Colin Thomas

Rock of Ages tugs at nostalgic heartstrings

By Colin Thomas | May 9, 2012

Under Kristin Hanggi’s direction, Rock of Ages is tight, but it has no heart.

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100 Saints You Should Know raises questions about homosexuality and Christianity

By Colin Thomas | May 7, 2012

In Pacific Theatre's production of Kate Fodor's play, a young priest is asked to take a three-month leave while he sorts out the issues raised by his collection of art photos of naked men.

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Eccentricities are laid bare in Grey Gardens

By Colin Thomas | May 4, 2012

Grey Gardens is one oddly built musical.

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Blue Box is impressive on its own terms

By Colin Thomas | May 3, 2012

Like the Chicano boyfriend that Carmen Aguirre describes in Blue Box, her new show comes in a very sexy package.

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The acting is solid in Henry and Alice: Into the Wild

By Colin Thomas | April 26, 2012

Somebody’s pill alarm went off for a long, long time on the opening night of Henry and Alice: Into the Wild. It was the highlight of the evening.

God of Carnage swings between extremes

By Colin Thomas | April 20, 2012

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer it when comedies make me laugh.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a deeply satisfying theatrical meal

By Colin Thomas | April 13, 2012

It’s great to see Pound of Flesh Theatre and all of its producing partners mount a large-scale production that would be at home on any of Vancouver’s major stages.

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Scar Tissue digs into dementia

By Colin Thomas | April 12, 2012

There’s not enough to hold on to in Scar Tissue until it’s almost over.

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The Bomb-itty of Errors is full of irreverent exuberance

By Colin Thomas | April 9, 2012

A rap adaptation of The Comedy of Errors? I thought it would stink the place out. Man, was I wrong.

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Tremors Festival's The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is caught between heaven and hell

By Colin Thomas | April 5, 2012

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot uses courtroom drama and colourful language to put faith on trial.

Burnt by the Sun's solid actors don't quite tap play's power

By Colin Thomas | April 2, 2012

United Players is a scrappily ambitious, semiprofessional company and its productions sometimes hit a high standard, but that’s not the case with Burnt by the Sun.

Dissecting the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company's demise

By Colin Thomas | March 29, 2012

Since the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company shut down on March 9, there’s been no shortage of opinions about the reasons for its failure, but we can certainly eliminate one of the possibilities.

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Fresco has its moments

By Colin Thomas | March 26, 2012

Returning to my seat for Act 2, I didn’t care what was going to happen next. Not a good sign.

Despite its name, Flop! forecasts a bright future for local theatre

By Colin Thomas | March 23, 2012

Studio 58 graduate Anton Lipovetsky is hilarious and memorable in his one-man musical.

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Arts Club Theatre's The Importance of Being Earnest verges on vulgarity over polish

By Colin Thomas | March 22, 2012

Does Oscar Wilde really need extra help to be funny?

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Hedda Gabler is an intriguing exercise in style

By Colin Thomas | March 15, 2012

Director Bob Frazer’s production of Hedda Gabler isn’t revelatory, but it contains some finely honed performances.

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Strong characters and performances anchor Morris Panych's Gordon

By Colin Thomas | March 8, 2012

Gordon takes far too long to find its focus, but when it does, it nails you to your seat.

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Goodness trivializes the larger issues

By Colin Thomas | March 8, 2012

Genocide is a big subject. Goodness isn’t good enough to do it justice.

Not much is revealed in Confessions of the Other Woman

By Colin Thomas | March 2, 2012

Playwright Valerie Sing Turner's Confessions is so abstract that it doesn’t feel like much of it matters.

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Chocolate Woman Dreams the Milky Way may not engage all audiences

By Colin Thomas | March 1, 2012

Not even the warmth of writer and central performer Monique Mojica can save this script from its muddled storytelling.

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Theatre critic's picks: The stage shakes up spring

By Colin Thomas | March 1, 2012

From Judas to Chilean rebels to two guys named Earnest, Vancouver theatre casts it wide.

Director Kevin Bennett offers a King Lear like you've never seen before

By Colin Thomas | February 27, 2012

With this production, director Kevin Bennett proves once again that he is one of the most interesting and innovative young talents in town

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Hunchback is stuck on style

By Colin Thomas | February 24, 2012

There’s theatre and then there’s dress-up. Hunchback is dress-up.

The central performances in Intimate Apparel are all very fine

By Colin Thomas | February 16, 2012

The performances have more heft than the script.

The Silicone Diaries' subject compels, performance wavers

By Colin Thomas | February 15, 2012

The first set of images is a head-turner: as artificial fog billows, Arsenault enters in half-light, her voluptuous figure wrapped tightly in a see-through grey PVC dress.

Chelsea Hotel is a knockout

By Colin Thomas | February 9, 2012

The artists in Chelsea Hotel take an unlikely premise and make it work—by throwing gobs and gobs of talent at it.

The Silicone Diaries reveals Nina Arsenault's quest for plastic beauty

By Colin Thomas | February 9, 2012

In The Silicone Diaries, Nina Arsenault reveals her sex work, her endless surgeries, and her redefinition of what a woman can be.

Studio 58's Julius Caesar stays cerebral

By Colin Thomas | February 6, 2012

Because Julius Caesar is all about moral ambiguity, it can be hard to get your bearings with this play.

The Arts Club's production of Calendar Girls gives its script more than its due

By Colin Thomas | February 2, 2012

The script for Calendar Girls is a waste of time, but director Rachel Ditor and her team give it a handsome mounting in this Arts Club production.

Chelsea Hotel brings Leonard Cohen songs to life

By Colin Thomas | February 2, 2012

Tracey Power’s latest project, The Chelsea Hotel, might be subtitled “A Fantasia on the Love Themes of Leonard Cohen”.

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Duet for One has its moving moments

By Colin Thomas | January 27, 2012

The next time I need therapy, I’m going to make sure I get it on-stage; it’s always so simple in the theatre.

Wendy Noel's long road back to stage

By Colin Thomas | January 26, 2012

After an eight-year break from theatre, the three-time Jessie-winning actor will play Annie in the Arts Club Theatre Company's Calendar Girls.

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Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata is simply terrific

By Colin Thomas | January 25, 2012

Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata puts the want back in want ads.

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The Idiot is never boring and definitely beautiful

By Colin Thomas | January 23, 2012

Watching this staging of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Idiot is kind of like driving along a lovely stretch of road.

Red is a brilliant platform for its actors

By Colin Thomas | January 20, 2012

The functions of art include the stimulation of our perceptual and emotional capacities.

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All the Way Home is extraordinarily intimate

By Colin Thomas | January 12, 2012

When beauty arrives, I’m grateful, even if it hurts.

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Blackbird Theatre's Waiting for Godot is respectful and moving

By Colin Thomas | December 30, 2011

Contemporary audiences need to see fresher interpretations of Samuel Beckett's 1953 masterpiece, but this traditional take contains many excellent elements.

The creative sparks flew in Vancouver's arts scene in 2011

By Colin Thomas, Guy MacPherson, Janet Smith, Jessica Werb, and Robin Laurence | December 29, 2011

When you look back on 2011’s arts events, it’s not the overall shows you remember but the small, unforgettable moments.

Blackbird Theatre gears up for Waiting for Godot

By Colin Thomas | December 22, 2011

Simon Webb and Anthony F. Ingram are drawing on their strong working relationship to mount Samuel Beckett’s absurd classic.

The Sound of Music is never boring

By Colin Thomas | December 14, 2011

This Gateway production is seldom less than handsome, and it really comes alive when it’s at its most original and eccentric.

Pacific Theatre's A Christmas Carol is for purists

By Colin Thomas | December 9, 2011

Ron Reed’s adaptation sticks close to Charles Dickens’s original text, which is its first great strength.

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Hotel Bethlehem is all about rhythm, absurdity, and irreverence

By Colin Thomas | December 8, 2011

Not everything in Drew McCreadie’s new comedy Hotel Bethlehem hits its comic mark, but who cares?

After Jerusalem is a banquet of pleasure

By Colin Thomas | December 5, 2011

Playwright Aaron Bushkowsky and actors Deborah Williams and Andrew McNee don’t just chow down on the material, they roll around in it.

A star is born in La Cage aux Folles

By Colin Thomas | December 2, 2011

Greg Armstrong-Morris delivers a star turn as Albin in this Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company production of the '80s musical.

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Main Street Theatre's True West an ambitious undertaking

By Colin Thomas | December 1, 2011

The real action in True West is beneath the surface. This production offers us glimpses of that land, but not a sustained tour.

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Expect awkwardness and intimacy at M/Hotel

By Colin Thomas | November 25, 2011

David McIntosh’s newest site-specific work, M/Hotel, unfolds mostly in a second-floor room at the Holiday Inn on Howe Street.

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Arts Club's Blood Brothers is an admirable attempt

By Colin Thomas | November 24, 2011

The pleasures to be had come from the characters, and, under the codirection of Bob Frazer and Sara-Jeanne Hosie, the portraits here are very successful.

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