Category Archives: Reviews

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 →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on There’s magic in those high-strung puppets: Little Dickens, the Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes at Theatre Network, a review

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 →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The fury of desperation: the punk rock play Brother Rat at Edmonton Fringe Theatre, a review

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 →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Hello! The Book of Mormon rings our doorbell again, at the Jube. A review

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 →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Big, fun, the craziest show in town: the Mayfield celebrates the big 5-0 with Flashback Fever, a review

‘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 →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Staying together is the happy ending’: The Ballad of Johnny and June at the Citadel, a review

“I have become God”: Trevor Schmidt’s thriller Monstress premieres at Northern Light, a review

Posted on November 9, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca You enter the Studio Theatre through fog, and discover you’re in a mysterious chamber, glowing with jewelled colours and overhung with dozens of scissors, blades pointing down at us. The centrepiece, a slab that might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on “I have become God”: Trevor Schmidt’s thriller Monstress premieres at Northern Light, a review

In a staccato barrage of scenes, a star is born: The Two Battles of Francis Pegahmagabow at Shadow Theatre, a review

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca In the opening moments of Neil Grahn’s The Two Battles of Francis Pegahmagabow, to the strains of Rule Britannia, a top soldier is getting a military medal from the Prince of Wales. Seconds later, as Francis … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on In a staccato barrage of scenes, a star is born: The Two Battles of Francis Pegahmagabow at Shadow Theatre, a review

Heartbreaking and funny, Stars On Her Shoulders premieres at Workshop West. A review.

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Every once in a while you find yourself in the theatre fully absorbed in a world that’s both distant and utterly close at hand. And you laugh through tears. It happened for me at Workshop West … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Heartbreaking and funny, Stars On Her Shoulders premieres at Workshop West. A review.

Lethal power games as performance art: The Maids introduces a new indie theatre

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca There’s something exactly right about entering the theatre through an unmarked door, down the stairs and into a space that invites reinvention and expands before your very eyes. It’s a world ready and waiting for actors … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lethal power games as performance art: The Maids introduces a new indie theatre

Don’t look now, but who’s that behind you? The Woman in Black, at Teatro Live! A review.

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Have sympathy for your audience!” roars The Actor (Geoffrey Simon Brown) emphatically at the start of The Woman In Black, the hit thriller that launches the Teatro Live! season at the Varscona. “Draw on your emotions … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Don’t look now, but who’s that behind you? The Woman in Black, at Teatro Live! A review.