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reviews

reviews" one of our most gifted clowns" - The Georgia Straight  ,,,the powerhouse that is Lesley Ewen" - Vancouver Courier   "...you want to cheer but are left breatheless" - Tomorrow's Trust

doubt    

Theatre Calgary/Manitoba Theatre Centre,     Calgary/Manitoba, Canada

 

Calgary Sun - Louis B Hobson

As the mother of the child in question, Lesley Ewen has a brief scene with Palk that is devastating not only for what it reveals but for how raw Ewen's performance becomes in such a short time.

 

Winnipeg Free Press – Kevin Prokosh

Although Lesley Ewen is in a single scene as the boy's mother, it is a beauty as she teaches Sister Aloysius a thing or two about living with injustice and the sordid realities of life outside school walls. It is a heartbreaking performance in how Ewen conveys her character's defeat and determination, hurt and hope.

 

Tomorrow’s Trust – John Borst

Ewen’s performance was a tour-de-force; in the brief time she is on stage she has to out-perform and not cave into Sr. Aloysius’ self-righteous crusade to get Fr. Flynn even if it means sacrificing Donald and perhaps Mrs. Mueller’s determination to get Donald an education in the process.  As she leaves the principal’s office you want to cheer but are left breathless.

 

killing caesar 

adapted by charles marowitz   Rubicon Theatre    Vancouver, Canada

 

The Courier – Jo Ledingham

"O! pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth…" is spoken by Caesar's widow Calpurnia (regal and fury-fuelled Lesley Ewen). And it's Calpurnia, all sound and fury signifying everything, who rages  "And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge... shall cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war." When Ewen lets the dogs out, you'd better get out of Rome.

 

titus andronicus  

MadDuck Theatre   Vancouver, Canada

 

Georgia Straight – Colin Thomas

Lesley Ewen brings impressive gravitas and passion to Titus’s sister Marca, a character who provides a balanced and intelligent counterpoint to her more reactive brother.

 

Vancouver Plays – Jerry Wasserman

Cummer…along with Rothery…and Lesley Ewen as the powerful tribune Marca, Titus’ sister (Marcus, his brother, in the original), they make up a triumvirate of fabulous females.

 

The Courier – Jo Ledingham

Although he's a big man, Gordey is eclipsed by the powerhouse that is actor Lesley Ewen in the role of Titus's sister Marca (brother Marcus in Shakespeare's original.) When Ewen draws herself up and lets loose a torrent of rage, everything bends like trees in a hurricane before her fury.

 

ziggurat!  

Leaky Heaven Circus    Vancouver, Canada

 

The Westender – Leanne Campbell

 “Trailing a padded booty that you could serve teacakes on, Lesley Ewen is a scream as Cassandra, Princess of Troy. Of her scenes with  Peter Anderson, (King Agamemnon), the funniest involves him telling the crowd, in a broad semblance of an Australian accent, that he is about to encounter “one of the most dangerous species known to mankind – the independent woman.” When he cracks his whip and commands Cassandra to sit, she offers only a moue of indignation and her empty martini glass for a refill.

 

The Georgia Straight – Alex Varty

“As Orestes, actor and acrobat Colin Heath is brilliant… Lesley Ewen is no less attention-getting as Cassandra, Princess of Troy: looking like  a ‘60’s soul star with her blond wig and pneumatic derriere, she brings new meaning to the term war booty.”

 

birthday boy (a nativity)   

Leaky Heaven Circus    Vancouver, Canada

 

The Georga Straight – Colin Thomas 

“This is Mary's story and Ewen (“The Blessed Virgin Mary”) is one of  our most gifted clowns, wide-eyed and blunderingly innocent… Birthday Boy is wonderfully irreverent without being sacrilegious. When Gabriel (Jamie Long) informs Mary (Lesley Ewen) that "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee," her response is "Eew!"

 

judith–a parting from the body   

Felix Culpa    Vancouver, Canada 

 

The Vancouver Sun - Peter Birnie"

Lesley Ewen positivitely tears into her role as The Servant, acting as catalyst for many of the brilliant little bits of debate between murderer and mistress." 

 

 

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Towns-woman's Guild Dramatic Society's  Production of

a christmas carol   

Riverstone Theatre     Vancouver, Canada

 

The Georgia Straight – Colin Thomas

Lesley Ewen gets it. She plays a woman named Mercedes, who takes on a number of roles, including Bob Cratchit. Mercedes is the victim of an accident that involved 27 shopping carts, and she wears both neck and back braces. Let's face it: a lot of comedy is about our perverse relish in the misfortune of others. That's why it's so funny when, after being bowled over by another actor, Mercedes  desperately tries to hand the address of her osteopath to someone  in the front row. But clowning is about more than that: it's about a total—and oddly invigorating—commitment to an irrational point of view. It's about resilience. That's why Mercedes's plucky good humour is so endearing. That's why you can't help but laugh when all of the other characters are leaping and dancing and Mercedes gamely imitates their leg movements with her hands.

 

wasps   

Origins Theatre Projects     Vancouver, Canada

 

The Georgia Straight – Colin Thomas

“But the real showstopper for me was Lesley Ewen, who plays, among other characters, Marge, the lesbian whose job it is to track down and reclaim stolen library books. As Ewen plays her, Marge looks hilarious – the padded bum, the traces of facial hair, the single eyebrow, awkward stance, and baleful eyes. But there’s more to it than that. This is an inspired performance – so intuitive it always keeps you on the edge of your seat with its quirky changes of rhythm and careening mood swings….Oprah…as a bug-eyed, street-talking pickaninny…an ululating woman in a chador who’s kicking the bejesus out of the Xerox machine…”