Jenny Nimon The Eleventh Trip of Lilibet W. by Continuum Theatre Co., written and directed by James Ladanyi and performed by Aimee Sullivan and Tara Canton, is a timely reflection on regret and accountability; the importance of taking responsibility for your actions even when it is too late to repair the damage.
Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin House of Sand is back with Eliza Sanders’ new solo show, directed by Charley Allanah. Part dance, part theatre, part lecture, part improv, Manage Your Expectations aims to take the idea of “trigger warning” to its absurdist extreme using humour to ask the question how ‘informed’ can we really be and asking “how much do we really want to know?”
Jack McGee Canadian playwright Norm Reynolds’ is endearingly sincere. His autobiographical, digital, solo-show Making It Up (One Playwright to Another) is charged with schoolboy-esque enthusiasm. The work feels like a challenge issued to anyone who isn’t as jazzed about theatre - specifically playwright Edward Albee - as Reynolds is, which is everyone. While this energy makes Making It Up easy to root for, I do ultimately find it a hard show to like.
Jack McGee The irony of reviewing Sweeties is not lost on me. Brynley Stent and Ella Hope-Higginson’s “absurdist sketch dramedy” goes to great lengths to pull apart the arbitrary nature of competition. Whether I’m praising the piece or criticising it, the act of giving it a value judgement puts the joke firmly on me. Which is brilliant! Laugh away! At its best, Sweeties is a communal act of touching grass. It’s a send up of the perverse systems we contort ourselves into, as we chase validation, praise, and all forms of reward. It’s a reminder that awards (and fuck it, reviews) can come down to something as insignificant as whether or not the person giving it likes the size of your hands.
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