The Great Divorce, originally by C.S. Lewis, is a work that reflects on the Christian ideas of Heaven and Hell. 9th Hour Theatre has taken on the mammoth task of adapting the work for the stage, with seven actors portraying all 22 characters. The show, although firmly rooted in Christianity, transcends both religion and philosophy. At its core, it’s a story about the way humans live their lives and the road-blocks all of us cling to on our path to self realization and happiness. Therefore, although it deals with many a heavy theological question, it also manages to be infinitely approachable, entertaining, and beautiful. Most importantly, the show makes the audience think and challenges them to take a critical look at their own lives. If art is supposed to promote discussion and to make you ponder life’s more tricky questions, then 9th Hour Theatre’s production of The Great Divorce is art in one of its purest forms.

In The Great Divorce, a man finds himself in a desolate, grey town, representing Hell, surrounded by suitcases and passengers waiting to jostle and complain their way onto a bus. As our Narrator chats with his fellow passengers, it becomes clear that the motley crew each carry their fair share of psychological baggage. The bus arrives at its destination, a picturesque countryside, which turns out to be the foothills of Heaven. This place, while beautiful, is also more dense than the reality the ghosts are used to. The audience follows each character as their guide tries to convince them to walk toward the mountain, with its abundant light and love. Nothing worth having comes easily, though, and our willowy ghosts find themselves poked by the grass that won’t give way under their scant weight. As their spirit guides try to convince them that the longer they walk, the easier it becomes, the Hell that each of our bus riding characters carry inside themselves starts to and fill them with doubt. Few have the courage to take the first painful steps toward salvation. …

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The idea behind Can’t Argue With Pussy , Rebecca Reeds and Jennifer Hayward’s stand-up comedy show, is women talking about their lives without having a club owner telling them to avoid too “feminist-ey” or “female” topics. It’s definitely a raunchy show. Poops, vaginas, sex – none of these are off-topic and I say wonderful! It’s always good to hear voices presenting new perspectives, especially in comedy, which is such a powerful story-telling tool. Unfortunately, although I applaud the idea behind the show, the material could use work. Rebecca Reeds obviously has the raw talent and storytelling ability. However, her mannerisms on stage, such as constantly pulling up her sleeves and covering her mouth, distract from the performance. Jennifer Hayward isn’t afraid to stir feathers, both with her topics of choice and demeanor on stage. Her performance, however, would greatly benefit from finished sentences. She tends to trail off at the end which is usually where the punch line of the joke is. Overall, this was a decent, though not ground breaking  show. Some good ideas, but it needs work and polish.

Can’t Argue With Pussy plays at Studio Léonard-Beaulne

JH5 Productions

By Rebecca Reeds & Jennifer Hayward

Cupidity

By Jessica Fitzpatrick

Cupidity is a cute one-woman show about a Annie, a woman obsessed with the idea of love. She wants it and she has all sorts of ideas about exactly how she wants it unfold and feel. Never mind that all of her ideas conspire to failure, informed by romantic films and her own sometimes strange imagination. This is a cute show and Jessica Fitzpatrick is a charming performer. Although some of the jokes were too on the nose, overall, Cupidity is a fun, feel-good show. For instance, at one point, Annie informs us that her married life will unfold “like a sitcom.” This particular moment would have been funnier had she just shown us her married life being like a sitcom instead of telling us. Give the audience a bit more credit – we get things! We can make connections! However, overall, this show was quite a delight to watch and provided many a chuckle.

Plays at Arts Court Theatre

Cupidity 

By Jessica Fitzpatrick

Yasmina Reza’s play Art explores the nature of modern art and friendship and exposes the equal strangeness and subjectivity to be found in both. Same Day Theatre’s production of the play, translated by Christopher Hampton, has some great comedic moments, but overall comes off as a bit tedious and pretentious. Although on the shorter side, it dragged on by the end.  …

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Playwright-actor Cliff Cardinal’s one man show, huff, has received rave reviews practically everywhere it has appeared. That’s a lot to live up to. Cardinal and director Karin Randoja’s opening night performance at the NAC started off a bit shaky, but ended with such a powerful bang that I’m sure many of us in the audience will be carrying the events of the play and its message for days, if not weeks, to come.

In this one man show, set on a First Nations reserve, Cardinal combines mythic storytelling and a dark, twisted sense of humour to portray over 20 characters surrounding three brothers as they cope with the harsh realities of their lives and the one year anniversary of their mother’s death. Backdropped against a tall, plastic drapery on which they project patterns and images corresponding to the mood, Cardinal and his team have created a world somewhere between harsh reality and gas-induced hallucination. The subject matter is very dark and the team certainly doesn’t shy away from showing the depths of its pain and destruction. There were a couple of scenes that had me writhing in my seat with discomfort and disgust. …

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Being in love with someone and love are two very different things. The first is a breathless kind of Bora that awakens in you a temporary madness. It’s a volcano of sweet emotion that sweeps you off your feet and prevents you from thinking straight, especially about the object of your emotion. Their every quirk is endearing and every second spent apart from their lips is the worst kind of torture. Love, on the other hand, is what’s left over after this temporary madness subsides. You are suddenly left with a person, annoying quirks, terrible taste in music, and all. …

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