Paradise Garden (@TheArtsClub) review
The first installment of my evening with Jason Sanders was dinner and drinks at r.tl (Regional Tasting Lounge). The second installment was a performance of The Arts Club’s Paradise Garden. I had been wanting to check Paradise Garden ever since Nicole McLuckie informed me about it.
Paradise Garden sounded like one of those romantic plays that will lift your spirits after seeing it. The truth is, it did lift my spirits, and I hope it did the same for Jason.
I’m someone who believes that there is always someone out there for us, that there’s that perfect soul mate that we are waiting to bump into.
Local boy Day, a free spirit, lives next door to worldly Layla, a career-driven intellectual. The two have nothing in common. Or do they? Over time these divergent souls come to understand each other in a way neither thought possible. A contemporary tale of romance and cultural divides so engaging it will change the way you see the girl (or boy) next door!
Written by Lucia Frangione, and starring Gina Chiarelli, Lucia Frangione, Meghan Gardiner, Michael Kopsa, Kevin MacDonald, Richard Newman, Marie Stillin with Morris Ertman as Director, Paradise Garden is playing until April 11, 2010 at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (on Granville between 11th and 12th Avenues). You can buy tickets online here.
I found Paradise Garden had an eerie resemblance to some elements of my own life. I have a PhD and whenever I have thought about falling in love with someone, I have always measured people in terms of what they can offer me intellectually. Yeah, call me a snob.
But what I loved about the play was how each character developed him/herself, in a constant pursuit of growth. I would love to give out more details but you’d miss the whole play if I did.
In all honesty, I think everyone should go check Paradise Garden. Jason and I had the pleasure of bumping into my good friend AF, who took her friend SF (also a friend of mine), and her Mom and another friend to the Stanley. They all loved it, so I think their opinion endorses the play even more!
I want to thank The Arts Club, who always supports me whenever I do a contest, and in this case, when I am creating an auction item prize. Thanks also to Jason for joining me for the evening! One element I almost forgot to mention in my previous review of Billy Bishop is that the Granville Stage has been renovated recently! Good work by The Arts Club Company!
Disclosure: The tickets to attend the play for me and for Jason were sponsored very generously by The Arts Club. Thanks to Nicole McLuckie for making arrangements for the tickets. While I did not pay to attend the show, I would gladly pay to attend, as it is a great production. This post hasn’t been paid for either. In any review I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times, and producers and publicists are well aware of this. Should you have any questions/concern feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.
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