Scar Tissue at the Arts Club on Granville Island

I knew nothing about Scar Tissue until I was reading their promo brochure. It was a play based on a novel by Michel Ignatieff (yes, the politician) about a family coping with the mother's Alzheimer's Disease and facing the reality that the children and grand children may carry the same genes.

This story was written for the reality of  looking into the sometimes difficult relationships we have with our parents and siblings and maybe trying to understand and forgive not only their flaws but also our own.

Penelopiad at The Stanley

The Penelopiad is Margaret Atwood's interpretation of Homer's, The Odyssey. At the center of it all is Penelope, and surrounding her are her many maids, who also play the other many parts.

There are occasions when this play made me uncomfortable. It is quite disconcerting watching women be men (It's  interesting to see the women be the offender as men, and do a costume adjustment in front of you, to become the victim). Art isn't always beautiful, sometimes, it's there to provoke and illicit emotions -- whether positive or negative is irrelevant. This play did just that. 

This is not a feel good story, and it's not for mainstream taste. But I do like it and recommend it. It is playing at the Stanley Theatre until Sunday, November 20. 

The Graduate

I went to a see Last Tango in Paris with a very young friend last year when it played at Vancity Theatre. It was both our first time seeing this very famous movie that everyone seemed to know about. The most famous scene being the butter scene. Anyways, my friend was absolutely appalled and disgusted. She could not understand why this movie would be so famous. I, being the older one (saw more movies/experiences) earnestly attempted to defend "art." I explained that "art's" existence is not to be liked or loved, "art's" job is to invoke emotion - good or bad.

http://www.artsclub.com/20102011/plays/graduate.htm

When you see good art (theatre in this case), you instinctively feel something. The Graduate failed to make me feel. I did not empathize with the characters. I cannot exactly identify the reasons why, maybe it's because I had the original images of Dustin Hoffman, Ann Bancroft and Catherine Ross and expected too much (like seeing a movie after reading the book). 

"In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It ranked as the seventh greatest film of all time on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies." <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graduate>

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

http://www.artsclub.com/20102011/plays/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf.htm

What a beautiful night it was on Saturday with the snow falling and all of Granville Island blanketed in white, it was just magical. This peaceful, Christmas feeling outside was in direct contrast to the feeling that "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" invoked. Don't get me wrong, I liked it. I'm just saying it's not warm and fuzzy.
I could only imagine how draining it was for the actors to be on this play. The main characters of Martha and George, seemed to had poured themselves in the roles. If you had never seen it before, You Tube it and you will see some excerpts from the movie with Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.

This play took zinging and cocktails into olympic level.

August: Osage County

Not exactly a feel good play about a family, but it does make you feel somewhat better that yours is not as messed up (hopefully) as The Westons. It has sex (with questionable partners), drugs (mom) and (some) rock and roll. The actors are all fantastic with the exception of two -- the teenager, and the "Indian," they are extremely stiff, artificial and are constantly yelling their lines. Nevertheless, the cast received a standing ovation.


I recommend  August: Osage County.

39 Steps

This Hitchcock adaptation is funny; I definitely recommend it There is a cast of 4, 3 of whom are constantly changing roles or literally changing hats. It is quite inventive with the scene transitions. The main character, Martin Happer's performance reminded me a bit of Cary Grant in another Hitchcock movie, North by Northwest.

THE 39 STEPS

Adapted by Patrick Barlow From the novel by John Buchan From the movie of Alfred Hitchcock

Now playing until Nov 21, 2010   |  Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage