Tag Archives: Varscona Theatre

A weekend at the theatre in E-town: happy birthday Varscona, A Likely Story, Improvaganza…

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls 12thnight.ca It’s the weekend in E-Town. So obviously you need to be in a theatre. Have a peek at some of your options. You could… •Go to a theatre party. Three years ago, something dramatic happened to … Continue reading →

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Mighty oaks from tiny acorns…. Concrete’s Sprouts Festival returns

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls 12thnight.ca The sun is out. For 18 springs now, Concrete Theatre has been planting the Canadian theatre repertoire with new play seedlings from unusual sources — and then watering them for future seasons. The annual Sprouts Festival … Continue reading →

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A kickstart for Chekhovian ennui: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Shadow. A review.

Posted on May 3, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Oh let’s not talk. I’ll keep my sadness to myself,” says a mopey sister to a melancholy brother near the start of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Yeah, right. Like that’s gonna happen. As … Continue reading →

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The Shadow knows: putting the comedy back into Chekhov, and the new season

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “If everyone took anti-depressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about….” The playwright himself called it “Chekhov in a blender.” But Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, by the raucous American absurdist Christopher Durang … Continue reading →

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A grown-up homecoming in a moving musical: Fun Home, a review

Posted on April 13, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca We are all haunted, every one of us. By the great mysteries of our past: our families. By the questions we live with that never got answered. By the tiny moments that slipped by at the … Continue reading →

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Alison at three ages, and the actors who play her in groundbreaking Fun Home

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Everything about the clever, heart-wrenching musical that opens Friday at the Varscona stands off the beaten track in the musical theatre-land. And it’s produced by a little company that specializes in off the beaten track musicals, … Continue reading →

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Lungfuls of anxiety: Lungs at Shadow Theatre. A review

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Times being what they are, are you still “good people” if you decide to become parents? To bring another being into a world that’s already over-crammed with beings? A kid leaves a carbon footprint that’s bigger … Continue reading →

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On the road again: Mesa is a trip across the border, and the generations

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca You know what they say (it’s probably somewhere in the extra-fine print on the AMA website, just kidding): You never really know someone till you travel together. The buddy pic/ road trip through America that opens … Continue reading →

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Miss Teen premieres at Shadow Theatre: game actors, tired script. A review

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca In Miss Teen a strapped, single mother enters her awkward, bookish daughter in a local teen pageant. “It’ll be good practice … for life,” argues Coco brightly, undeterred by Margaret’s reaction, a mixture of appalled and … Continue reading →

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Merry Merry quite contrary: the Christmas spirit up against resistance, 4 festive shows on E-town stages this week

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Merry Merry quite contrary. Some are born with the festive spirit; some achieve it, and some have it thrust upon ’em. And sometimes, as you know, seasonal high spirits have to be released (or wrestled down) … Continue reading →

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