In George F. Walker’s dark comedy “Moss Park,” Tina (Emma Slipp) and Bobby (Graeme McComb) are a young couple who fell in love, made love and, consequently, became parents as teenagers. It’s now three years later and, although they no longer live together, they still love each other. Now, they meet in Moss Park in Toronto to figure out whether there is a future in store for them, their three-year-old daughter, and – whoops- another one on the way. Yes, Emma is pregnant again, as a result of a night of passionate reconciliation between her and Bobby.

Walker puts all imaginable obstacles in their way. Not only are they as poor as church mice, but they also come from very problematic families. Emma is the third generation of immigrants whose dreams of a better life have been going to pieces ever since her grandfather came to the country.  Bobby grew up with an alcoholic father, who recently replaced drinking with smoking weed. As if that weren’t bad enough, it seems that at least half of his relations and friends have a criminal record. He is incapable of keeping any decent job more than a day, but has been proficient at committing petty crimes since his early teens. …

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The Central Square Theatre in Cambridge Massachusetts has brought in Bedlam’s unusual production of George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, written in 1923. The New York-based company, now in its second year, has specialized in performing large cast classics in meager spaces with a small number of actors, sparse scenery and minimal technical effects.

Few cuts have been made to the three-hour work written, in Shavian fashion, as a debate in which Joan has the last word. Shaw is true to the well-known tale of the medieval country girl, who by dint of religious belief, patriotism, and love of warfare, almost succeeds in driving the English out of France, is tried by the Inquisition for heresy, and burnt alive. However, his Joan is a female version of Shaw’s übermensch, a person whose superior intellect entitles him/her to lead.

Joan is played by the extraordinary Andrus Nichols, co-founder of the company. Nichols, dressed in plain contemporary clothing in lieu of armor, her hair long, contrary to the script, plays with all facets of Joan’s personality. She is warm, naïve, proud, playful, lucid, brave, as the text would have it. By turns, she elicits laughter and tears.

The twenty-three male roles – soldiers, plain folk, nobles, churchmen – are in the hands of three talented actors, Edmund Lewis, Tom O’Keefe, and actor/director Eric Tucker, the other co-founder. …

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Think of ordinary folk at a local pub in northern England in the vein of Coronation Street or The Eastenders.

As the (unnamed) landlord and landlady bicker between serving assorted regulars on a busy night, the audience meets the customers through a series of vignettes. As directed by John P. Kelly, who breaks down the fourth wall by having some audience members seated at cocktail tables on stage, the audience is pulled into a kaleidoscope of short character sketches about human frailty. Alongside the occasional happy thought, they are presented with a series of images of drudgery, disease, domestic abuse and loneliness, even a child left behind when his drunken father forgets him outside the pub.

All 14 characters in Two are played by the publicans, who find various excuses to leave the stage and return in a new guise for the next segment. …

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Molly Ivins was a leftist journalist who wrote in and about the politically conservative state of Texas for most of her career. Her brash, biting, mocking, satirical columns ultimately brought her to the attention of American liberal ideologues. With the ascendancy to the oval office of George W. Bush, whom she nicknamed Shrub, Ivins reached the height of her notoriety. Her favorite Texas political chump had become big news.

Now at Boston’s Lyric Stage, the one-woman show, Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, assembled by first- time playwrights Margaret Engel and Allison Engel, is composed of political commentary, biography, and anecdotes. Since much of the material is taken directly from Ivins’ writing, it is generally funny, intelligent, and thought provoking. …

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Freezing is the kind of show that leaves me cold. It is low on original storyline, high on stereotypes and clichés and irritatingly silly.

Both hollow and exploitive, Freezing relies heavily on other genres to give the illusion that it has substance. It includes a dame (traditionally played by a man in English pantomime), a villain, complete with cape and moustache (drawn from melodrama), a couple of princesses (one of whom is apparently intended to look like the snow queen from the television series Once Upon a Time.) The general impression is that the creators have chosen to throw anything into the pot without regard to delivering a cohesive drama at any level. …

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Early on in Narnia, a cranky housekeeper tells the four Pevensie children, sent to the English countryside during World War Two, that they all “have that ‘I’m going to explore Marbleton Manor’ look. Forget it. The Age of Exploration is over. Understood?” Thankfully, the four completely ignore her and, as a result, are transported to the magical world of Narnia. The story, by C.S. Lewis, is a childhood classic and combines allegory and adventure into an exciting and thought-provoking work. It’s a big bite for any company to take and 9^Th Hour Theatre makes a valiant effort with the complex, often quite dark subject matter. The performance has its flaws, but manages to respect the depth of Lewis’ work while still keeping it appropriate and fun for the younger members of the audience.

The story takes the Pevensie children – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy – to the land of Narnia, a frozen wasteland of perpetual winter (but never Christmas) ruled by the White Witch, Queen Jadis (a wonderfully expressive, over-the top Gabrielle Lalonde). After stumbling into this land, the four meet magical talking animals, as well as their once king, Aslan. The children are informed of a prophecy stating that, as sons of Adam and Eve, they are to be the future kings and queens of Narnia. They join the revolution and, with the help of Aslan, defeat the White Witch. Other than an entertaining adventure, the story is also an allegory for Christ’s sacrifice. Aslan gives his life for the wayward Edmund, who betrays his siblings and joins the White Witch, becoming her prisoner. …

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Photo: A.R. Sinclair

The Central Square Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts is currently presenting Arabian Nights as their holiday show, making the festive season more welcoming to all. This universal classic compilation, which has its roots in tales that originated across centuries in Persia, India, and Arabia, among others, is fittingly played by a multi-racial cast. Out of the hundreds, if not a thousand and one stories, adapter Dominic Cooke selected five, two of which, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” and “Sinbad the Sailor” are well known. Familiar character names are somewhat exoticized; Schahrazad instead of Scheherazade, for instance.

Advertised as a family show, it contains sexism, abuse of power, and violence that in 2014 have a disconcerting pertinence to current politics, given recent news accounts of beheadings in Muslim countries. The framing story tells of the King’s vengeance against all women because of his dead wife’s infidelity. Each night, he rapes a virgin and has her beheaded the following morning. In this version, however, Schahrazad volunteers as a victim in the belief – validated in the end – that she will be able to change his thinking through the power of storytelling. She is willing to risk death to be able to save the lives of young women. Her ploy is to entertain the King with tales so that he will spare her to hear another.

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^Narnia coming soon, Photo. Kathy Arnold

When La Cage aux Folles premiered on Broadway in 1983, the award-winning show was often described as the coming out of musical theatre.

Flamboyant, funny and potentially touching, the main theme was the power of love and the many ways it can be expressed.

In the 40-plus years since the play on which the musical is based hit the stage, the world has grown in understanding and tolerance. Therefore, the shock value of a show about a gay couple, with one of the pair the drag-queen star of the nightclub they run is virtually non-existent. That their son is about to become engaged to a young woman gets a mild reaction on stage only. The problem is that she is the daughter of a crusading homophobic deputy and the boy wants to bring his girl and their parents home to meet his family

In the Suzart Productions presentation of La Cage aux Folles, directed by Susan Fowler-Dacey, one of the most poignant moments is when Albin — the man who has nurtured his partner’s son for more than 20 years — is told to make himself scarce during the parental visit. In fact, Kraig-Paul Proulx as Albin and his alter ego, Zaza the drag queen, delivers a dramatically and musically strong performance at all times. Without question, he is the focal point throughout. …

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Alice in Wonderland with the English Theatre Company of the NAC, Ottawa

Photos Barb Gray…

 

 

Phèdre. Centre national des arts, Ottawa.

Photo. Alexandre Bellefeuille

 

 

Gift of the Magi at

The Gladstone….