The Back Kitchen Release Party by Trevor Devall
Directed by Don Noble
The Granville Island Stage
Arts Club Company
Jun 19 – Aug 2, 2008
[img_assist|nid=70|title=Back Kitchen Release Party|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=200|height=179]
The cast of The Back Kitchen Release Party. Photo by David Cooper
Vancouver, BC: The Back Kitchen Release Party has evolved from a successful Fringe Festival play, workshopped in the ReAct series, into a production on the Arts Club Granville Island Stage. It is tantalizing to see a play that is so nearly there but not quite and trying to figure out why, despite enjoying the spirited and high energy performances of the ensemble, I left feeling that there is still something incomplete about this work.
The story hangs on the “road show” concept. At the urging of their band leader played by writer, Trevor Devall, members of the Newfoundland Back Kitchen band make their way across Canada to Vancouver to attend the memorial of recently deceased band member, Kate. They travel in the less than reliable van belonging to agoraphobic, claustrophobic Seamus (Jonathon Teague) who has never before traveled outside Newfoundland. The traveling road show stops along the way in various towns and cities setting up gigs to fund their journey. In Toronto they pick up ex-band fiddle player, Maggie (Sarah Donald), who left Newfoundland for the big city life and is now a violinist with the Toronto Symphony. At each stop including an involuntary halt when Vannie breaks down in the Rockies, we get some sense of place and an appreciation of the immense east-west distance of the trans-Canada highway.
This will be the index of postings to the Travelblogue that documents my visit to London and Cape Town. The nature of blogging results in the latest posting appearing first on screen, so that later events appear first. This Travelblogue index will list the postings in chronological order from leaving Vancouver to the termination of the trip, as a guide to your reading. Until the index is complete note that the story commences with this post.
London & Cape Town: This time I'm starting early.
You can also read the blogue in the correct sequence by clicking the London & Cape Town button, scrolling down to the bottom of the screen and clicking on the link that says last. That will bring up the first 8 postings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen to commence reading at the beginning.
King Lear by William Shakespeare
Directed by James Fagan Tait
Mainstage Tent, Vanier Park
Bard on the Beach
June 14 to September 27, 2008
[img_assist|nid=71|title=King Lear|desc=Tiffany Lyndall-Knight, Christopher Gaze, Lois Anderson in King Lear 2008: Photo David Blue|link=none|align=right|width=266|height=178]Tiffany Lyndall-Knight, Christopher Gaze, Lois Anderson in King Lear 2008: Photo David Blue
Vancouver, BC: I first read King Lear as a high school student, more years ago than I care to count. It was my introduction to Shakespeare and the start of an enduring interest in his plays, the tragedies and history plays perhaps more than the comedies. I have seen several productions of Lear, studied the play in an undergraduate course and continue to find it one of his perplexing and interesting plays.
I looked back at my last year’s review of Timon of Athens, directed by James Fagan Tait, in which I had found the production to be “compelling in use of choreography and sound”. So I was eager to see what he would do with King Lear.
Collaborating with composer, Joelysa Pankanea, Tait has made music a centre focus within the play. The first indication that this was to be a very different approach came with Cordelia’s first aside to the audience, sung prettily by Melissa Poll. Pankanea, who composed, directed and played together with musician, Mark Haney, and other ensemble members, was on stage throughout the show further emphasizing the centrality of the music. Aside from the music it was the most low-key performance of King Lear I have seen and as a result for me the music overshadowed rather than illuminated the text
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare Directed by David Mackay Mainstage Tent, Vanier Park Bard on the Beach May 29 to September 27, 2008
Vancouver, BC: Last year’s Bard production of Taming of the Shrew was one of my all-time Bard on the Beach favorites garnering a rave in my Rants, Raves and Reviews column, but David Mackay’s production of Twelfth Night has displaced Shrew from number one on my BOTB hit parade. And this, despite the fact that in more than a decade of seeing performances in Vanier Park, I have never been as miserably cold as on Thursday’s opening night.
Walking Fish Festival
Sets C and A;
Waterfront Theatre, Granville Island
29th May, 2008
Vancouver, BC: I have been following the evolution of the Walking Fish Festival with interest since the first one was held at the Playwrights Theatre Centre on Granville Island in 2003. The festival is billed as showcasing emerging artists, and the format is three sets, each consisting of 3 or 4 short one-act plays that can be staged with minimal technical needs. Although I usually like to attend on a day when all three sets are performed, this year I was only able to see sets A and C. Several plays were particularly successful in capturing my attention.
The first set we saw started off with Peaches by Michael Northey, directed by Raphael Kepinski; this was a strongly acted interesting exploration of the way in which we form snap judgments of people we meet, that often bear little relationship to actuality.
An unusual performance by a talented group from the Sunshine Coast was emergence sea (dot) calm. Using an overhead projector as their primary source of light, the multi-talented performers and musicians moved from mankind’s emergence from a soupy swamp to humanity’s destruction through overpopulation, pollution and destruction of natural resources. Highlights were the excellent shadow puppetry and humorous transparencies including one of a keyboard.
BillyJoelTook MeTooTheProm.com by Tasha Gordon-Solomon and directed by Angela Moore featured some spunky acting and an interesting take on the desire of contemporary youth for instant celebrity status.
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