Theatre 2011

Given its latest work, Leaky Heaven Circus' reputation for pushing the envelope of theatre innovation appears to be well deserved.

While a satisfying end to Bard on the Beach's three-year-long history cycle, Richard III owes the bulk of its success to the performance of Bob Frazer in the title role.

Just where does a cartoonist end up once he hangs up his speech balloons?  If you're John Crossen you end up as the video and animation designer for Chairs: A Parable, the newest play from ITSAZOO Productions.

There is a whole lot of screaming going on at the Malkin Bowl as Theatre Under the Stars opens its 65th season with an energetic Bye Bye Birdie.  Problem is, it wasn't just the teenage girls screaming in adulation for rock n' roll superstar Conrad Birdie, as director Shel Piercy's big, bold production translated into a loudness that I am pretty sure had most of Stanley Park's woodland creatures quaking in their collective fur.

There's no denying the amount of innovative theatre happening in Vancouver.  Just this year we've already witnessed productions in a hotel room and a parking garage.  Up next is Party This Weekend, which will see its premiere at a private residence in East Vancouver.

When we last left the Kings, Henry V had just defeated the French at Agincourt and married the French princess, Catherine of Valois.  Fast-forward seven years, with his unexpected death, Henry's only son succeeds him to the throne.  It is here where director Christopher Weddell picks up our story as the young King Henry VI continues the intrigue, murders, illicit affairs and political power struggles that have become synonymous with Bard on Beach’s bloody good medieval soap opera.

Thirty-seven of Shakepeare's plays in ninety-seven minutes?  Sounds like an impossibly mad task for anyone to undertake.  But if you're David C Jones and the cast of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (revised), it’s all in an evening's work.

I've seen a few productions of Romeo and Juliet over the years, both good and bad, but despite its familiar story of the ultimate sacrifice for love, I have never actually cried.  That is until last night, as I watched Evan Frayne's adaptation at the Pacific Theatre.

The summer may be upon us but that doesn't mean things slow down on Vancouver stages.  Here is what is set to play Vancouver stages in July and August 2011, including shows with an LGBTQ! connection.

Vancouver's indie theatre company Hardline Productions attempts another punch-to-the-gut with its latest offering Bash: Latter-Day Plays.  But while the group still manages a few blows that land solidly in this latest work, it is the re-write from director Mack Gordon that landed the knock-out.