VANCOUVER SUN
“For all its bluster and bombast, this is a very subtle show. Filled with laughs and lots of political digs, Ali & Ali 7 also builds beautifully across a single act of 90 minutes, hitting home with a tough conclusion about Canadian ignorance and intransigence”
– Peter Birnie

THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“I think of the earnest, clever, vaguely twisted minds behind the Ali & Ali plays as our own private versions of Bertolt Brecht. Like that angry playwright, who so fervently pursued one Marxist mission or another, this trio of Vancouver satirists wants you to learn something about the (horrible, capitalist, racist) world while you’re out at the theatre.”
– Michael Harris

VANCOUVER SUN
“Mixie and the Halfbreeds is an enjoyable experience in experimental theatre”
– Peter Birnie

THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT
“The show looks and sounds fantastic. Yamamoto turns the five tall white panels in Barbara Clayden’s masterfully minimalist set into an amazing variety of shapes. Joelysa Pankanea’s simple music is eerily effective. Yamamoto has the actors employ a language of hand gestures that is almost but not quite independent of their words, which results in a witty and mysterious juxtaposition. The most impressive element is Yamamoto’s use of a chorus of seven women. All wear identical blond wigs and robin’s-egg blue dresses. At one point, Mixie and Trixie, who are sharing a nightmare, find themselves lost in a forest of blonds. The chorus members stand on boxes with their backs to the audience. Their stiff arms hold their skirts out to their sides, and they sway. It’s fantastic”
– Colin Thomas

REVIEW VANCOUVER
“For a show that was originally intended for serialized radio, Mixie and the Halfbreeds is certainly visually gratifying. Both Wong and Manning have a compelling stage presence. Their non-stop switching between the cartoonish plaid tailcoats and Barbara Clayden’s more stylish clothing keep the audience piqued.”
– John Jane

“So awesome. Just so random and no mistakes.”
– JunHong, 10 years old

GEORGIA STRAIGHT
“If you need proof that Vancouver is one of the most exciting theatre cities on the continent, head on down to Hive2. And get on it; Friday and Saturday are already sold out.”
– Colin Thomas

THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT: "Commands our attention"
... for this reading the company decided to parcel our Corrie's words to a group of 11 community-based actors, ranging in age from 11 to 60. The effect was powerful and moving, underscoring the broader resonances of Corrie's uniquely personal story ... an intimate portrait of a young woman passionately committed to justice and willing to make enormous sacrifices in its pursuit. The personal and political are inextricably intertwined in Corrie's clear, thoughtful voice.

VANCOUVERPLAYS.COM: “... both educational and moving in an impressive, understated performance by Adrienne Wong.”
– Jerry Wasserman

VANCOUVER COURIER: Remarkable play not so controversial
“A handsome, shocking production...My Name is Rachel Corrie is a remarkable play.”
– Jo Ledingham

THE VANCOUVER SUN: Corrie’s a forceful piece of agitprop
“excellent lighting by Itai Erdal and video design by Candelario Andrade create a thouroughly engaging forum for what is essentially an articulate diatribe.”
– Peter Birnie

PLAYS INTERNATIONAL
“To see Tideline you have to be curious and patient. Tideline is mostly compelling, mostly fascinating, often casting a spell, with a change of scene and focus every few minutes. Only a genius could get away with such chaos of styles and multiplicity of themes.”

The following paragraph was cut for length by the publishers

“The co-directors, Camyar Chai and Katrina Dunn, are also responsible for ‘scenographic design’ (by the way, we still seek words – mise en scene? – for shows where set, lights, sound and technology are totally integrated.) The set is simple, pleasing and functional, a curve of vertical strings, which might be bars, allowing both for physical action with string and slow mysterious entrances out of shadows, with a curved train track in front for silent efficient entry of props. Daniel Arnold is the young man, a solid core with a whirlwind of fantastic events around him. Zinaid Memisevic, a Yugoslavian, plays the father, with a strong accent. Seven others play up to eight parts each. Some of these actors are very experienced, but don’t have the opportunity for depth, only for convincing disguises.”
– Malcolm Page

VANCOUVER SUN
“Co-directors Camyar Chai and Katrina Dunn design an attractive forum... with a semi circular arch of tall vertical strinkgs to be plucked and played with looming behind a curved track.”
– Peter Birnie

THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT
“Tideline is thematically ambitious and this production [...] is extremely well acted and physically handsome.”
– Colin Thomas

VANCOUVER COURIER: "Thespians Liberated"
Audiences tired of the totalitarianism of most local theatre can break free at Hive. Eleven companies each create an intimate short piece and perform it for, at most, 20 people at a time, at repeated intervals over the evening. The hook? You can choose which pieces you want to see.

THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT: "Wildly Successful HIVE Event Still Has Audiences Buzzing"
HIVE blew my mind. It's one of the most exciting artistic events I've ever experienced ... Neworld Theatre's trip to the embalming room is a stunner ... I relished everything I saw. This evening will be the stuff of legend.

VANCOUVERPLAYS.COM: With the help of the $60,000 Alcan Award Neworld received last year, Youssef and Chai reconceptualized and rewrote the script, and significantly redesigned the production … the ultimate value of the play comes from its complex, comical, contradictory response to that question: what do we know about the Middle East?

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: "As Puzzling as the Pyramids"
...a minor miracle not merely of adaptation but of historical translation too. Adrift highlights the way we suffer the same losses over and over again, raining revenge on revenge. Our struggle, in essence, never changes.

THE TELEGRAM: "Drifting Characters Find Right Course"
Visually and acoustically the production is evocative and appealing, with subtle soundscape and striking visual effects...

VANCOUVER COURIER: "From Russia With Love"
Utterly Remarkable. It's one (glorious) thing to translate Gogol's short story "The Overcoat" into movement an music, but it's quite another to adapt Fyodor Dostoevsky's fat, philosophical novel "Crime and Punishment" into under three hours of thrilling theatricality. Vancouver actor and director James Fagan Tait has done it-brilliantly. Thank you, Neworld Theatre, Vancouver Moving Theatre, PuSh festival and producer Camyar Chai for laying out this feast.

GEORGIA STRAIGHT: "Crime Honours Grand Themes"
Neworld Theatre's take on Dostoyevsky's epic novel is a wonder ... The opening image is a stunner: 20 actors fill the stage in a grid formation wearing the somber colours of St. Petersburg, 1865 .... Pankanea's music is deceptively simple; its repetitions become haunting, its big, deep chords sink into you ... Tait deserves gratitude for transforming the enormous book into three successful hours of theatre ... These are grand themes, and this production honours them with vast scale and understated beauty.

VANCOUVER SUN: "Visionary Mix brings on Crime and Punishment"
Crime and Punishment has been so successfully translated from page to stage that this wholly local production deserves an international spotlight ... All in all it's an experience that's not to be missed.

VANCOUVERPLAYS.COM: "Crime and Punishment"
Crime and Punishment is a solid and sometimes spectacular rendering of the brilliant book ... strong acting, beautiful music, and an intelligent, uncompromising theatrical narrative ... this is an admirable, ambitious and exciting play.

VANCOUVER SUN: "A Remarkable Dreamscape"
Neworld Theatre brings about two hours of joyous escape from the Bush regime’s relentless campaign against Islam. It’s hard to know where to begin with praise fro the swirl of drama, comedy, music and dance. There are astonishing performances... Then there’s a harem of young women [...] whose ensemble work is superb. Kudos to director Glynis Leyshon for weaving such a wonderful tapestry, made all the more a must-see (and must-hear, and must-experience) event by the show’s technical elements.

WESTENDER: "It's Damn Fun"
...best described as a cabaret about the Persian court... The joy was obvious and, at times, infectious. One hilarious moment was when the Queen deems it time for her son the King to produce an heir and his entire harem piles on top of hum, until they form a giant, humping mountain.

THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT
This production contains so much sensuality per square inch that, by the end, my body just wanted to dance. Asylum of the Universe is Chai’s freewheeling musical account of the first three years of the reign of Nasser E'din Shah. ... The songs revealed the riches of their textures, emotion, and poetry. There are many contributions, but the  central influence on this show's rhythmically and harmonically complex score is keyboard virtuoso Marguerite Witvoet. Director Glynis Leyshon creates passages of winning theatricality... the bath, when it came, was glorious.

THE VANCOUVER COURIER
The world that Neworld Theatre creates in Asylum of the Universe is not a place you'd want to seek asylum. Not unless you were planning to have your head violently separated from your neck, that is. Playwright Camyar Chai expands and clarifies from his earlier Opiate Karim into this full-length story of absolute power corrupting absolutely. It's very Brechtian in its use of song, dance and a curious mingling of humour with serious political and moral issues. ... The juxtaposition of the sublime and ridiculous appears to be Chai’s trademark. Asylum of the Universe ends on a qualifiedly optimistic note, "There must always be more than one choice." This rings out loud and clear in view of Bush's war on Iraq.

NOW (TORONTO): "Ali The Greatest" - 4 Stars, Critic's Pick, Highly Recommended
Need a reminder of how smart, relevant and entertaining live theatre can be? Then check out The Adventures of Ali & Ali And The Axes Of Evil. Suggesting everything from a Bob Hope visit-the-troops vehicle to an old-style minstrel show, it cleverly targets any number of issues, from earnest immigrant plays to corporate re-branding. The show's chief satiric mission, though, is to expose the xenophobic finger-pointing and hysteria of our neighbours to the south ... Chai and Youssef deliver their scathing words with jaw-dropping energy and precision ... (though) the quips about current political players tie Ali and Ali to its time, its uncompromising look at how we deal with history and culture in the theatre makes it universal.  

CBC RADIO: Live Review
A vicious and viciously funny satire of life in the New American Empire, Ali and Ali is a hilarious and eye opening evening of political theatre - extremely politically-incorrect political theatre. And it’s not a well-made play by any means. It's like they took 100 ideas and 1000 jokes and threw them against the wall. Fortunately 95 of the ideas and 950 of the jokes stick ... Youssef and Chai are wonderful together, performing strange and brilliant characters strangely and brilliantly - with a remarkable amount of subtlety and nuance.

VANCOUVER SUN: "How To Skewer Liberal Smugness"
Anyone with the smarts to see through the mass of mendacity that passes for fact these days will appreciate this clever, cutting cabaret act ... A wild ride with talented actors where pacing is never a problem, Ali & Ali is a 100 minute slap at Western complacency that entertains as it tries to enlighten ... Ali & Ali never veers from reminding its audience that liberal smugness is of little help in the fight to help tens of millions of refugees ... The message isn't hammered home as screed ... In fact Ali & Ali is so thoroughly thought-out that it manages to skewer just about every target it seeks while keeping us entertained.