Gladstone theatre 2018 Archives - Capital Critics' Circle / Le cercle des critiques de la capitale

I think I’m dead: a captivating autobiographical performance of insomnia

By Ryan Pepper | May 14, 2018

Think I’m Dead , written and performed by Al Lafrance. Presented by Thunder Blunder Theatre.

Reviewed by Ryan Pepper

Al Lafrance’s one-man show I Think I’m Dead is a captivating autobiographical story of neuroses, obsessions, alternate dimensions, hurricanes, depression, and just wanting to sleep.

The show, performed at the Gladstone Theatre for one night only on April 31, was a well-attended one-hour event by Lafrance in conjunction with the Gladstone’s Snake Oil, for which Lafrance did the lighting design. …

Snake Oil: A thought provoking show best suited for a small stage

By Iris Winston | May 1, 2018

Snake Oil
By Jayson McDonald
Black Sheep Theatre
Directed by Dave Dawson

Snake oil began as a traditional Chinese medicine, particularly effective in easing joint pain. Brought to North America by Chinese railroad workers in the 19^th century, it was made from the fat of the Chinese water snake — a species not found in the West.

Seeing the medicine at work, western profiteers began manufacturing much less effective, completely fraudulent or placebo versions of a bottled wonder drug and selling it as a cure-all. Sales depended on just how convincing any oily, traveling promoter could make his marvellous medication sound. …

Blink: an unblinking look at the pitfalls of electronic romance

By Jamie Portman | April 6, 2018

Photo: Wayne Waddington. Blink Gabriella Gadsby and David Whiteley

Blink by Phil Porter, A Plosive production Directed by Teri Loretto-Valentik

Back in another era, dramatist Harold Pinter used to contend that his often enigmatic plays were really about the breakdown of communications between human beings.

But that was well before the dawning of a new electronic age, before the advent of smartphones and digital cameras, Twitter and Facebook.

A play like Phil Porter’s Blink wouldn’t have been conceivable a couple of decades ago. Its vision of the way people choose to communicate would have seemed the stuff of science fiction. Yet the piece now on view in an excellent production at the Gladstone is scarcely a celebration of the social media and the way in which it brings people closer together. As it reaches its gentle close, it reveals a sad and rueful twist in its tail. …