Joy Fisher

Theatre of the Unimpressed: In Search of Vital Drama By Jordan Tannahill Coach House Books 160 pages, $14.95 Reviewed by Joy Fisher At 26, Jordan Tannahill was one of the youngest Governor General’s Award recipients ever when he won in the drama category in 2014 for Age of Minority, a collection of plays for young […]

{ 0 comments }

Cock By Mike Bartlett Directed by David MacPherson Theatre Inconnu May 5 – May 23 Reviewed by Joy Fisher What do you think of when you hear the word “cock?” English playwright Mike Bartlett had at least three meanings in mind when he wrote the play Cock, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in […]

{ 0 comments }

The God that Comes Co-created by Hawksley Workman and Christian Barry Directed by Christian Barry Belfry Theatre Spark Festival, March 17-22 Reviewed by Joy Fisher Five years ago, disgruntled by changes under the Harper government (“It wasn’t the Canada I’d grown up in anymore”) playwright Christian Barry chanced on a copy of The Bacchae by Euripides. He […]

{ 0 comments }

Waiting for Godot By Samuel Beckett Directed by Jacob Richmond Blue Bridge at the Roxy March 3 - 15 Reviewed by Joy Fisher When Waiting for Godot premiered in England in 1955, the director, Peter Hall, admitted he wasn’t sure what it was about. Nor was the audience. Some people loved the play; others walked […]

{ 3 comments }

Trick or Treaty? Director: Alanis Obamsawin My Legacy Director: by Helen Haig-Brown Bihttos (Rebel) Director: Elle-Maija Tailfeathers Reviewed by Joy Fisher Four out of the five films comprising the first-ever Indigenous Film Program presented by the Victoria Film Festival this year were made by women. While highly unusual in the film industry as a whole, […]

{ 1 comment }

The Best Brothers By Daniel MacIvor Directed by Glynis Leyshon How to Disappear Completely Co-created by Itai Erdal, James Long, Anita Rochon and Emelia Symington Fedy Directed by James Long Belfry Theatre January 27 – March 1 Reviewed by Joy Fisher The Best Brothers and How to Disappear Completely, a pair of one-acts currently on […]

{ 0 comments }

People By Alan Bennett Directed by Tony Cain Langham Court Theatre Plays through January 31 Reviewed by Joy Fisher British playwright Alan Bennett once described his play People as a “play for England.” How right he was! Which is why it was perhaps an unfortunate choice for a Canadian theatre. The theme-the commodification of history-is […]

{ 0 comments }

Christine Lowther is the daughter of the noted B.C. poet, Pat Lowther, and is an accomplished poet and essayist in her own right. She has co-edited two books of essays and is the author of three books of poetry. Her most recent book is a collection of her own essays, Born Out of This: A […]

{ 0 comments }

Alice Co-created by Robert Wilson, Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan and Paul Schmidt Based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass Directed by Clayton Jevne, Theatre Inconnu Through Dec. 20 Reviewed by Joy Fisher Even before the Canadian premiere of Alice at Theatre Inconnu begins, artist Robert Randall’s illustrations of a dissolute man, […]

{ 5 comments }

Saint Joan By George Bernard Shaw Directed by Kim Collier Arts Club Theatre Company, Vancouver Playing through Nov. 23 Reviewed by Joy Fisher Before the audience ever sees Joan of Arc in George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, we learn some things about her. The best hens in Champagne have stopped laying while she is kept waiting […]

{ 1 comment }