Vancouver theatre

Richard III by William Shakespeare
Directed by Kathryn Shaw
Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival,
Douglas Campbell Studio Stage, Vanier Park.
July 13 to September 23, 2011

Vancouver, BC. At the end of Henry VI: The War of the Roses, I left the Studio Stage theatre looking forward to seeing Bob Frazer as the unrepentantly villainous Richard in the concluding play of Bard's Kings History Play Cycle, Richard III. 

The day of the show's opening was also the first 7 hour marathon day of the intermediate level wine course I am taking. While we learned about regions and varietals, we also tasted 18 wines, 9 during the morning and 9  in the afternoon session. I rushed home to change and made it to Vanier Park in time to pick up The Merchant's Antipasto picnic basket from Emelle's Catering, and wolf it down before the show began. I was worried that sheer exhaustion plus whatever alcohol could be left in my system might cause me to nod off but to the contrary, I was riveted throughout the show and could not take my eyes off the stage.

Mention Richard III to most people and whether or not they have seen  Shakespeare's play, they associate his name with the murder of the young Princes in the Tower of London. It's like Medea. Mention her name and the first association is infanticide  not the complex and multi-faceted nature of this woman. So leaving aside the little princes, what is this Richard all about?

August: Osage County by Tracy Letts
Directed by Janet Wright
An Arts Club Theatre Production,
Stanley Theatre Industrial Alliance Stage
Jan 27 to Feb 27, 2011

Vancouver, BC: The 2008 Tony Award and Pulitzer Drama Award-winning play, August: Osage County has created a buzz where ever it has been performed. I missed seeing it in London and New York - have to time my visits better - so I was quite excited to see why this play has had such an impact.

After partaking of the Dine Out Vancouver menus at Red Door Pan Asian Grill, we strolled north two blocks to the Stanley Theatre. I was really hoping that the show would live up to my expectations, and it did.

It has an unusual structure for a contemporary play. With a large cast as pictured,  it is long with a running time of around three hours and structured as a prologue, followed by three acts. Yet despite my often short attention span, in this case I was completely engrossed in the dramas of the Weston family from the opening lines to the final scene.

Earlier this month I went to a reading of a work-in-progress at the Playhouse Recital Hall. The Laurette Play by Vancouver playwright  C.E. Gatchalian, is about Laurette Taylor, a Broadway stage actor who was renowned for having originated the role of Amanda in Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie. Gatchalian was inspired to write this play by the fact that few people remember or have even heard of Laurette Taylor, and yet in her day she was legendary. Her work inspired  actors, such as Uta Hagen, who in turn became legendary performers and teachers of the next generation of theatre artists.

My first encounter with the work of  Gatchalian, was in 2004 when my daughter, Amanda Lockitch played Lucy, the mother of Kieran, played by Ryan Beil in Gatchalian's play Crossing. Written as his thesis project for his M.F.A. in creative writing at UBC,  Crossing is an unrelentingly dark piece about a sexually-troubled relationship between mother and son. 

This production, directed by Sean Cummings, became the founding production of Meta.for Theatre Company, with Cummings, Lockitch and Melissa Powell as Co-artistic directors.  Meta.for Theatre later produced Broken, an evening of other one-act plays by Gatchalian.

Crossing has just been published. The book launch, and a celebration of Tennessee Williams' 100th Birthday, will take place February 26th at Rhizome Cafe. More information later.

The Laurette Play reading was directed by Glynis Leyshon. As Gatchalian describes the script, it is the story of "how Laurette Taylor attempts to reignite the creativity of a frustrated, alcoholic, once-great playwright, unleashing memories and thoughts on the nature of theatre, art, creativity and immortality."

Nicola Cavendish and Allan Morgan read multiple parts, playing characters including  the playwright, his parents, and of course Laurette or her ghost.

Singing in the  Rain
Book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green; Songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed
Director Shel Piercy; Music Director Wendy Bross-Stewart; Choreographer Shelley Stewart-Hunt
Theatre Under the Stars,
Malkin Bowl, Stanley Park
Alternating nights to August 20th, 2010

Vancouver, BC. As much as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat  will enchant children this summer, adult audiences will enjoy this production of Singing in the Rain. Although the words "singing in the rain" can't help but  evoke the iconic image  of  Gene Kelly  in the 1952 movie, the fun this TUTS cast has with the story managed to get the movie images out of my mind.