Black Box Theatre Co. Facebook ad: “Black Box Theatre Co. - Vancouver, BC”

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A new review from Jerry Wasserman! Here’s a (relatively) new company that deserves our attention. Black Box Theatre exploded onto the scene last summer with an excellent production of The Play That Goes Wrong, a beast of a farce requiring a large cast, collapsing set, and precise comic timing. (See my review: https://www.vancouverplays.com/review-granville-island-play-goes-wrong-25.shtml.) Black Box is actor/producer/playwright James Barclay and actor/director Tracey Labrosse. Barclay has written their current play, Wonderwall, and stars in it along with Labrosse, who also directs. At its heart Wonderwall is a gentle comedy blended with some darker elements. The play and production largely succeed, but what’s special is Barclay’s performance as the brain-damaged central character, Peter. We meet Peter, a man perhaps in his thirties, offering to mow lawns for $5 when he comes to the home of teenage Charlotte (Marta Bilous) and her mother Tina (Labrosse), whose lives are falling apart. Tina has just kicked her husband Scott (Omer Aubin) out of the house. Alcoholic Scott has gotten in debt to the mob and is probably going to jail. In any case Charlotte and Tina are losing their home. To try to get some money, Charlotte goes into the lawnmowing business with Peter and they become tight friends. When it turns out that Peter’s mother, Anne (Carrie Hunter), has early dementia, soon-to-be-homeless ex-nurse Tina and Charlotte move in with them. Tina will take care of Anne in exchange for their lodging. Things get grim when Scott decides to testify against his criminal friends. He’ll get no jail time but will have to go into protective custody, and he tells Charlotte and Tina that they’ll have to go with him. For the first 20 minutes Wonderwall feels like a YA play about the bonding of two outsiders, Charlotte and Peter (who is older than her but, due to his injury, acts younger). But once the parent characters’ plots kick in, the play fills out in interesting ways. Still, at the centre of the drama are the two needy kids. Barclay’s Peter is a wonderful performance of a lovely character... Read more: https://www.vancouverplays.com/review-nest-wonderwall-26.shtml

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blackboxtheatre.ca

Black Box Theatre Co. - Vancouver, BC

Black Box Theatre produces live theatre in Vancouver, Canada. Our next show is THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG August 13-30, 2025, at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.