Written and directed by SNL‘s recently promoted co-head writer Chris Kelly, Other People follows misanthropic struggling writer David (Jesse Plemons) in the final year of his mother’s life. We first meet Joanne (Molly Shannon in the performance of her career) applying makeup for a New Years Eve party that’s raging downstairs without her. She has […]
With such a small cast and situated within the intimate Trafalgar Studios, Vanities: The Musical relies strongly on its trio of female leads. Lauren Samuels, Ashleigh Gray and Lizzy Connolly certainly deliver deft and formidable performances as the central characters of Mary, Kathy and Joanne—a closely-knit group of friends who begin as peppy cheerleaders, only […]
All My Sons This Arthur Miller drama feels a-typical for the company that’s made its name on Shakespeare and its money on musicals. Though modern drama isn’t Stratford’s usual racket, Martha Henry’s smartly cast and emotionally wrought production might be the best thing at the festival this year (well, maybe second to Breath of Kings: […]
Second World War stories always seem to be crowd-pleasing, bringing in elements of tragedy, violence, treason and, in this case, …
I can only imagine that the experience of a refugee is one of exhaustion, fear, and utter resolve. But it must be one of tedium as well; so much time spent travelling in such uncomfortable, de-humanizing surroundings. Set in a literal shipping container which has been set up in the Berkeley Street Theatre courtyard, Zachary […]
Kill Your Parents in Viking, Alberta (Storefront Arts Initiative & Blood Pact Theatre) A vibrant, fraught, fast-paced new tragi-comedy from playwrights Bryce Hodgson & Charlie Kerr, the oddly named Kill Your Parents in Viking, Alberta plays out in real-time in the kitchen of young mother Susan (Allie Dunbar, hilarious in her immovability) as she attempts […]
J. Stephen Brantley has a distinct voice for re-creating the New York of yesteryear – to paint a picture of the gritty pre-Giuliani New York that I only know from films and rerun credits of Saturday Night Live. Of course, living in the city during that time was bound to have some lasting effects, and […]
The Second City’s latest mainstage revue is as honest as it is funny, as biting as it is charming, and as surprising as it is (mostly) consistent. Every member of the cast brings a different style and point of view to the table, all hilarious in their own right but especially effective together. Created […]