"My dear Minerva, It was not the best of times, it was not the worst of times, it was Ottawa." On June 9th of this year, at 7:45 pm, Kristian Bruun as Frank Dickens (son of Charles), launched the first of forty cross-country performances of his play Dickens of the Mounted with this line. Beginning… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Brad Lepp
Tag: stage
Sarah Kane is my Kurt Cobain
Up until last week I hated Sarah Kane. Thought she was anathema to the theatre and pretty much civilization in general. Well, as it turns out, I'm an idiot. An idiot who just learned a great big lesson in judging a book by a single chapter, and had his already firm belief in the power… Continue reading Sarah Kane is my Kurt Cobain
Windy City Wisdom
"Art is not a victim. An eighteen month old diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia is a victim. A family losing their homes because of war are victims. Artists are not victims. Non-profit organizations are not victims; though, if you read many fundraising letters, you'd think they were. Many believe the arts are dying,… Continue reading Windy City Wisdom
Theatre is Dead, Long Live Theatre
Right, summer blogger break is officially over, as indicated by the pissy weather out of the dining room window, so it's time to resume my diligent blogging duties, instead of hanging this site on the interview series alone. Thank you to everyone who checked in during the summer, which has been one of many revelations,… Continue reading Theatre is Dead, Long Live Theatre
This One Goes to Eleven: David Jordan
In taking on the unenviable position of Vancouver Fringe Executive Director, David not only managed to put together an outstanding festival in the face of a venue-disrupting civic strike, but he also weathered a shit-storm of controversy about the Fringe's decision to try out a new idea to raise awareness and pay down its debt.… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: David Jordan
This One Goes to Eleven: Medina Hahn
Sherman, set the WABAC machine for the University of Alberta in the year 2000. Here we find one Medina Hahn, young, ambitious, and industrious. Looking for a way to showcase her studied talents post-ed, she and fellow student/pal Daniel Arnold figure hey, maybe we should sit down and write something for ourselves. Novel idea, that.… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Medina Hahn
This One Goes to Eleven: Rhonda Dent
Rhonda has been a TV/film actor here for over a decade and decided 3 years ago to roll up her sleeves and start producing independent theatre with a vengeance. Most recently she produced and performed in Spanish Girl at the Havana. Somewhere in her busy schedule she finds time to be a freelance photographer. 1.)… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Rhonda Dent
Jazz Hams
A few months ago I was stumbling home from work at around one in the morning, tripped, and fell into this searing jam session at O'Douls, courtesy of the Jazzfest. It had been so long since I'd seen any live jazz, especially any with the chops this crew was throwing around, and I was… Continue reading Jazz Hams
This One Goes to Eleven: Ellie O’Day
Vancouver indie theatre, allow me to introduce you to Ellie O'Day, super-publicist. The reason you want to keep making money is so that you can one day hire her so you can work less and make lots 'n lots more money. She began her career here in the '70s as Western Canada's first female rock… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Ellie O’Day
This One Only Goes to Ten
If this were the Buffyverse and not the blogosphere, then the Vampire that sired my This One Goes to Eleven interview series would be Ian Mackenzie and his Ten Questions. Ian has asked me to put my money where my fangs are and submit to a little blood-letting myself. Click here to read the gory… Continue reading This One Only Goes to Ten
This One Goes to Eleven: David Benedict Brown
David finished theatre studies at Douglas College and kept his education rolling by forming Enlightenment Theatre, which launched with Collage: Homage to Kurt Schwitters at Studio 16 in December 2006. Their second effort, Zastrozzi, The Master of Discipline, just wrapped at the waterfront theatre, which David produced, acted in, and provided lighting design. He was… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: David Benedict Brown
This One Goes to Eleven: Ryan Crocker
Ryan has the distinction of being the first theatre artist I ever met in Vancouver, back when we were both toiling away in the same crappy hotel, except that he would start the graveyard shift just as I was leaving my bar shift, and he'd finish as the sun was coming up, to spend the… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Ryan Crocker
Gone to the Dark Side, Please Leave a Message
Damn. It finally happened. I've become what I beheld. I am now (SFX: Darth Vader theme plays), a Theatre Reviewer! 'Zwounds, can it be true, yours truly, consorting with the enemy, nay, wearing their colours? What's up with that? Times have changed for me, it seems. I used to hate theatre critics. Actually, I used… Continue reading Gone to the Dark Side, Please Leave a Message
This One Goes to Eleven: Raul Sanchez Inglis
Raul began his career as an actor, and now writes prolifically for stage and screen. He christened the theatre at the Beaumont Studios with his brutally thrilling play In the Eyes of God, which has been recently published by Talon Books. He has directed all of his own plays, which also include For What We… Continue reading This One Goes to Eleven: Raul Sanchez Inglis
Playwright Tip of the Day
I recently challenged my theatre company to a write-off over the summer (first rule of Playwright Club: everybody writes...). The rules are simple; write a short play, minimum 5 pages, maximum 10, on absolutely anything you want, and when we reconvene at the end of the summer we'll cast our plays from the company, open… Continue reading Playwright Tip of the Day
Simon Ogden 