh: The Christmas … Continue reading →

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With Bells On! A new musical dons its gay apparel for the festive season, at Theatre Network. A review

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Ask not for whom the bells toll, my festive-seeking friends. They toll for thee in the spirited new holiday musical getting its premiere in an elevator at Theatre Network. The elevator, which has a Grinchian mind … Continue reading →

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A theatre story in a dark world, like ours: Indecent at Studio Theatre. A review

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “From ashes they rise…” Monday night I saw a memorable play on the Timm’s stage, that steps in and out of time to tell a theatre story, a real one. Not only does Indecent connect us … Continue reading →

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