June 2026 – Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION.

The Play That Goes Wrong

If there wasn’t already a movie entitled Everything Everywhere All at Once, the play I saw last night could have borrowed its title. Instead, it’s called The Play That Goes Wrong, now playing at the Arts Club’s Granville Island Stage.

After months of preparation, the Cornley Drama Society is finally ready for opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor. Surely everything will go to plan. Right?

Photo courtesy of The Arts Club Theatre.

Well… everything goes wrong – exactly as planned.

The actors miss their cues, props fall apart, the set malfunctions, and the one who’s supposed to be dead keeps moving. It’s classic slapstick comedy madness, and the audience around us seemed to love every minute of it.

Comedy is all about timing. Slapstick is one of the hardest forms of comedy because making chaos look effortless takes perfect timing. It isn’t about things going wrong – it’s about making every wrong thing happen at exactly the right moment. Making something so carefully rehearsed look completely accidental is no easy feat.

The best slapstick brings to mind legends like Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, and of course, Charlie Chaplin. Making utter chaos look effortless is one of the hardest things an actor can do.

The cast of The Play That Goes Wrong deserves credit. Pulling off this level of choreographed chaos night after night can’t be easy, and they execute it with impressive precision.

That said, this style of comedy just wasn’t for me. After the first few laughs, I found the constant barrage of mishaps and mayhem became repetitive rather than funnier. Judging by the audience around us, many people were thoroughly entertained, so if you’re a fan of broad slapstick comedy, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it. My friend and I, however, left feeling that less might have been more.

Sometimes it’s not about whether a show is good – it’s about whether it’s your kind of funny. Judging by the audience around us, this one found its fans. My friend and I just weren’t among them.

June 18–August 16, 2026

Lindsay Family Stage at Granville Island

For Tickets:

https://artsclub.com/shows/2025-2026/the-play-that-goes-wrong

Art & Culture

Bard: Where Comedy and Tragedy Intersect

Only Shakespeare can take you from light mischief to dark magic in 48 hours.

Jennifer Lines as Mrs. Page and Ashley Wright as Falstaff in Merry Wives of Windsor – 2026. Photo by Emily Cooper.

This weekend I went full-on Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor on Friday and Macbeth on Sunday. It started with comedy and chaos and ended with three mysterious figures, rising ambition, and the unraveling of a man who would become king (a theme that hits close to home for this blog).

Macbeth isn’t just a story about power – it’s about what happens when desire outruns destiny. Desire reaches for the crown; destiny decides whether it actually fits. That clash between longing and fate sets the tone for everything that follows – ambition, paranoia, and the slow, inevitable unraveling of a man who was never meant to wear the crown.

Seeing both a comedy and a tragedy back‑to‑back reminded me why Bard on the Beach is such a Vancouver summer ritual. Whether it’s mischief in Windsor or madness in Scotland, the productions always find a way to make Shakespeare feel alive, modern, and unexpectedly relatable. I must say, the casting in both plays is remarkable – the actors are incredibly multi‑talented.

But back to the first play. I first saw The Merry Wives of Windsor at Bard on the Beach in 2012, and each time the story becomes a slightly different version of the original. I’m not sure if Shakespeare would be rolling in his grave or not, but the 2026 modern twist brings it straight into present‑day Vancouver, set inside a local FIFA‑obsessed community centre – with playful costumes, contemporary touches, and a cheeky energy. It’s one of Shakespeare’s lighter stories, full of schemes, disguises, and characters who feel surprisingly familiar even centuries later. It drew plenty of laughs from the audience. Yes, it’s really silly – but fun.

The Acting Company of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Emily Cooper.

I saw Macbeth on the summer solstice – the longest day of the year – which felt strangely fitting. There’s something about watching one of Shakespeare’s darkest plays while the sky takes its time getting fully dark that makes the whole experience feel even more surreal. The staging, the pacing, the performances – everything felt sharp and intense. It’s a story that always hits hard, and this production leaned into that beautifully.

Munish Sharma and Tess Degenstein. Photo by Emily Cooper.

What struck me most wasn’t the plays themselves, but how differently they landed – one light, one dark, both reinvented for today. That’s the magic of Bard on the Beach: you never quite know what version of Shakespeare you’re going to get, but you always walk away thinking about it.

It’s also worth noting that Christopher Gaze, the founder and artistic director of Bard on the Beach, has been appointed to the Order of Canada – one of the country’s highest civilian honours. While on the subject of who is meant to wear the crown – the recognition will be presented by King Charles, highlighing the impact he’s had on Canadian theatre and on the cultural life of Vancouver. Congratulations Mr. Gaze!

After spending the weekend under the tents, it’s easy to see why his contribution is being recognized at the national level.

By the way, you don’t need to be familiar with Shakespeare to enjoy these plays. Just saying.

For tickets: https://bardonthebeach.org/

beauty

Raconteuse – botanical beauty

From forest to flower

I’ve always like the Rumi phrase “what you seek, is seeking you.”

This botanical skincare line magically fell into my lap at exactly the right moment. Raconteuse sent me three full‑size products to try, and they arrived just as I’d scraped the last drops from my serum and night cream from another natural line I’d been using for months. I was debating whether to reorder or try something new. This is something new.

I gravitate toward clean, organic, cruelty‑free, sustainably sourced products that smell naturally beautiful and actually do something. At the end of the day, we want results. Skincare is a ritual, after all. I’ve even made my own products from scratch and sold them for a while – small‑batch, handcrafted, and ultimately more work than I bargained for.

And because I love a good story behind a brand, this part delighted me: Raconteuse means a woman who is a skilled storyteller. This storytelling happens to be blended with science.

On their website the descriptions of their producs are quite poetic. For instance, they ask you which skincare realm you think your skin belongs to – with a list of realms of course. More fun than asking your skin type. A list of what each product does and all the ingredients can be found on their website (link below).

For several weeks now I’ve been using “Grove of Goodness” – an invigorating day cream that smells heavenly. It’s an elixir brimming with antioxidants, nutrients, and a whisper of citrus. Lightweight yet deeply hydrating, it melts into skin leaving a dewy, radiant finish. I love it. Actually, I’m loving all the products.

At night I’m using “Cascade of Calm” which is a nourishing serum that does some of this: calms inflammation and soothes redness,
Stimulates collagen production for enhanced firmness, brightens tone and smooths texture. What’s not to love about that?

After that I use a soothing but rich night balm on dry patches called “Sea of Serenity.”

I haven’t seen a mermaid appear in my dreams offering me a sparkle from the sea’s hidden depths – but I have woken up to a smoother complexion.

Raconteuse feels like skincare created by someone who understands that beauty isn’t just about results – it’s about ritual, story, and the small moments of care we give ourselves. These products have slipped seamlessly into my routine, and for now, I’m happily staying in this forest-to-flower realm.

My skin is smoother, yes, but more than that, the experience feels like a story worth telling.

If you’d like to explore the line, Raconteuse has given me a code for my readers. Click on the link below and use code Debbie10 when completing your order to get 10% off your first order.

https://raconteuseskincare.com/

Art & Culture

Come From Away – the Musical

Newfoundlanders are a little different from the rest of us Canadians – in the best possible way.

They even speak their own poetic version of English. “Stay where you’re to ‘til I comes where you’re at.” (Translation: Wait right there until I get there.) So if you “come from away,” you might only understand half of what they say…but their actions speak louder than words.

I just went to opening night of the Arts Club Theatre Company’s extraordinary musical Come From Away – now extended for three more weeks at the Stanley in Vancouver. This Tony‑nominated show tells the true story of 7,000 stranded passengers (mostly American and a handful from around the world) diverted to Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11, and the people who welcomed them by opening their hearts and their homes.

Cast of “Come From Away” – taken from website.

Gander, Newfoundland (aka The Rock): “You are here at the start of a moment, on the edge of the world, where the river meets the sea.” It was not what anyone expected. In many ways, it exceeded every expectation of how powerful kindness and community can be.

This musical is now at the top of my list. The cast is exceptional, the story is real and heartfelt, and the music is pure joy. There was even a live orchestra.

One detail that really stayed with me: the animals stranded in the cargo holds – two rare bonobos (similar to chimps), nine cats, and eight dogs, all cared for by local SPCA volunteer Bonnie Harris throughout the five‑day ordeal. The female bonobo even gave birth while in Gander, though the baby did not survive (possibly because of the stress). The audience was later relieved to learn that the female bonobo had a second baby that survived when it was re routed to the Columbus Zoo. Harris’s compassion left such a mark that the Columbus Zoo named the baby bonobo “Gander” in honour of the town. A beautiful reminder of humanity at its best.

Vancouver, go see this.

Come From Away is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). In Partnership with The Citadel Theatre, Edmonton

Book, Music, and Lyrics by
Irene Sankoff & David Hein

The extended run is until August 16 at the Stanley BFL CANADA Stage, 2750 Granville Street, Vancouver. Tickets for the added dates go on sale June 8. Tickets are available from $39 through the Box Office Call Centre at 604.687.1644 or at ArtsClub.com.