Theatre Review

Production: THE PITMEN PAINTERS

Author: Lee Hall

Company: National Theatre

Director: Max Roberts

Principal Actors: Joe Caffrey, Michael Hodgson, David Whitaker, Trevor Fox

Venue: Duchess Theatre  

Location: 3-5 Catherine St., London, England

Run: October 3, 2011 to April 14, 2012

Reviewed by James Karas

The Pitmen Papers is a marvelous play, funny, moving, beautiful, that tells a most unusual story. It is now playing at the Duchess Theatre in London in a co-production by Live Theatre Newcastle and the National Theatre Company. It is a superb play and production on its own merits but the facts on which it is based make it even more interesting and enjoyable. 

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Production: The Importance of Being Earnest

By Oscar Wilde

Starring Ryan Beil, Simon Bradbury, Charlie Gallant, Allan Gray, Amber Lewis, Ella Simon, Deborah Williams, Allan Zinyk

Director: David Mackay

Run: Now – April 15, 2012

Reviewed by: Taryn Hubbard

A comedy of social status, Victorian manners, deception, courtship and cucumber sandwiches, The Importance of Being Earnest, the classic play by Oscar Wilde, takes its audience into the absurd world of upper-class Victorian parlour rooms through twists of language, wit, and satire.

Playboys Algernon Moncrieff (Charlie Gallant) and John Worthing (Ryan Biel), both disinterested in their ongoing social and familial obligations, each, and at first unbeknownst to each other, create an alter ego in order to have an excuse to quickly get out of town. For Algernon, who lives in the city, he visits his sick friend in the country. And for John, who lives in the country, he zips off to London to counsel his troubled fake brother, Earnest. However, when John falls in love with Gwendolen (Amber Lewis) as Earnest, the right name never meant so much.

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"Just when I though they couldn’t use anything crazier as a musical instrument, they would bring out something like a package of spaghetti or a golf club and amaze me even more."

Stage Review

Show: Performs Tom Waits

Company: L’Orchestre d’Hommes-Orchestres

Guests: The New Cackle Sisters

Musicians: Bruno Bouchard (voice, home-orchestre, guitar, suitcase, spaghetti, violin), Jasmin Cloutier (voice, guitar, banjo, megaphone, boots), Simon Drouin, (voice, harmonica, wood saw, scissors, boxing gloves), Simon Elmaleh (voice, electric bass, hammers, baby cradle), Gabrielle Bouthiller and Danya Ortman (voices, tea pots, handkerchiefs)

Venue: The Cultch

Run: March 21-24 2012

Reviewed by: Tessa Perkins

Hailing from Quebec City, this group of performers put on a unique show that is at the edge of many artistic disciplines including music, theatre, and performance art. While they are essentially playing music, their theatrical performance, props, and the stage set are equally part of this amazingly creative show. They performed the music of American icon Tom Waits using almost one hundred objects and invented musical instruments in what could be described as a musical carnival. I was in awe of their multidisciplinary talents and the complex orchestration and interpretation of these songs.

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Stage Review

Production: Master Class

Author: Terrence McNally

Company: Manhattan Theatre Club

Director: Stephen Wadsworth

Principal Actors: Tyne Daly, Jeremy Cohen, Naomi O’Connell, Diane Pilkington, Garrett Sorenson

Venue: Vaudeville Theatre

Location: The Strand, London, England

Run: February 7 to April 28, 2012

Reviewed by James Karas

Maria Callas has been dead for almost thirty-five years and her career ended well before she died in 1977. But her reputation as the greatest soprano of the century and her legendary personality have continued to thrive and provide fodder for critical acclaim and popular biographies.

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