It’s over-expansive and yet at its most expansive it’s simultaneously at its best. Disregard (or don’t) the critics who call the ending effusive mush or ’emotional blackmail’. The ending is the best part; it’s the only good part, in fact. A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer, now at the Dorfman, is a Serious […]
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There’s a lot to love about this series. The way it deals with society’s criminalization of clothing, of black culture and black people. The heavy stylizing of Harlem and the characters who inhabit it, going past caricature and into something deeper, into what it means to be black. But I think my favorite part of […]
Shae Dupuy is aiming to take on the country music scene with a view to climbing to the top, and she’s got what it takes to get there — a great voice, fresh songwriting skills, and Instagram-friendly looks don’t hurt her case either. She’s about to drop Brave, an EP, after a year or so […]
Big British playwright David Hare offers The Red Barn, a new work which adapts La Main, a novel by prolific Belgian Georges Simenon. Simenon was a guy who wrote thrillers and he wrote a lot of them, and Hare mentions in the programme that his novels generally concerned those at the ‘bottom of society’. For […]
The CW’s newest lighthearted high-concept show about a grown-ass woman is just as refreshing and fun as Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, its forebears in the network’s chosen secondary genre. Gone are the too-hot-to-function teenagers and their soapy dramatics (Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, 90210), making the network’s lineup a remarkably strong mixture of […]
American Housewife is hella bad. Like, Mike & Molly plus Kevin Can Wait crossed with Real O’Neals and the “Mitchell thinks Cameron is too spontaneous” storylines on Modern Family kind of bad. Like, bad. I generally like Katy Mixon so I wanted this ABC sitcom, her first starring vehicle, to be good. It’s not. Of […]
Yes yes yes and once again yes. In five years covering the Canadian Opera Company, I’ve never seen a rep season with this much storytelling depth and theatrical impact. I’ve never seen a perfect balance between homegrown talent, international stars, and homegrown international stars. I’ve never seen female characters with this much agency and this many […]
A powerful and poignant musical production from director Thom Southerland, who yet again manages to deliver an incredibly high calibre of fringe theatre. Ragtime boasts an accomplished score, intriguing story and cast and creatives who more than equal the quality of the source material. Tom Rogers and Toots Bucher’s set design is instantly striking, […]