Frozen by Bryony Lavery Directed by Renée Iaci shameless hussy productions and Theatre at UBC Dorothy Somerset Studio, UBC Sept 22 to Oct 3rd, 2009.
Vancouver, BC. Bryony Lavery 's play has all the elements that should make for compelling theatre. An tragic situation connecting three characters - a serial killer, the mother of the girl he abducted and the academic who is studying him and others like him; and issues that one can argue endlessly : is he evil or is he sick? Can he be forgiven, should he be forgiven and what does forgiveness really mean?
Yet when I left the theatre instead of being engaged in the tragedy of the story and the complexity of the issues, I found myself instead wrestling with the question of what, for me is compelling theatre- the sort of show, specifically a dramatic play, that makes me walk away thinking - wow that was good.
The Veil by Shahin Sayadi Directed by Presentation House Sept 24 to October 3 , 2009
Vancouver. BC: The evening opened with a welcome from Brenda Leadley, the Artistic Director of Presentation House with a message about why we should protest damaging government cuts to grants for the arts, and then The Veil, written and directed by Shahin Sayadi proved to the audience why we should be taking to the streets.
This is a stunning piece of theatre that takes us on a journey into the uncharted perception of a world as seen and experienced by a Muslim grandmother. I can't imagine this story being told anywhere but in a theatre. And what imagination! It is a history lesson, love story and the triumph of those mysterious veiled women that Westerners find so hard to understand.
Of all the restaurants I have eaten at on this trip, this turned out to be the best surprise.
I was meeting a friend for a light Sunday lunch before going to see a new play, Emily at Theater Row. I left it to him to pick an eatery nearby the theatre and he liked what he read about this Thai-French fusion restaurant. So we agreed to meet there shortly after noon.
Walking down the west side of 9 th Ave., on my way to met my friend, I noted a number of eateries in a row. It was a warm day and several of the restaurants, including Breeze, were open to the exterior. From the outside, Breeze looked to me more like a casual cafe than the type of establishment that would serve "fine" food but appearances are often deceiving, as I found out.
Sangria 46
338 West 46th St., between 8 and 9th Ave., New York
Ph: 212-581-8482
For my last Saturday night in New York, we had managed to get tickets to Burn the Floor, the ballroom and Latin dance spectacular that so blew me away, that I had to see it again.
For dinner we decided to try Sangria 46, a relatively new restaurant serving traditional Spanish cuisine, a few blocks away from the theatre. I got there a few minutes early and sipped from a glass of Castillo Medina Sauvignon Blanc as I waited for MIke to join me. The place, that can seat about 125 people, filled up amazingly quickly and the numerous waiters attractively dressed in black pants, white shirts with red scarves, were soon kept very busy.
A bread basket with crusty baguette slices was brought to the table and I munched on a couple of slices until Mike arrived. He ordered sangria to sip while whe studied the menu.
Perbacco
243 E. 4th street, New York
Ph: 212 -253-2038
Perbacco, enoteca e cucina, describe themselves as a casual restaurant and wine bar in the East Village. When we arrived there close to nine pm on a Friday evening the place was crowded and we had to wait a while for our table to be cleared.
As I confess in my Travelblogue, New York, New York 2009 – Seven Days of Theatre, Food and Dance: PART III, I was tired and very hungry whe we arrived there - it being three hours past my usual dinner time - and the loud conversational noise level and cramped table - where I managed to knock over my glass of wine - did little to make me relax. As well the low ambient lighting made it impossible for my tired eyes to read the menu.
Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer and The Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov Directed by Dean Paul Gibson Arts Club Theatre Company Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage Sept 10 to Oct 11, 2009
Vancouver, BC: The Arts Club opened its 46th season with a riotously funny evening of two plays by writers who would not at first come to my mind as writers of comedy. Peter Shaffer after all, is probably best known for Equus - a intensely disturbing psychological drama. And I have never really found the Chekhov plays that I have seen or read to be exactly a bundle of laughs.
But as the curtain raiser to Shaffer's Black Comedy, Artistic Director Bill Millerd and Director Dean Paul Gibson chose Chekov's The Marriage Proposal. And what an inspired choice.
Brilliantly performed by Sasa Brown as Natalia Stepanova, Simon Bradbury as Stepan Stepanovitch Chubkov and Jeff Meadows as Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov, it was clever and very funny.
Ivan, a lanky hypochondriac with palpitations and a dragging leg, comes to propose marriage to Stepan's 25 year old "on-the-shelf" daughter, Natalia, but before he actually gets a chance to propose, they get into an argument about who owns a piece of land and he leaves inma huff. Natalia realizes that her "last chance for marriage" has just walked out the door and sends her father to get him back.
He returns but her argumentative nature gets the better of her and they get into another argument, this time drawing in her father. Both Bradbury and Meadows are hilarious but Sasa Brown's portrayal of a glowering, desperate, determined Natalia steals the show in this short farce. I loved it.
Oceana
1221 Avenue of the Americas, @ 49th Street,
New York
Ph: 212-759-5941
I guess it is an excellent sign of restauranteur imperturbability when a guest arrives breathless at your reception desk, announcing that she has a reservation for 6 pm and without blinking an eye, you take her to her table - although she is obviously blissfully unaware that it is 5 pm rather than 6 pm. For how this particular guest managed this feat, check out New York, New York 2009 – Seven Days of Theatre, Food and Dance: PART II.
As I learned, this restaurant is part of the Livanos group of restaurants that the family has run since 1992. In this new location Oceana has been open since August 17th and the official opening is planned for September 15th. Hmmm... this is the third restaurant that I have been to that will "officially "open on the 15th.
Last night I saw Yasmin Reza's play, God of Carnage, with Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfino and Marcia Gay Harden.
Tomorrow I am seeing the Keith Huff' play, with Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, called A Steady Rain. And how appropriate. This morning I woke to see a heavy rain pelting against the window. Up till now the weather has been wonderful but I guess New York has finally realized that it's not summer any more.
I had originally planned to wander around among the stores in SOHO but without any rain gear and boots I did not feel like venturing out into the wet. I don't really have to go out until 2 to get uptown for my dance class. The weather forecast predicts light rain tomorrow morning , clearing for Sunday and nice on Monday- but on Monday I will be on my way home to Vancouver.
Although Mike had given me an umbrella, I really did not have suitable rain gear with me and by the time I got to the studio for my 3 pm lesson I was soaked. I changed out of my damp jeans into a dance dress and put on my shoes. I was delighted to find that my feet had finally shrunk back to size 4.5.
I had arranged to meet Mike later at the studio for his regular lesson and then we were going out for supper. But after my lesson it was still raining so hard that rather than venture out to window shop I just settled down with my notebooks and my lap top and caught up with my writing.
When Mike arrived, his teacher, Oleksandra was running a few minutes late so we had time to chat. We decided we would have a lesson together so we worked on some chacha, and leads and follows. it was almost half past eight by the time the class was over and I changed back into my damp jeans and other shoes. I thanked Yuriy for the lessons - I really enjoyed them - and said goodbye to both of them.
It was still raining when Mike and I left the studio so we decided to get a cab down to the East Village.
For dinner that evening, Mike had planned to take me to one of the typical new restaurants that have opened up in the re-gentrified East Village. The area attracts a lot of young people, and the bars and restaurants are humming, high energy places.
But when we made our reservation for Perbacco, the hot new Italian restaurant on E 4th Street, between Aves. A and B, Mike and I failed to take a few factors into account.
Firstly eating dinner at 9 would mean eating three hours later than my usual dinner time, so I was really hungry and quite tired from 3 hours of dance. Secondly what in Mike's view is vibrant and high energy, to me as loud and crowded.
After waiting quite a few minutes for a table we were seated at a rather small table against the wall. There were tables of four on either side of us and little space between us. I felt crowded and uncomfortable. The lighting was very low - ambiance I suppose -but I simply could not read the menu in the poor lighting. So I felt distinctly grumpy - not my usual state at all
But worse was to come. Mike decided we needed a good bottle of red wine and we got a nice 2006 Montepulciano. After the waiter had just filled my glass, in an attempt to move my purse to make more room, I managed to knock my glass of red wine onto the floor. Glass shattered, expensive wine on the floor, and I was feeling like an clumsy idiot. I actually can't remember when I ever spilled a glass of wine in a restaurant before. Not in the last thirty years!
What to do? I wanted to have a nice relaxed dinner with Mike so we could both unwind, and discuss all the theater I had seen and my restaurant experiences. And here I was instead feeling irritable and edgy.
There was only one solution.First I rapidly drained the wine that the waiter had poured into the replacement glass. Then as a warm glow began to radiate through my body I chowed down on bread dipped in olive oil, sat back and relaxed and got Mike to read me the menu items..
Gradually the alcohol soothed my jangled neurons, and I settled down to enjoy the meal. We ended up having a very pleasant meal.
Emily by Chris Cragin Directed by Steve Day Firebone Theater Theatre Row, 42nd St, NY September 13, 2009
New York, NY: I had only the vaguest knowledge about the life of Emily Dickinson, who posthumously came to be considered one of America's major poets. I knew that in her latter years she had become reclusive and eventually did not leave her house but I knew little else of her history. So I eagerly anticipated my visit to Theatre Row to see this new play by emerging playwright, Chris Cragin.
Theatre Row is a great asset for smaller theatre companies. It houses 5 theatres ranging in seating capacity from 55 to 199 seats. I saw Ascension, an excellent production, in The Lion on my last visit, and Emily is running in The Kirk. It is a long narrow theatre that seats about 90 people and it was almost full. Nice for a Sunday matinee of a new play.
Aureole
135 West 42nd Street, New York
Ph: 212-319-1660
As I was walking along West 42nd Street en route to my dance lesson and enjoying my Seven Days of Theatre, Food and Dance in New York, I glanced in at Aureole as I walked past. Something about the look of the place attracted my attention and on the spur of the moment, I reversed my steps and decided to see if I could still get lunch. The decor was inviting with warm copper tones and an usual lighting fixture. I took a seat in the outer Bar Room rather than the main restaurant. I liked the touch of the red-gold orchid on the table.
Sarina brought me the lunch menu which includes a section of bar snacks, appetizers and main courses, served in both the restaurant and the Bar Room area. As it was just over an hour and a half before my dance class I did not want to overeat and just selected two of the appetizer dishes.
The first was a foie gras torchon served with brioche, wild strawberries and anise hyssop. Both the latter are very strong aromatic herbs that I thought might overpower the foie gras but not at all. I savored every lingering taste of the dish. Foie gras is definitely one of my weaknesses. I would choose it over cake and cookies anytime.
Breeze
Walking down the west side of 9 th Ave., on my way to met my friend, I noted a number of eateries in a row. It was a warm day and several of the restaurants, including Breeze, were open to the exterior. From the outside, Breeze looked to me more like a casual cafe than the type of establishment that would serve "fine" food but appearances are often deceiving, as I found out.
Sangria 46
Perbacco
Oceana
It was still raining when Mike and I left the studio so we decided to get a cab down to the East Village. 
After waiting quite a few minutes for a table we were seated at a rather small table against the wall. There were tables of four on either side of us and little space between us. I felt crowded and uncomfortable. The lighting was very low - ambiance I suppose -but I simply could not read the menu in the poor lighting. So I felt distinctly grumpy - not my usual state at all
Aureole
Sarina brought me the lunch menu which includes a section of bar snacks, appetizers and main courses, served in both the restaurant and the Bar Room area. As it was just over an hour and a half before my dance class I did not want to overeat and just selected two of the appetizer dishes.
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