Play, play, play

 G'day, and welcome to December! It's not exactly a brown month anymore, thanks to some snowfall last week, but we now inhabit a land of icy peril. Drive with care.

Last night, we went out, driving with care, of course, to a play. Last week we had seen MacEwan University's Legally Blonde: The Musical, which was frothy and fun. Yesterday we saw Indecent at Studio Theatre. Wow, what a play.

The set design was excellent. The acting was excellent, The script was excellent and powerful — moving, thought-provoking, timely (although the play is set in the early twentieth century). It was hands down the best play I've seen in years.

Last night was the closing night of its run, and if you missed it that's a shame. Bravo to Studio Theatre for this fine piece of work.

Theatre Unseen

Hello!

Last Friday night B and I went to see The Invisible, a play presented by Catalyst Theatre. It is a dramatization of untold stories about women saboteurs in World War Two — as a musical. Here's the set (we had excellent seats!):

I enjoyed this play. Heroism in World War Two tends to be masculinized; representations of women who fought back against the Nazis are exceeding rare. The story is serious but is told with light and localized touches, which made the play feel highly topical. I would see it again and would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in women, the agents of ungentlemanly warfare, or musical theatre — but it closed in Edmonton last weekend.  Still, a lovely night out!

(And if this play's not for you, perhaps consider As You Like It, which is running on the Citadel's main stage right now...)

Turning around

Last night B and I went to see Revolt, She Said. Revolt Again. A play by Alice Birch, it presents a series of vignettes about the way women experience the world of emotional labour, constant sexualization, gendered violence, and shaming. It was strikingly presented by Studio Theatre at the University of Alberta.

This image was taken as the lights came down at the opening. There was no intermission. The wings are open and, as you can see, there were no curtains. The actors could be seen in the wings changing costumes between one scene and the next, and as the audience was filing in, the actors were speaking, singing, chanting, and shouting. Quite avant-garde and provocative. I loved it! (And two of the set-change songs were by Amanda Palmer/Dresden Dolls — extra fun for me!)

It was not my intention to see this play on the thirtieth anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, but there it is. A fitting tribute to a day of remembrance. I'm so glad to have seen this play, and I hope many, many more people see it, talk about it, think about it — and act on those thoughts.

One night in Vancouver

At the beginning of June, at the end of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, I had the absolute pleasure of attending an Amanda Palmer concert at the Chan Centre on the UBC campus. The tickets were "the best birthday present ever" and I have to say they lived up to their billing.



The concert started a few minutes after 7:30 and continued (with a short intermission) until 11:30. I was spellbound for all of it. She could have played for another hour or longer (except the venue wouldn't permit that). Wow! AFP delivers performance as art.

Amanda's current tour is organized the experience of abortion. As she explores this topic from a deeply personal perspective, she tells numerous stories about her life. One of the themes that emerges from her stories is radical empathy, or radical compassion. At one point she talked about the idea that there are people for whom our society argues we should not feel empathy or compassion. This point has resonated for me. I think our society is experiencing a crisis of empathy. And since we know how a loss of empathy can play out, from any number of events of the twentieth century, we need to take this crisis serious — or even just acknowledge that it's a crisis.

This concert impressed me on so many levels. I am grateful to have had the chance to attend it (and with my research assistant, Rebecca, as a bonus!). Amanda is not for everyone — but she is for me, and I am for her.

(Oh yeah, I tried to take actual photos of AFP, but with my phone they all turned out fuzzy. Ah well ...)

Hosanna Superstar

Greetings from Vancouver, where I am attending the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. My association's conference is over now, but I'm not leaving campus until tomorrow. That means I'll likely spend a good chunk of today at the book fair — and then tonight ... the Best Birthday Present!

But in the meantime, here's a picture from the play I attended the other night: Hosanna by Michel Tremblay. Although I've read several of Tremblay's other plays, I had not read this one. It's the story of Hosanna, aka Claude, who has been gravely socially embarrassed and who must confront the validity of his relationships and sense of self. The play is set in Montréal in the early 1970s and represents gay men's lives at the time.

This is a big script — although it's a two-hander, most of the work is done by Hosanna— and was well acted overall. I also liked the lighting and the spare set (which took advantage of the backstage and the audience space). Stephen Heatley, formerly of Edmonton, was the director: he has been the department head of Theatre and Film at UBC since 2015.

In brief, I'm happy I saw the play. And kudos to UBC and Congress for making admission free for Congress attendees.

Culture of gender

Howdy! On Friday we went to MacEwan University's Triffo Theatre to watch Guys and Dolls. What a great performance it was! (Not that you can tell from this image of the closed curtains during intermission.)

Student theatre can be variable in its quality. This musical was notably good: well-rehearsed dancing, overall strong singing, only a couple of truly weak actors, and a couple of real stars. The set was eye-poppingly gorgeous, and the costumes were nicely executed. As a bonus, the actors were supported by live music — what a treat!

Looks like students and faculty are getting comfortable in their new home in Allard Hall. I'm looking forward to future shows!

Mad Dada

Last night we were at Concordia University to see The Dada Play by Mieko Ouchi. I was so excited to see this play: a play! about my subject area! in a new theatre! near our hood!

(Actually, this wasn't at the half: it was at the conclusion. But not there's not that much difference.)

The Dada Play has a solid script and the actors gave it a good effort. There were some brilliant, brilliant moments (I'm still snickering about the Equity break called at the pinnacle of V.I. Lenin's speech to the workers), and the costuming was gorgeous. The lighting was a little uneven, though, and some of the speeches needed a little more projection and pacing. But still, an enjoyable, thought-provoking experience. We discussed the themes and their contemporary significance all the way home.

So yay to Concordia and yay to the playwright! Looking forward to more plays at this venue.

The 411

Last night we went to the new Allard Hall to see Love and Information by playwright Caryl Churchill, billed as "22 actors, 100 roles, 57 plays." The play asks us to think about whether humans have free will, given that our DNA is really just chemical data. Each mini-play approaches this question from a different perspective, some of them startling, some disturbing. Here's an image from the pre-show.

This was quite a script, but the actors were top notch. A great evening's entertainment!

Shakespeare, who was in love a month ago

Argh. One may have taken on too much when one's catch-up post is a month behind. Sigh.

Anyway.

Back on September 26, we went to see Shakespeare in Love at the Citadel. It was quite good —  similar to the film in some respects, but with appropriate adjustments for live theatre. I didn't care for the acting of the actor who played Viola, but the other actors were more nuanced and the ensemble worked well together. I recommended it to a few people and was pleased to see the play well reviewed in most media.

It's been a few years since we went to the Citadel, and we've trimmed our budget for live entertainment generally, but here's a photo from the half, just to uphold tradition.

Here's hoping the world is a little calmer in November.

Standard deviation

Since returning from Victoria, we haven't been attending many performances. No theatre seasons, no dance shows, no symphony, etc. So last night was a big treat (for me, anyway) to hear All(Most) Jazz, a small jazz-based ensemble, performing at the Highlands United Church.

The halves were lovely. Some "winter" songs tucked amid well-known repertoire from musicals and the Great American Songbook. The show wrapped up with "Maybe This Christmas" by Ron Sexsmith and "I'll Be Seeing You," a sweet jazz standard featuring this line: "And when the night is new / I'll be looking at the moon / But I'll be seeing you."

All in all, the performances were fun, playful, and merry. Perfect for a November night that promises (threatens?) to bring winter along one of these days soon.

Southern exposure

Last night, B, C, and I went to Fort Edmonton to see the film South Pacific. I'd never seen it before, although it was one of my mother's favourite soundtracks when I was growing up. The film was so-so, but there was entertainment before the show started, thus:

The girls providing the accompaniment were impressive percussionists.

When we exited the Capitol Theatre (built 1918) at roughly 10:30 — such a late night for an oldster like me! — this was the scene:

No, the theatre obviously wasn't on fire. I just like the distortion of the exposure.

So that was the Thursday night that was, one rare night on the town.

Merry merry merry

Happy Christmas! Here's how we spent our Xmas Eve: in the famous Bengal Lounge of the Empress Hotel, listening to Christmas songs from Maureen Washington & Karel.

It was a novel and lovely way to spend a mild Victoria evening. No appearance by the moon on our watch, however.

Here's to another grand year for all of us!

"See what else your old heart can take"

On Monday night I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Rosanne Cash performing at the Winspear Centre. Here's a picture of the stage at intermission:

I have been listening to Rosanne Cash's song "Seven Year Ache" regularly since 1981; in fact, until I lost all my 45s, I still owned the song as a single (backed with "Blue Moon with Heartache," a sad, sad song). In 1981, I was eleven, in grade six, really getting into popular music and starting to think seriously about my musical identity. If you had asked me at the time, I would have told you I didn't like country music, and I certainly didn't consider Rosanne Cash "country" — after all, I discovered her by listening to either 1260 CFRN or 630 CHED, both of which were at the time top-forty stations. And bizarrely and ironically — and truthfully — I did not connect Rosanne Cash to her very very famous father until I was much older. (Interestingly, Ms Cash does not consider herself a country artist either, but rather a singer and storyteller.)

At Monday's concert Cash and the band played through her latest album, The River and the Thread, in its entirety and in track sequence, with breaks between songs to explain their background and inspiration. I really enjoyed this presentation, as I like the new record. In the second half, Cash and the band presented a short set of hits, including "Blue Moon with Heartache," a stripped-down cover of "Long Black Veil," "Tennessee Flat Top Box," and of course "Seven Year Ache." I was swoony: I LOVE Rosanne Cash's voice: she sings with such longing. So for me it was a fine, fun evening.

That's likely it for major concert action this season. Always good to go out on a high!

Delhi, Not Dele

On his blog, B used to post pictures of performing-arts events we'd attend. He's fallen out of the habit (and of course we aren't seeing as many events as we once did), so I am taking up the challenge. Wish I'd thought of this at Big Sugar last week.

Last night Akemi and I saw Delhi 2 Dublin at the Arden Theatre. Though you get no idea whatsoever from this intermission picture, it was an incredibly high-energy show: so much fun! Even I was out of my seat. (I know!)

In the second half, the band gave away a single to those of us with mobile phones. Catchy! And even more impressively, the music got most of the Arden audience to its feet and dancing — you know that's no mean feat.

Delhi 2 Dublin was an infectiously exciting live show. I'd definitely see them again. Thanks again, Akemi, for a great time!