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PLAY PIANO PLAY Other Hand Productions WAG -- Muriel Richardson... [Derived headline] [Winnipeg Free Press (Canada)](Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) PLAY PIANO PLAY Other Hand Productions WAG -- Muriel Richardson Auditorium (Venue 12), to July 27 CZECHOSLOVAKIAN-born pianist/actor Jan Janovsky of Sherwood Park, Alta., offers up his own brand of musical comedy that pokes fun at everything from his homeland to his own cross-country checkup of Canadian quirks and idiosyncrasies. A (very loose) cross between Victor Borge and Weird Al Yankovic, Janovsky does best with physical comedy. His mugging and plastic facial expressions add goofy charm and, at times, even insight. However, his cringe-worthy jokes are not that funny. For example, "a beautiful Russian woman is one who doesn't shave her legs with a weed eater." And having to explain your own punchlines is never a good sign. But still, Janovsky's got some real piano chops with a mean left hook that drives hard on boogie-woogie. And sparks fly during his Brazilian medley in honour of the recent FIFA World Cup games, performed over a pre-recorded musical track. Other than those few and fleeting moments, this show falls as flat as the black keys on his electric piano. '' 1/2 -- Holly Harris PIZZA MAN Coffee Guy Productions Alloway Hall -- Manitoba Museum (Venue 4), to July 26 GEN Y roommates Julie (Ava Darrach-Gagnon) and Alice (Jessina Cheffins) are having a bad day. Actually, they're having bad lives, trapped in cycles of anger/denial as they lose jobs, are betrayed by their lovers and take turns numbing out with booze and food. Together in Darlene Craviotto's comedy they hatch a plan: rape a man! And, voil, their troubles will be over. Enter unwitting pizza deliveryman Eddie (Matthew Stefanson), who resists their drunken charms while revealing a few closet skeletons of his own. At its best, the 70-minute production is a timely, coming-of-age story that speaks to the need to let go of the past, mostly well acted by the trio of local thespians. At its worst, the play's screwed premise that violence ("rape is for people who can't get any on their own") will make all the hurts go away is both dangerous and dumb. And its anti-feminist statements, gay-bashing jokes, topped by Eddie's "solution" that the two unfulfilled women should simply become wives and mothers, made this reviewer numb. '' 1/2 -- Holly Harris ALL YOU CAN EAT/THE TOP? Gearshifting Performance Works John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 26 WINNIPEG-BASED choreographer Jolene Bailie creates an absurd, cake-fuelled world filled with Elizabethan collared unicorns, tiny bulls, mountains of plastic beer cups and manic "Panties for Peace" campaigns. A series of episodic vignettes explores "what it means to be human," with Bailie's 14-year old contemporary dance troupe members -- Claire Marshall, Helne Le Moullec Mancini, Krista Nicholson, Sarah Roche and Jillian Groening -- performing with conviction and energy. Many striking stage pictures abound. Particularly haunting is the black-hooded trio of women -- or the unicorn that grunts and shakes responses to recited cue cards. In many ways, the 60-minute, surrealistic production is the perfect fringe show. Poetic, spoken references to Canadian painter Alex Colville's galloping horses run like a narrative thread throughout. The show also pops in the surprisingly dance-friendly theatre, brilliantly lit by Hugh Conacher with evocative soundscapes by Susan Chafe. Some of the choreography feels underdeveloped. And no definitive answers are given at the end. However, the show's final scene, where dancers bob up and down on orange-rimmed trampolines, still musing about life while eating tortes, brings us full circle in his collection of theatrical images, albeit enigmatic. '''' -- Holly Harris CRUISING IN SEPTEMBER Marketplace Players Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 10), to July 26 THIS gentle, one-act comedy written by Denis Thornton offers a boatload of zany characters you swear you've met at some point in your life. The 60-minute (15 less than billed) local production is decidedly no-frills, but still has heart and it's likely you'll laugh -- or even cry. Cruise virgin Harry (Chris Reid) and perky wife Rachel (Evelyn Carruthers) first meet gun-totin' redneck Tex (Sam Kowaluk) and his Annie Oakley-styled spouse Miss Elly (Marcia Barbarie) aboard ship. Elderly Aunt Violet (Betty Winterhalt) is also trying to come to grips with her mentally declining sister Mildred (Evelyn Darrach), inviting niece Jo-Ann (Jazmyn Shell) along to help keep an eye on things. Corny jokes, naughty bits and double-entendres flow as easily as waves in the deep blue sea. But when the increasingly befuddled Mildred "dies," only to embark on her own ocean of childhood memories, the show becomes a poignant heart-stopper. This idea could easily have gone much further before Thornton's insightful play finally pulled anchor for the night. ''' 1/2 -- Holly Harris MAN, WOMAN, FLOWER Sheep on a Mission WAG Muriel Richardson Auditorium (Venue 12), to July 26 IS the meaning of art in the eye of the beholder? Are there objective standards by which art can be judged? Should a painting complement the wallpaper? These are the sort of musings that constitute Man, Woman, Flower, a series of flimsy conversations set in a gallery. The stage set consists of a couple of benches and a large frame that holds only air, so the painting of naked lovers that's discussed by the characters is only imagined. Dan LaRocque's talky script, clocking in at about 40 minutes, is half-baked and unfunny. It takes a too-broad swipe, for instance, at a Bible-toting Christian who condemns the painting as smut. This character pointlessly speaks in song lyrics. The five-person local cast includes a tall young man who can't stop pushing his hair out of his eyes, and a dark-haired young woman who doesn't project her voice. The show wants to be a sharp, thought-provoking satire, but it's more preliminary sketch than collectible masterwork. '' 1/2 -- Alison Mayes PROMISE AND PROMISCUITY: A NEW MUSICAL Penny Ashton and Jane Austen WECC (Venue 26), to July 26 IN this deft, witty and winning take on Jane Austen, New Zealander Penny Ashton plays Elspeth Slowtree, at age two-and-20 already "hurtling toward spinsterhood," with only the powers of her pen to keep her from genteel poverty. In a gloriously crowded one-woman show, Ashton also plays Elspeth's gadabout sister, nervy mother, snobby neighbour and a gaggle of suitors. Oh, and she's a dab-hand at the ukulele, too. Ashton's sparkling script riffs on the structure, characters and dialogue of the Austen canon, but you don't need to be a dedicated Janeite to enjoy the romp. Ashton also throws in topical references, cheeky feminist comment and some unexpected musical mash-ups, ranging from Beethoven to Bon Jovi. (Watch for the melodious etiquette lessons of a certain Miss Kardashian, renowned as a model of delicacy and taste.) In the end, we learn that balancing work and love can be tricky for a young woman, but Elspeth remains confident that this difficulty surely will be solved 200 years hence! '''''1/2 -- Alison Gillmor (c) 2014 F.P. Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership |