"This is Lululemon Lake now!"Commercial Drive—It's that time of year again. East Van Panto, Theatre Replacement's wackiest annual holiday stage tradition presented by The Cultch returns to the York Theatre for its twelfth edition featuring a very merry band of animal misfits (the "Merry-Thems") in a hyper-localized, joyful musical twist on the outlaw folklore of Robin Hood.
For those unfamiliar, the originally British act of "pantomime" features a heightened fairytale-type performance filled with song parodies, dancing, jokes, and exaggerated characters with audible audience participation highly encouraged for a family-friendly experience aimed at children and usually programmed around Christmastime. This decidedly revamped East Van remix of the foxy hoodlum fable brings the same trademark charms to the theatre.
Scripted by experienced playwrights Jivesh Parasram and Christine Quintana, and directed by Anita Rochon, with music by Panto stalwart Veda Hille, Robin Hood employs its pop song riffs and topical municipal political humour to great effect and crowd delight. Issues of affordability, housing affordability, and the privatization of public lands are nicely weaved into a charming tale of community (saving Trout Lake!) that's refreshingly leftist in its conception—even Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's recent cartoonish acts of public protest are amusingly called out.
Starring Sydney native Hayley Sullivan as the titular mousy Aussie hero, Jason Sakaki as both
East Van Panto: Robin Hood runs until January 5th live on stage at the York Theatre.
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