The Buzz – Reviews – 2015

The Dumb Waiter

Snowflake Productions—Playhouse Studio

At many points during this show I found myself getting antsy waiting for something to happen. In fact, I was waiting for a good chunk of the show, but seeing as that’s what the characters were doing, I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

Whenever it was mentioned how long the characters had been waiting, or how bored they were, I couldn’t help but feel the same way.

That’s the only issue I had with this play—if your characters are bored, your audience will be too.

If the show started, rather than ended, with the big plot twist, I probably would have a very different opinion.

Arden Pruden

Village Ax

Sydney Hayduk—The Purple Room

Admittedly, it took me a long time to put the segments together and understand what was going on. While some people think about shows as they unfold, I just let them flow and take the connections as they come. Consequently, I didn’t get the big picture until almost the end. It would have been a much more enjoyable experience if I would have fit the puzzle pieces in earlier, but that’s my fault for being a laissez faire spectator.

There’s a powerful message here–and it would have been a lot more poignant if I would have followed it from the beginning.

If you take in this show, pay attention from the start and view it from the holistic perspective, rather than the fragmented lens.

Ray Yuen

Squirrel Stole my Underpants

They Gotta Be Secret Agents—Kids’ Venue
(Crocus Bldg. parking lot)

Although meant for kids, what a lovely adventure for adults! In fact, although the kids let out a few guffaws, I’m not sure if they get the thoughtfulness behind the preparation of this perilous journey.

There’s some good humour here, some that kids get, some that they might not.

Not only does Sylvie take us through this journey expertly and competently, the musicians and the music combine to make this a professional, television-worthy show.

The running time of 30 minutes is shorter than promised, probably enough for the kids—but I wanted more.

Ray Yuen

The Bar Scene

Reactive Theatre—Asper Centre (U W)

I’m not really one for romantic dramadies, they normally get too out there for my tastes.

What’s lovely about this show, however, is that all the characters are real. I don’t mean that it’s non-fiction, but it seems it could be.

It flows wonderfully. Each character is a person, not just a character; the performances were totally believable.

Among all the great things about this show, it reinforces that romance and the workplace should never go hand in hand.

Arden Pruden

FOR BODY AND LIGHT PRESENTS…

Wired on Words Prods.—Rachel Brown Th. (Crocus)

This is a man playing a mellow electric guitar while reciting poetry about the tides and the sea. Three female dancers give physical form to the words and music, set in a performance hall, dark except for one ceiling lamp, which is moved and swung about on its cable by the dancers. The Montreal-based company were inspired by the coast of the Bay of Fundy to develop the elements of the show.

Ian Ferrier provides the poetry and music. Although his words are sometimes hard to follow in a linear fashion, they add immensely to the impressionistic evocativeness of this production.

St@eacute;phanie Morin-Robert, choreographer and one of the three dancers, is also the lighting designer. This makes sense, since all lighting effects, shadows, and silhouettes are provided by the dancers themselves.

This is a mood piece that deftly explores the fragility of humankind against the awesome power of nature.

Konrad Antony

Mars One

Horse & Engine Prods.—Rudolf Rocker CC

This one-woman show is filled with a rich variety of characters skillfully brought to life and supplemented with interactive audio pieces.

Combining physical theatre and a break neck storytelling pace, the 45-minute show was non-stop entertainment and had the whole audience engaged start to finish.

Glen Hagen

The Seven Lives of Louis Riel

Monster Theatre—King’s Head

A fact and fun-filled romp through the self conscious and self-effacing fabric of the Canadian imagination.

Historic characters are brought to life in true satiric tradition, and the genre-based storytelling emphasizes the biases of each perspective of the legend.

This is a piece that is definitely worth your time and money, and definitely a compliment to provincial pride. You will never forget what the Red River Settlement was sold for. Beware the puns.

Danielle Marie

Three Men in a Boat

Pea Green Theatre Group—Alloway Hall (MMMN)

Fantastic. Three upper crust dandies go on a week long trip of hilarity, three part harmonies sprinkled throughout. What they can do with their faces is amazing. A must see.

Candassy Cross

Three Men in a Boat

Pea Green Theatre Group—Alloway Hall (MMMN)

I have watched a few British comedies in my life and admittedly, I don’t get some of the humour. Three Men in a Boat looks like it could easily have been a program on the BBC, complete with the British humour that often eludes me. The audience laughed quite a bit, so I assume everyone got it but me.

Another reason it looks like it could have come out of British broadcasting is because of the precision and the expertise of the acting. These actors are as tight as it gets.

Throughout the numerous shows I’ve seen to date this year, singing has been a problem for many shows. Not so here—these three chaps deliver the best vocals and harmony I’ve heard so far. I just wish there were more songs in the show.

Ray Yuen

Mulligan’s Island

sb & me productions—MTC Mainstage

I had very high hopes for this musical and all begins well—until they start singing.

Every cast member has singing and key issues. If your star player is Kay Dee Pairy, I would hope that she would be the best vocalist. She isn’t; in fact, she’s one of the worst for falling out of key. Granted, she looks quite a bit like the real Perry but that’s not enough to hold the role.

To make things worse, Mrs Howell’s mic didn’t work properly. Instead of hearing her voice, you often heard muffled static. And the problems didn’t end here! The choreography was pathetically simple, like something that was rehearsed for a day in someone’s basement.

Here’s the worst part: in this iteration, Mr Howell is a billionaire industrialist. Howell’s jacket fits him so poorly, it looks like he grabbed it off a Thrift Store rack. It’s too big, too long, and the sleeves cover his knuckles.  I don’t think a billionaire would wear a jacket that looked and fit like a security guard uniform.

It’s not all bad—some of the characters nailed the original actors’ idiosyncrasies, and some of the songs are catchy—well, a large part are takeoffs on Katy Perry tunes, so that’s expected.

This is a very disappointing effort.

Ray Yuen