\Theatre Passe Muraille’s latest 90-minute mainstage offering tells a long life story in the short moments that precede death. A reverential bio-play about a man of both god and science, playwright Adam Seybold’s The De Chardin Project tells a fascinating story but makes its subject far less fascinating than the world he observes and changes. […]
Studio 180 is a great company that consistently produces interesting, well-executed work. It’s therefore extremely unfortunate that no one seems to see their shows. The new Theatre Centre is rarely full but there have been performances of NSFW where it’s been nearly empty and, if it weren’t for a stray mid-run Facebook post, I wouldn’t […]
I woke up on November 27th 2014 at the age of 25. Now, as I sit drinking a Stella at a jazz bar in Kensington Market (Shafton Thomas Group, Thursday Nights at Poetry– you should go!) , I’m back somewhere near where I started. But for a few hours there in the middle- between 1 […]
Warning: Extreme negativity ahead. Why don’t you read Rachael’s piece about all the Friends Thanksgiving episodes instead? Tapestry Briefs: Booster Shots (Tapestry) Conceptually, this evening of short opera scenes tied together with corresponding shots of curated liquors was a brilliant idea. How do you battle every simplistic but not altogether unfounded accusation of “long, boring, old, […]
Sextet (Tarragon) This new theatrical dramedy from Morris Panych is a six-person character piece that plays out almost in real time between three motel rooms occupied by a string sextet on tour during a snow storm. It’s emotionally complex but conceptually simple, a combination that pretty much always reaps great rewards, particularly with a cast […]
I was at a friend’s bachelorette party in New York when the second episode of The Newsroom‘s final season aired and I thus found myself in an unfamiliar situation- hearing the Newsroom reaction before witnessing the thing to which people were reacting. Even more unfamiliar was the tenor of said reaction. People liked it. They […]
The new National Ballet of Canada season has begun with the emotional gutpunch that is Manon. My intention was to review that production- the knockout leading performance from Jillian Vanstone and scene-stealing guest turn by American Ballet Theatre’s James Whiteside (whom I’d really like to see the National steal); the brutality of the choreography and […]
The history of Shakespeare Bash’d, up to and including their current production of Macbeth at the Monarch Tavern, reveals a pattern of wonderful comedy and middling tragedy. Some of this has to do with the Fringe Festival comedies being shorter and more fun, enlivened by the festival environment. But, mostly, I think it comes down […]