Fall arts preview: Theatre companies going for the laughs post-pandemic
For the first fall post COVID-19, most theatre companies appear to be going for laughs. After the difficult past few years audiences may not want anything too heavy.
Since COVID has also been tough on the bottom lines of arts organizations, theatrical collaborations have become the new normal. Spread the costs, spread the risk. Risky new plays are the lifeblood of theatre, so kudos to Western Gold Theatre, The Cultch and the Firehall for their challenging fall premières: 90 Days, Bad Parent and Courage Now, respectively.
Here are five more shows that promise to tear you away from Netflix and make you forget the rain.
PETER PAN GOES WRONG
When: Sept. 8-Oct. 16 Where: Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Tickets & info: artsclub.com Vancouver's Arts Club and Edmonton's Citadel Theatre join forces to present the North American premiere of this hit British backstage comedy. When a provincial amateur theatre company attempts to stage Peter Pan, everything that could go wrong does.
TO PERFECTION
When: Sept. 14-17 Where: Surrey Arts Centre, Surrey
Tickets & info: surrey.ca One of the most contentious issues in the American culture wars gets distinctively Canadian treatment in this new comedy drawn with broad sympathy and wry humour from Vancouver playwright Meghan Gardiner's own family. When her young grandchild (Rae Takei) comes out as nonbinary, grandma (Patti Allan) must learn to deal with the “genderational” divide. Premiered by shameless hussy productions in association with Surrey Civic Theatres.
HOT BROWN HONEY — THE REMIX
When: Sept. 23-Oct. 8 Where: York Theatre Tickets & info: thecultch. com
The Cultch's raucous Hot Brown Honey, from the Briefs Factory of Australia, was one of the best shows of 2018. Six phenomenally talented Indigenous South Pacific women performed what I called “a loud, proud evening of consciousness-raising” song, dance, sketch comedy, and acrobatics. Now the Honeys are back with this rousing, dance-inducing sequel, part hip hop concert, part pep rally. Sexual and racial politics are hardly ever this much fun.
BENEVOLENCE
When: Sept. 29-Oct. 15 Where: Pacific Theatre Tickets & info: pacifictheatre.org
This surreal black comedy by Quebec's Fanny Britt won the 2012 Governor General's Award for French-language Drama. Ruby Slippers Theatre presents Leanne Brodie's new English translation at Pacific Theatre. When a big-city lawyer returns to his small hometown to argue a troubling case, his mother and some family ghosts intervene. The stellar cast includes Lucia Frangione, Charlie Gallant, Chris Lam, and Agnes Tong. Directed by Diane Brown.
YAGA
When: Oct. 27-Nov. 5 Where: The Cultch Historic Theatre
Tickets & Info: touchstonetheatre.com
Showered with raves in her hometown Toronto, playwright Kat Sandler's “part thriller, part comedy, part nightmare fairy tale” gets its west coast premiere from Touchstone Theatre at The Cultch. Playing with the Slavic myth of the witch Baba Yaga, Sandler has written what the Toronto Star calls “a hilarious, ambitious vehicle for great actors to strut their stuff.”