"Waiting for Godot" | Play Review

The plot is simple. Two men, Vladimir and Estragon, are waiting for a man named Godot. We never find out exactly why, although the protagonists seem to think it's an important matter. But Godot never shows.

Written by Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot is a play that makes you constantly question what is happening - in a good way. The change from friendly conversation to "why are we here?" happens quickly and often, and leaves the reader as confused as the characters. Beckett has a knack for witty dialogue that results in frequent laugh-out-loud moments.

Waiting for Godot is a bizarrely funny play; I recommend it if you'd like some laughs and don't mind being a bit confused.

"Avenue Q" Review

"Avenue Q" posters

I had the pleasure of seeing Avenue Q today.

The play involves puppets and tells the story of Princeton, a young man who has recently graduated from college and is now trying to find his life's purpose. On his way to discovering himself, he moves to Avenue Q, where he meets a variety of hilarious characters.

I was initially hesitant to go see this because of my automatonophobia (according to Wikipedia, "the fear of anything that falsely represents a sentient being")/ pupophobia (fear of puppets). But after hearing so many good things about the production, I decided to face my fears for the sake of the play's purported hilarity.

And boy, was it worth it. Avenue Q is full of catchy songs and what most people would probably consider inappropriate humour - several times, it leaves you simultaneously laughing and thinking "oh my god, they really went there". The play is often brutally honest about everyday issues; listen to the songs "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" and "Schadenfreude", and you'll know exactly what I mean.

The cast at the Lower Ossington Theatre was incredible - I'm really impressed by every cast member's ability to act, sing, dance AND manipulate a puppet (sometimes more than one!). The audience involvement was really fun to see as well - the actors were great at improvising humorous responses.

This play tells the story of my life in several ways, so I found myself laughing not only at the lyrics, but also at how relateable it is. Seriously, "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English" is a gloriously accurate song.

I had an incredible time watching Avenue Q - it hits all the right notes, in more ways than one.

"RENT" | Play Review

I saw RENT onstage. It was excellent.

If you don't know what RENT is about, it follows a group of friends and acquaintances in New York City who are struggling to get by; while trying to make ends meet, their lives are also plagued by HIV/AIDS.

From that description, you can probably tell that it's going to be a sad play. And it is - at least in part. While it is no doubt heartbreaking when characters we come to know and love over the course of the show pass away, RENT is all about hope to me. Although the individuals in the show are struggling not only with surviving financially, but also with coming to terms with physical and mental illness, they persevere. Anyone who has experience with these types of issues knows how hard it is to keep going when you feel like you're being held down by illness. In this way, the characters in RENT are inspirational to me.

Now, we all know how empathetic I am, right? I cried. I cried a lot. The actors were magnificent in their roles and made me feel everything one is supposed to feel when watching RENT. There was laughter, there was crying - and all of it was welcome.

My one criticism of the run I watched is the lack of racial diversity in the cast. I watched the 2008 live filmed version of the play a few months before seeing it onstage, and for me, cultural representation was a huge part of RENT. So in that sense, it was a bit disappointing that almost the entire cast was Caucasian.

To summarize, RENT is a beautiful musical. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you do - even if you don't see it onstage, you can watch the live filmed version.

Oh, and don't forget your tissues.

Seeing "Coriolanus" in Theatres!

See image credit below

 Today I went to see "Coriolanus" in theatres with Christine.

It was an interesting experience to watch a play on a huge movie screen. I was really excited to see Tom Hiddleston in a play, I mean, who wouldn't be? He's a great actor.

I've never read "Coriolanus," so I had no idea what to expect. It ended up being really intense, which I was completely fine with, as it was a really interesting play about the effects of war on the title character.

I really like the way the stage was set up. It was a tiny stage, but they were able to do so much with it. Since there wasn't really a backstage area, actors who weren't in the scene would sit at the back of the stage, usually with their eyes closed, to signify their detachment from the scene. A really interesting use of space, in my opinion!

Everyone in the play was well cast, I think all the actors did a great job of portraying their characters and the story as a whole.

Image Credit: "Coriolanus" by Bryan Chuck Brennan via deviantart in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

"Evil Dead: The Musical" | Play Review

Today was a really fun day. I had dinner with my best friend Michelle, who I haven't seen in a few weeks, and then we watched "Evil Dead: The Musical."

I laughed through almost the entire musical - it was hilarious! It lived up to the corniness of the 1981 film, which I love, and was an absolute cheese-fest.

Towards the end of the show, things got particularly gory. To maximize the effect, the first four rows were dubbed the "splatter zone" and people in those seats got sprayed with stage blood. It was an immersive experience - literally!


The whole cast was great, and the sets were pretty cool.

I had an awesome time watching "Evil Dead: The Musical" - it's definitely in my top three favourite musicals!