On the Boards This Week

Hoo boy. Tough time of year to start a weekly spotlight series on Vancouver theatre. Apparently competing with the heat is not something that interests many of our local crews, it's a little, er, sparse on the stages right now. The Fringe is right around the corner as well, so I'm sure that's a factor. Let's see...the Arts Club stages are advertising shows that are "squeaky-clean fun for the entire family", that's no help. Oh well, I'm sure if I dig deep enough I can find something...and anyway, there's always...

Bard on the Beach - The Taming of the Shrew & Romeo and Juliet

Bard Artistic director Christopher Gaze has called his ocean-side Shakespeare festival the "quintessential Vancouver experience". Not "quintessential Vancouver theatrical experience", mind you, but experience period. As ridiculous as that comment might be, he appeared intent on cementing it today outside the south-west corner Starbucks on Robson and Thurlow (the "Montague Starbucks", so the chalking on the sidewalk told me), as he stood, megaphone in hand, hurling Bard-ish epithets across the street to the "Capulet Starbucks", where members of his Shakespeare youth chucked 'em right back. That, the scenes acted out on the street, and the sword-fighting demonstrations went on largely ignored, except for Shakespeare himself, who spent most of the afternoon spinning in his grave.

All this, of course, is to drum up some business for Gaze and co.'s rendition of Romeo and Juliet under the tents in Vanier Park this weekend (and on through to September 23). It actually sounds pretty good from the feedback I've heard on it so far, and not just because it carries a warning of the possibility of partial nudity.

Also up for your consideration is The Taming of the Shrew, which they've chosen to present in a yee-haw wild west context. Despite being a concept that could easily misfire, all the reviews so far have been exceedingly positive, so heck, it could be worth a shot. Cowpokes and Shakespeare, together at last, who'd a-thunk it?

Condemned - Carnegie Community Opera Project

Here I shall defer to Jark's excellent reportage from earlier today.

Noises Off - Metro Theatre

The quintessential slap-happy, door-slamming theatrical farce by Michael Frayn seems to pop up about about every other year somewhere around town. Set in alternating acts on and back stage of a terrible sex comedy called Nothing On, the play requires a huge rotating set, which Metro seems to have put together admirably. The real problem of this play is trying to make it as good as the 1992 film starring Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, John Ritter, and Christopher Reeve.

Black Diamond - The Serialists

Monday is the final episode in this serialized improv soap opera set in a skiing community called Hummer, chosen to host the Winter Olympics. Ryan Gladstone is the director and narrator whose task it is to keep the plot moving forward with a generally hilarious momentum. Which, apparently, he does for most of the night. Produced in co-op with the Beaumont Studios.

There, that wasn't so painful, now was it?