Vancouver theatre: Here are the five best plays to see in August
Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime. The livin' is easy and the theatre generally sparse. Since COVID, most major companies have hesitated to extend their seasons into high summer and few independents have gambled that people will ditch the beach for the stage. But this August shows signs of a revival. Here are five very tempting options:
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Bard on the Beach continues to run its four shows in two tents throughout the summer months, even though attendance is down a little. This summer, devoting its small tent to two plays about Shakespeare, not by him, they've struck gold with the lengthily titled 'complete works,' the funniest, cleverest Bard show in years. Tess Degenstein, Craig Erickson, and either Arghavan Jenati or Nathan Kay frantically attempt to perform all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in 90 minutes. Equal parts silly and brilliant, it's an absolute treat.
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Superb soul diva Krystle Dos Santos brings the songs and stories of Motown back to the Firehall for a week after a sold-out run last April. By all accounts, Dos Santos has the audience dancing in the aisles with her six-piece band and two backup singers. You have to have backup singers if you're going to do the Supremes and Marvelettes. She also sings from the Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye songbooks and I hope has plenty of juicy stories about the twisted paths to success of Diana Ross and Berry Gordy.
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Along with its summer musical (Waitress) and drama (The Mousetrap), the Arts Club adds a weekend of improv comedy with Vancouver's best-known improviser, Colin Mochrie. Before his 15 seasons on first the U.K. then the American TV version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Mochrie developed his chops with Vancouver's TheatreSports improv company. The friends in this show include his funniest TheatreSports co-stars: Denny Williams, Gary Jones, Jeff Gladstone, Rod Crawford and Veena Sood. That's one serious all-star lineup.
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Winnipeg Free Press
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