Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Before we announce the winners of the 2018 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards…
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
The proof is in the pudding is a strangely apt synopsis of The Art of Degeneration, a solo show by Louis Laberge-Côté. Why so? Because the climax of the show is him dipping his hands in chocolate pudding and smearing it all over this body. But here is the crazy part: it is absolutely appropriate […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Pearle Harbour’s Chautauqua- presented at Theatre Passe Muraille, written and performed by Justin Miller in his Critics’ Pick Award-winning role- is what’s been missing in theatre. With the political climate, we are starving for a noble leader and Pearle Harbour steps up to fill that role. The show is set in a mid-century wartime tent, similar to what […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Echo Productions has uncanny timing. Their show Charlie: Son of Man, a narrative about Charlie Manson, debuted weeks after Charlie Manson’s death. And now Echo & Narcissus, a retelling of the ancient myth with a focus on gender, has debuted in the midst of the Doug Ford government pushing sex education into the dark ages. […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews The Awkward Hug (A) This is a play that uses all the technical aspects of theatre that I love. It’s a monologue (check) that breaks the fourth wall (check) that skews timelines with tangents (check) that uses self-deprecating humour but not too much (check) […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Katharine Ferns is in Stitches (A) Get ready to laugh. Get ready to cry. Get ready to do both at the same time. This is dark comedy that is surprisingly uplifting. Katharine Ferns lays out her past, which is pretty horrible, on the table […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews …The Last Minute Slam (B+) This is a show that solves racism. OK, maybe not, but they logically conclude that they have by the end. That’s what I love about this show: their skewed take on logic brings attention to powerful issues while eliminating the […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
String of Pearls, brought to you by Labour of Love, chronicles the life line of a pearl necklace and it’s connection to the women who wear it. It’s a story of heart ache, of longing, of death and destruction, pettiness, and love. Be prepared for your emotions torun through the spectrum. This is a story […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
On April 16th, 350 artists, arts administrators, arts critics, and arts everything else gathered at The Great Hall in Toronto to celebrate another year of creativity, ambition, talent, and hard work as we looked back on the productions that defined 2017 in Toronto Theatre. With help from sponsors like Dufflet Pastries and our generous patrons […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual…
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual…
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. When Pearle Harbour walked…
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
The Theatre Centre has started 2018 off with a bang. Bears, the newest creation by Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and Punctuate! Theatre, is everything you could hope for in a theatre production. It is filled with surprises, twists and wonder. Floyd, played by the talented Sheldon Elter, is being hunted through the wilderness of western […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
In a strange and morbid way, Echo Productions has exceptional timing. Their debut of Charlie: Son of Man, a theatre production about the murders orchestrated by Charlie Manson, opened just two weeks after the icon died in prison. It is inconceivable that Echo Productions could have planned this but their play was perfectly timed for […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Reflector, the newest production by Theatre Gargantua at Theatre Passe Muraille, is a carnival…
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Theatre Lab’s new musical comedy, currently onstage at the Factory Studio Theatre, can be summarized in one word: clever. The title- The Adventures of Tom Shadow- suggests a Peter Pan-type protagonist and a familiar tale of his far-flung adventures. The opening scene features the expected happy nuclear family at bedtime and, when the parents leave, Tom Shadow takes […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
I went to Two Gentlewomen of Verona by Dauntless City Theatre because it was marketed as intersectional feminism meets Shakespeare. The title alone had gender bender written all over it. Shakespeare has always been pretty cheeky about gender, considering actors in his time period were always men and many of his comedies included disguise and […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Read All Our SummerWorks Reviews HERE Pearle Harbour’s Chautaqua (A+) [Ed. Note: A+ is the highest grade we give but, just for the record, MM’s official submission was “A+++++++”] This is everything I want to see, want to hear, want to be. Pearle Harbour’s stage presence is strong enough to cause you to fall in love, […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Read All Our SummerWorks Reviews HERE White Man’s Indian (A) This is a story that needs to be told and should be told but is not for the faint of heart. Writer Darla Contois explores identity on multiple fronts, the first being the lack of recorded history for Canadian First Nations which causes Eva, the […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Picaza (A) Dark and brooding, Picaza is a new creation by The Inamorata Dance Collective, bringing together contemporary and flamenco dance. Their performance was stunning with one dance that is imprinted in my mind. Using a long white piece of translucent fabric, the entire […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Show Your Flames (A) I have no idea what this show was. A combination of performance art, comedy, lip synching, pop culture, dance and mash ups, this is an artistic expression that will confuse the hell out of you. Show Your Flames moves fast […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Click Here to read Part II of our Ten-Minute Play Festival coverage An InspiraTO Festival show is tapas theatre- six plays that are each ten minutes long in the course of an hour. It functions as a teaser, an amuse-bouche, as to what a playwright can offer. The selection committee for this year’s festival reviewed […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Leaving the Tarragon Theatre after Midsummer, I realized that the play had brought me through a full spectrum of emotions. Happiness, sadness, despair, joy, anxiety, envy, pity, and all of this unusually done, for the most part, through comedy. At its heart, Midsummer is a play about desperation, albeit hidden in the package of a […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
The Orange Dot, a Theatrefront presentation, is all about mansplaining. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years and don’t know what mansplaining is, then this play is going to be an educational experience for you. If you try to prevent mansplaining in your everyday life, then The Orange Dot is […]
Mary-Margaret Scrimger
Tom and Erica It all starts in the darkness, a tiny stage in front of you and the shuffling of a restless audience waiting for the comedian to come on stage. The Toronto Sketch Festival was created 10 years ago with a clear mission: to make Toronto a funnier place to be. As part of […]