The Number 14

I had never heard of this play/musical before, but apparently it has been running for decades. Granville Island's Winterupption festival this past weekend was host to a special condensed one hour free performance of The Number 14, a show about riding the bus. During my time as a Creative Writing student, I had always been told by my PlayWriting Instructor that setting a play on a bus is pretty much the lamest and most cliche thing one can do. Yet, this show proves that theory wrong! Not only was it a highly technical production, but it was very musical in a non-musical kind of way and quite physical as well. It had the audience laughing till they cried, and people of all ages are sure to enjoy this. Very creative and unique, yet capturing the essence of what it's like to take the Loser Cruiser perfectly to a tee. The show runs down at the Waterfront Theatre till March 24, before heading out to New York City!

Banana Boys

Friday night, I was at the preview of the play Banana Boys, based on the book by Terry Woo. As I walked into the theatre, I bumped into someone I knew from RicePaper Magazine. "Hey, how's it going!?" he greeted. "Have you met Terry?" I turn to be introduced to his friend, until it dawns on me, "OMG you're Terry Woo! Author of the book that the play is based on!" Nerdy of me? Yes. But so cool! I love meeting writers, especially those whose works I have actually read! We chatted a bit, I congratulated him on the play. He was just in town for vacation and it turns out he was here in time for the play's opening. He is currently not working on anything and I believe has turned back to being an engineer, a career he held previously prior to writing. "It's kinda depressing, actually," he said. Hmmm...

The play itself was quite enjoyable! There are a lot of hits and misses when one ventures out to see local theatre. Move To This was with me and he liked it too. The cast was a strong group, for the most part. The only criticism I could see was that the lead character, who is supposed to be this stud who has bedded many women, came across as, how do you say, a bit on the gay side? So, we really had to suspend our disbelief there. Maybe they should have reworked the script so that there weren't so many "S's" Is that bad of us?

The play was good, and I would recommend it to others! I would definitely recommend it to other Canadian born Chinese, especially straight guys. I think they would appreciate it the most, as the story focusses on a group of friends - all straight, Canadian born Chinese guys, looking for their place in this world, dealing with racism, relationships, and work in their own special way. A very simple set that was utilized to its fullest also helped to make this an enjoyable evening out. And also, the Firehall Theatre is a fantastic theatre! Mostly because it's set in an old fire station. Tickets are decently priced ($16) so go check this play out! Banana Boys runs until March 17th at the Firehall Theatre.

10 Days on Earth

The show is sold out it says, but you can still manage to get some seats. I don't get it either. But either way, GO TO THIS SHOW if you can! It's Ronnie Burkett's 10 Days On Earth. A Ronnie Burkett show usually consists of himself, and a million marionettes. It's quite mind blowing. Don't think puppet show, because it's far from. It's an experience unlike any other. Children are Not permitted, as this is an adult oriented show.

HIVE rocks!

Went to the opening night of HIVE last night, a unique theatre experience that involves 11 different independent theatre companies.

There were instructions on the wall, such as "Take a number" and "Find the person with the Felix nametag" and you would be whisked away to an intimate 10-20 minute performance of sorts. We ended up getting to 9 out of the 11 shows. If you're going, you HAVE to make sure you get to the Boca Del Lupo show - it was by far the best one. The 21st Century Peep Show was hilarious, and apparently the Electric Company's performance was supposed to be good, but it was 1 person at a time and with the huge line-up, we never got around to it. Finding the person with the "Felix" badge will also prove rewarding.

Spoilers ahead: Some of the stuff we saw included Boca del Lupo's Dumpster play - you and someone else actually end up sitting inside a dumpster to watch the play unfold. There was also a one-person only funeral performance, complete with headphones and a talking corpse, egging you on to look into the coffin. Creepy! There was a hilarious retelling of the story of Troy using miniature toys, and the 21st Century Peep Show featured the Olsen twins singing to images of war. What's funny about it is that the person in front of you in line, is actually in a booth next door watching a TV Screen of you watching the Olsen twins. Total riot!

A lot of the performances had a lot to do with death. This is probably because everything took place in a giant funeral home, known simply as The Chapel. We ended up in the embalming area at one point. I wish the shows had gone on all night so we could catch all of them, but alas it was not to be. If you do get out to it tonight or tomorrow, let me know how it goes! For those unable to get tickets, the shows are already sold out, but I hear if you arrive early enough, you may be let in due to last minute cancellations.