Supping in Vancouver: Vij's Restaurant
October 31st, 2008
Vij's Restaurant1480 11th Avenue West
Vancouver
(604) 736-6664
It has been ages since I visited Vij's so when my friend suggested we go there for a pre-show meal I agreed eagerly. The restaurant opens at 5:30 and most of the tables are occupied before six pm, leaving the option of waiting in the bar area or eating next door at Vij's Rangoli diner. While I visited the box office to pick up the tickets, my friend made straight for the restaurant and got one of the last three tables.
[Re]View From The House: True Believers
October 31st, 2008
True Believers - 3 solo one-acts Waterfront Theatre, Granville Island
Solo Collective
Oct 29 - Nov 9, 2008
Todd Thomson, Jennifer Clements and Mercedes Baines In True Believers. Photos: Tim Matheson
Vancouver, BC:
Who needs Halloween candy when Solo Collective's local playwrights serve us up such a treat of three diverse and thought-provoking monologues? On a cold, drizzly evening when most of the Lower Mainland's female population were streaming into BC Place to watch the world's hottest and fittest 50 year old perform, Todd Thomson, high on acid (My Acid Trip by Dennis Foon, directed by Chamyar Chai) and Jennifer Clement, burning with pseudo-religious fervour (Hope and Caritas by Ian Weir, directed by Rachel Ditor) heated up the Waterfront stage with steaming performances.
First up was Todd Thomson morphing effortlessly between his character as a famished 8 year old who has fasted on Yom Kippur for the first time, to the guilt-ridden young Jewish adult he has become. Looming over the dinner table is a family portrait; of relatives slaughtered in Russia by Cossacks and those rescued by great-uncle Moishe, the family hero who everyone lauds but no one will talk about. Playing multiple characters with a frenzied energy that made me think of a Daniel MacIvor on speed - or I should say, on LSD, Thomson was riveting.
[Re]View From The House: Cyrano de Bergerac
October 30th, 2008
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond RostandTranslated, adapted and directed by James Fagan Tait
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Arts Club Theatre Company
Oct 23 to Nov 23, 2008
David MacKay, Melissa Poll, Kevin MacDonald and the cast of Cyrano de Bergerac - Photos by Emily Cooper
Vancouver, BC:
In high school, for my third language (English and Afrikaans were compulsory courses), given a choice between Latin and French, I picked French. A smart choice. However the French teacher and I got off to a bad start. I lost interest in her class and did the minimum work needed to scrape a passing grade. Ultimately that would have been a huge problem, as I needed top grades in all subjects to be admitted to medical school, but being young and foolish, I sat at the back of the classroom surreptitiously doing crossword puzzles and reading Crime and Punishment, while she tried to drum French grammar into our adolescent skulls.
And then, midway into the term she announced that we were beginning the literature section of the course - poetry and drama. The play assigned was Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. The class started reading it aloud, atrocious accents and all, and by the time we reached Cyrano's ballad duel, I was in love with this witty, swashbuckling, yet sad character. No more crossword puzzles and Dostoevsky . I was determined to be able to appreciate this play even if it meant learning the genders of inanimate objects (I did say young and foolish) and promptly set my mind to really studying French. Final examinations - excellent grade - accepted into medical school. So I can truly say that Cyrano changed the course of my life.
Professor Emeritus Errol Durbach: Teaching theatre
October 26th, 2008
Inspiring a Passion for Theatre in the Next Generation:
In this first interview for How They See It, I talk with Professor Emeritus Errol Durbach, Department Head (Theatre and Film) from 1987 - 94, about his experience teaching theatre and drama at the University of British Columbia. 
Several years ago when I returned to the University of British Columbia as a "mature" student to work towards a B.A. in English, Professor Errol Durbach taught some of my most memorable classes. While my content memories from some courses have faded into a jumble of illegible writing on overheads and chalk boards, I still recall clearly many of the ideas and the works we studied in his classes and those of several other inspiring teachers. Errol, a renowned Ibsen scholar, generously agreed to allow me to take a directed studies course on Ibsen with him. The chance to spend an hour one-on-one over a semester, each time dissecting one of eight Ibsen plays from The Doll’s House to The Master Builder was a privilege I truly appreciated.
It was great teaching that enticed me from the fascinating but focused world of my medical specialty to the broader world of ideas in the arts. As we wonder how to attract each new generation in to theatre houses, it is worthwhile to recognize that the kind of teaching and exposure to the arts that students receive at schools, colleges and universities will influence how much they value live performance and ultimately, how important a role theatre and other arts will play in their lives.
Stuff Happens
October 25th, 2008
Stuff Happens by David Hare
Directed by Donna Spencer
Firehall Arts Centre
Oct 22 to Nov 8th, 2008
Catherine Lough Haggquist as Condoleezza Rice, William B. Davis as Donald Rumsfeld and Glen Cairns as George W. Bush in Stuff Happens. Photo by David Cooper
Vancouver, BC:
I eagerly anticipated that British playwright, David Hare's "Stuff Happens", about the road to the Iraq war, would be a fascinating and provocative play. Unfortunately for me it wasn't. During the time that I used to write "Rants, Raves and Reviews" it was not often that I felt compelled to rant. This time I do. Despite some interesting performances I found this play annoying, superficial and far too long. It runs three hours and even in the first act I was wishing that my watch had a luminous dial. But I will point out that at least after the first 90 minutes as I walked out to the foyer mumbling irritably to myself, several of my friends were quite animated in their enthusiasm for what they had seen so far.
Gillian's Kitchen: Pret-a- PourTea for CBCF
October 24th, 2008
The third annual Prêt-a-Pour Tea in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation was held at Seasons in the Park on Tuesday. I had not heard about the previous two events but when a friend told me about this one I just had to go. It was not just that it was in support of an important cause. How could a word game fanatic not support an event with such a great title? Billed as a "High Tea, High Fashion fundraising event" it attracted a sell-out crowd that filled both upper sections of the restaurant. We arrived right on time at 11:30 but the bar area was already packed with women, sipping sparkling rosé and checking out the silent auction tables. We bought our shocking- pink boas from the women circulating to sell tickets for a grand-prize draw of a trip to Montreal, and then gradually made our way to our table.
After we were welcomed, we listened to a story about the impact that her childhood loss of a grandmother to breast cancer had on the speaker. As everyone in our small group had lost someone to cancer - husbands, mother, best friend - we all had tears in our eyes. It took a book of baby pictures of recently born grandchildren to change our tears into smiles.
Supping in Vancouver: Plan B Lounge and Eatery
October 23rd, 2008
Plan B Lounge and Eatery
1144 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC
Ph: (604) 609-0901
As we were going to see a new play at the Firehall Arts Centre on East Cordova, I decided this time, that I would chose a restaurant closer to home for pre-show dining, and we would then drive over to the theatre.
Plan B bills itself as a tapas restaurant. I really like that style of dining and thought that it would be perfect for a quick bite. On my on-line reservation form where there is a space for special requests for the Maitre' d, I added a note to say we needed to leave by 7:15. Our reservation was for 6 pm, a little ahead of the rush, and that would give us an hour and a quarter.
[Re]View From The House: Mourning Dove
October 19th, 2008
Mourning Dove by Emil SherDirected by Angela Konrad
Pacific Theatre
Oct 17 to Nov 15, 2008
Photos of Kerry Van Der Griend and Ron Reed in Mourning Dove by Damon Calderwood.
Vancouver, BC.
Pacific Theatre opens their 25th season with Montreal playwright Emil Sher's powerful little gem of a play, Mourning Dove. Don't miss it. Sher draws on the tragic Latimer affair to present two interwoven emotive and complex themes; the morality of love and the dichotomy of law and justice. I doubt whether there was a sentient adult in Canada in 1993 who did not have a strong opinion as to the right or wrong of Robert Latimer's motives in ending the life of Tracy, his severely disabled daughter. Some thought him principled and courageous - others labelled him the worst of murderers. We all see things through the lens of our personal life experiences.
My lens, as a parent who aches at any hurt inflicted on my child, is polarized by my experiences as a resident in pediatrics. I was assigned for a rotation to provide medical care to patients who lived in a long term care facility and were as severely disabled as Tracy. Immobile, lacking speech or the ability to feed themselves, most had been there for years. They were essentially "warehoused" by their families who never visited, relinquishing them to the competent but certainly not loving, care of professionals. Contrast that to the Latimer family who cherished and cared for their daughter for thirteen years on their Saskatchewan farm.
Supping in Vancouver: CHOW
October 19th, 2008
CHOW
3121 Granville Street
Vancouver
Ph: 604-608-2469
Last night I had tickets to see Mourning Dove, the opening play in the season for Pacific Theatre, on 12th just east of Granville. So in continuing my exploration of restaurants close to that venue and to the Stanley Industral Alliance Stage, I used the convenient Open Table reservation system to learn about CHOW, on Granville near 15th.
Another fine restaurant that opened about a year and a half ago, this one featuring the culinary talent of chef, J.C. Poirier, CHOW focuses on "seasonal organic West Coast cuisine."
We arrived a little before our reservation time but were seated immediately at a little table for two against the wall. My initial thought was that the table was rather small for comfort but the plates in fact fitted comfortably in the space and it was actually great to be able to talk quietly and easily despite the background chatter from the other tables. David appeared promptly to provide water and take our wine order. I had a glass of the 2007 Gewurtzraminer from Orofino Vineyards in BC's Similkameen valley. My companion chose the Joie Riesling.
David, our server, took me down to the kitchen to introduce me to chef Poirier, shown here standing behind the immaculate counter top.
3121 Granville Street
Vancouver
Ph: 604-608-2469
Last night I had tickets to see Mourning Dove, the opening play in the season for Pacific Theatre, on 12th just east of Granville. So in continuing my exploration of restaurants close to that venue and to the Stanley Industral Alliance Stage, I used the convenient Open Table reservation system to learn about CHOW, on Granville near 15th.
Another fine restaurant that opened about a year and a half ago, this one featuring the culinary talent of chef, J.C. Poirier, CHOW focuses on "seasonal organic West Coast cuisine."
We arrived a little before our reservation time but were seated immediately at a little table for two against the wall. My initial thought was that the table was rather small for comfort but the plates in fact fitted comfortably in the space and it was actually great to be able to talk quietly and easily despite the background chatter from the other tables. David appeared promptly to provide water and take our wine order. I had a glass of the 2007 Gewurtzraminer from Orofino Vineyards in BC's Similkameen valley. My companion chose the Joie Riesling.
David, our server, took me down to the kitchen to introduce me to chef Poirier, shown here standing behind the immaculate counter top.
Gillian's Kitchen: Entre copas y comida
October 19th, 2008
In my ongoing pursuit of a healthy mind in a healthy body I signed up for UBC's continuing studies beginner Spanish course and an intro to Argentine Tango (instruction in Spanish). Having two charming, vivacious but determined instructors, I find that I can make it through three and a half hours of instruction at the end of a long week and still retain some new words.
So thanks to Professora Dinorah I have now internalized a laundry list of "ar" and "er" verbs - some of my favorites naturally being bailar - to dance, comer - to eat, and beber - to drink: although I can't yet use them all in coherent sentences. Thanks to Professora Nina, she of tango fame, my vocabulary is also taking on a distinct slant towards directive sentences like cambio de paraja - switch partners and cambio de peso - change weight.
The sentence I liked the best this week combines conversation and dance - quieres bailar conmigo - which I think means do you want to dance with me?
By the way, any spelling or grammatical errors don't in any way reflect badly on either teacher - it just means I wrote the words down wrongly - or could not read my own handwriting!
This takes me to my segue into food, that ever consuming thought. Humour appreciated by few. Hmmm.
Having fed my hunger for fitness with tango and fueled my weary neurons with Spanish vocabulary, by 9:30 as my friend and I walk home from UBC Robson Square, my stomach sends increasingly urgent messages to my brain saying "feed me, feed me." No, in case you are wondering - my name is not Audrey II.
So thanks to Professora Dinorah I have now internalized a laundry list of "ar" and "er" verbs - some of my favorites naturally being bailar - to dance, comer - to eat, and beber - to drink: although I can't yet use them all in coherent sentences. Thanks to Professora Nina, she of tango fame, my vocabulary is also taking on a distinct slant towards directive sentences like cambio de paraja - switch partners and cambio de peso - change weight.
The sentence I liked the best this week combines conversation and dance - quieres bailar conmigo - which I think means do you want to dance with me?
By the way, any spelling or grammatical errors don't in any way reflect badly on either teacher - it just means I wrote the words down wrongly - or could not read my own handwriting!
This takes me to my segue into food, that ever consuming thought. Humour appreciated by few. Hmmm.
Having fed my hunger for fitness with tango and fueled my weary neurons with Spanish vocabulary, by 9:30 as my friend and I walk home from UBC Robson Square, my stomach sends increasingly urgent messages to my brain saying "feed me, feed me." No, in case you are wondering - my name is not Audrey II.
