Hamlet Chapter Two: Back In Black

Dark Horse Theatre—Onstage at Pantages

Contrary to the content of this piece, I do enjoy a good Shakespeare spinoff and adaptations of his works. Every year there seems to be at least a few Hamlet parodies or re-interpretations. Hell, a few years ago I saw the entire play written into a half hour rap! (Loved it.)

This particular production places us in modern day Hollywood, as a scuzzy movie producer attempts to resurrect Hamlet in the form of a sequel (despite most of the characters having DIED in the original play). What follows is a hysterical, sometimes cringey (Hamlet a zombie? GOLD!) performance using a variety of actors, themes and outrageous ideas of how to bring Hamlet back to life in order to manage a sequel. We see a man broken by how horrid this entire movie idea is, and is baffled that it somehow turns into a cult classic (the Room, anyone?)

Its satirical, its clever and its very funny. Inserting plenty of the original prose from Hamlet, references to current pop culture and impersonations, what you’ll see is an entertaining, thought-provoking and interesting version of a much loved production. Definitely a new spin that in my years of Hamlet fandom I haven’t quite seen before. Its fun, so get thee to a funnery!!

Calantha Jensen

Terms & Conditions

Bossy Flyer—PTE – Colin Jackson Studio

Two people who are unexpectedly thrown together as roommates must learn to live together in a small apartment in this comedy featuring the acrobatic duo of Cynthia Price and Taylor Casas (who also appear in Flight). Their acrobatic abilities add a different dimension that isn’t usually seen in a comedy like this, and it really takes the slap-stick up a notch. It also makes the various battles that ensue really amazing as they flip and balance and spin around each other. Very well done!

I appreciated that they let the audience know before the show that in a few movements where they will be doing taller balancing that they would be done in specific spots in the otherwise low ceiling venue.

Murray Hunter

Whiteface

Whiteface productions—The Rachel Browne Theatre

Cowboys versus Indians—the Indians are the baddies and they should die. That’s how Hollywood used to portray westerns, and that’s how the show opens. Unfortunately, that theme continues to run rampant today. Society has made a lot of progress but we have a long, long way to go.

Don’t think so?

Call someone the N-word and what do you think those in earshot would say? Call someone another drunk Indian—now what do you think those nearby would say? Would the reaction be the same? I think you know the answer.

Whiteface looks at the debasing and marginalisation of our Indigenous peoples from multiple angles. Through the adventure, you undergo various emotions, including anger, hate, sympathy, sorrow, and the list goes on. You can feel the emotion pulse through the actions and the dance, and hopefully, it resonates with you.

This powerful piece expresses through imagery, dance and expression. The show runs 45 minutes. If I had a suggestion for improvement, I would take the extra 15 minutes and include more dialogue—more discourse on the abject wrongs that have sieged your people through history, and continue to do so today.

Don’t hesitate to see this brave and important piece of work.

Ray Yuen

Journey to Kalcedon Island: A Steampunk Adventure

Kiss the Giraffe Productions—John Hirsch Mainstage

Kiss the Giraffe is back with a fantastical new musical. This steam punk adventure follows two genius inventor sisters who set out on a quest to find their mother and their place in the world.

This show was fantastic! I loved the steam punk aesthetic that was very well integrated throughout. Steam punk, for those who don’t know, is a sci-fi genre set in the Victorian era with futuristic technology powered mainly by steam and gears. The set itself looked impressive with a giant backdrop and wings that were hand painted and filled with gears.

The cast raised the bar for musical theatre. I could easily see this show transitioning to Broadway with the cast being so talented. I couldn’t even pick a standout because the entire ensemble was so strong. The singing was beautiful and the dancing phenomenal. I was blown away by this cast and you will too.

The only issue I had with this show was volume. The cast was so strong that solos were often drowned out. I had a hard time hearing what was being sung to me so I missed some plot points. This is an easy fix with the addition of mics.

Bravo Kiss the Giraffe and congrats on another great show!

Kaitlyn Kriss

James & Jamesy in the Dark

James & Jamesy—PTE – Mainstage

The dynamic duo from the UK are back to shed some light, well, in the dark. This whimsical pair start in the dark, and proceed to playfully use huge headlamps to come into reality, first with themselves then later with the audience. Squeaking, sighing, body contortions, puppet with body parts, there’s nothing these Brits don’t experiment with. Absolutely a joy to watch this kinds of theatre with these inventing characters. Oh, there’s no tea in this one, however you can win a basket of tea in the entrance.

Kevin Campbell

Old-ish

GoodSide Productions—Red River College – Roblin Centre

I have a personal motto which I say all the time, and live by: “Life’s too short…” followed by whatever phrase I deem appropriate. Examples include, “Life’s too short to drink shitty wine”; “Life’s too short to eat shitty food”; “Life’s too short to worry about what other people think”; and a plethora of others. Honestly, life IS too short to have regrets.

That’s the essence of this dialogue as the actor journeys through the golden years of life. Susan Freedman delivers her message easily and smoothly—and it’s a message we all should heed. While the message is wise, the show itself is rather limited in humour. There’s no real plot development, twist, then denouement. Essentially, it’s a series of personal stories with a wrapper that life’s short, don’t waste it—like the kind of advice you’d tell your grandkids before they go to bed.

Ray Yuen

This Might Help

Garçon!—Pantages Studio

Trina and Sam are here to help! These two best friends are here to teach the audience some tools that might help with anxiety. Tapping into the different characters memories, Trina and Sam show us how to rewrite our past to help our current state.

This show is exactly what it says it is. It’s a self-help seminar where a new anxiety tool is presented to the audience. The whole point of the show was to try and help as many people as possible.

The pair were very charming and reassuring throughout the process. You could tell that these two girls really cared and truly believed in what they were talking about. They through in some super silly jokes and references to try and make themselves as relatable as possible.

As someone who does not like ‘self-help’ concepts, I actually quite enjoyed this piece. I have a new tool I’ll definitely use going forward and I feel like I’ve made two new friends. A cute show with not much depth but a lot of heart.

Kaitlyn Kriss

Death – A Romantic Comedy

Rob Gee—Planetarium Auditorium

I’ve seen all of Rob’s previous shows and always enjoy the way he incorporates his spoken word style into the plays he writes. This was a premiere of a brand new show, so it wasn’t quite as practiced as some of his other work in the past, but that didn’t take away too much from the performance. It is essentially a comedic love story focusing on a half-dozen or so characters (of a few different age groups) played out with scenes from the perspectives of the various characters. This is interspersed with little monologues about ageing, death, love, life, and hangovers as well as the back stories of each of the characters.

There are a lot of keen insights in all the monologues and many very funny moments that had the audience laughing. A great show.

Murray Hunter

Inauguration Vacation

Annette Roman—Onstage at Pantages

Annette Roman probably hates Donald Trump more than me—and that’s a tough feat to achieve (because I absolutely loathe the bastard). Through Roman’s show, she describes the multitude of protests she attended and her efforts to bring light to Trump’s disgusting ways.

Protest after protest leads to the same result—nothing. The ‘murican redneck’s no wiser and Trump continues to destroy his country and the world. So what’s the point of protest?

Roman continues her search for answers in Europe and India; she eventually reaches a measure of satisfaction. What’s the answer? Keep fighting.

You can feel the hate in Roman’s words, but you don’t see it in her delivery. When I have this much hate, I yell and scream and throw things (not really). Roman remains calm and sedate through the show. I would like to see some of the fire of the emotion come out. You’re mad as hell and we’re probably mad as hell because we came to see your show. Let’s be mad together and let the world know! Trump’s a lying, bullying, sexist, racist, stupid, ignorant asshole. Most of the world already knows it but it still feels good to vent.

Ray Yuen

Horrible Histories: Vicious Vikings and Rotten Romans

Hamdad Productions—Tom Hendry Warehouse

It seems that two companies this year had the exact same idea. Take the popular children’s book series Horrible Histories by Terry Deary and turn them into an hour of sketch comedy. This is a fantastic place to start for a script.

Unfortunately this adaptation missed the mark. It felt like I was watching an early rehearsal for a fringe play. The costumes were street clothes with towels for togas. The props were Dollarama schlock. The set changes were long and had no music. Worst of all there was so much talking backstage and frantic running that I could tell things were going horrifically bad.

The cast was clearly very new to acting, with the exception of two actors. I felt bad because these two had to over compensate for the lack luster performance of the others. Better luck next year folks.

Kaitlyn Kriss