Increasingly, some of the most solid theatre on the Toronto scene has come from companies you could classify as “Indie 2.0” (technically an Equity term but one I’ve decided to allocate a bit more freely). These are companies that operate along indie lines, with small-ish budgets and casts, but use union artists. The effect is […]
When I first spoke to Red Light District Artistic Director Ted Witzel in preparation for his 2010 production of Woyzeck, three things stood out to me. The first was his obvious intelligence and sense of artistic adventure- he’s a jumble of 8-syllable words and avant-garde German theatrical philosophy. The second was a heightened social conscience- […]
Choreographer Jose Navas is the clear winner of Innovation-Off 2013, the National Ballet of Canada’s 4-piece showcase of new work (actual title: just Innovation). Navas’s Benjamin Britten-scored ensemble piece Watershed is up first in the lineup and packs the biggest artistic punch. The 20-minute collaboration between creator and dancers is full of invention and beautiful […]
Two very different productions of two of Shakespeare’s most popular plays are currently gracing Toronto stages. One, a clever inside-baseball exploration of Twelfth Night, best suited to the sort of audience who has already seen the melancholy comedy too many times. The other a faithful bare-bones rendering of the bard’s most enduring tragedy, Romeo & […]
The Empty Room’s current production of RC Sherriff’s World War I drama Journey’s End is so much better than it seems on first reflection. When broken down for parts, 98% of it is in fine, working order. Some of that 98% I would even call excellent (Joshua Stodart’s steel-nerved scamp of a Mason, for example, not […]
Richard Curtis is a man who is extraordinarily good at what he does. He writes (and sometimes directs) British romantic comedies and he does it with more consistency than almost anyone else working in that genre. He has more movies on my favourites list than any other writer (even Aaron Sorkin and Nora Ephron top […]
*sigh* It’s now been 2 years since Stratford put on a Shakespeare production truly worthy of the festival stage. Last year’s Cymbeline was pretty good and there are 2 near-great productions in this year’s lineup (Othello and Merchant of Venice) but nothing with the excitement of 2011’s fabulous Twelfth Night and thrilling Titus, or the […]
The straight plays are usually the weakpoint of a Stratford Festival season. With the musically minded Des McAnuff at the helm for the last few years and an untouchable legacy with Shakespeare, usually the musical and classical productions dominate. But in Antoni Cimolino’s first season as Artistic Director, the plays were stronger than ever (though, […]