Some uncomfortably personal context: I just had a kid. Attempting to be realistic about the amount of time this website takes to run, I was planning to start maternity leave right around now and cut theatre reviewing from our coverage entirely for the rest of the year. But, when my son arrived two months early, […]
Before we announce the winners of our 2024 Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. The final performer in our series this year is Artist of the Year nominee Qasim Khan. In 2024, Qasim starred in three very different, very challenging, and highly lauded productions including Coal Mine’s Hedda Gabler and […]
Quite possibly the most high profile Canadian theatre production of the year, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Canadian Stage is a big, flashy production complete with high profile script, household names, a totally unnecessary rotating stage, and even a last minute behind the scenes shakeup. But despite its theatrical event status and […]
Last Landscape (Bad New Days in association with Common Boots Theatre at Buddies in Bad Times through Jan 26) The surface joy of this inventive and thoughtful piece allows the audience a meditative break from the noise of the modern world. Almost entirely wordless, Last Landscape sees a company of five labourers use the detritus […]
Co-written by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan and directed by Lauzon, and originally produced in 2022 at the Stratford Festival, this Canadian Stage remount depicts the story of a fictional residential school in Northern Ontario in 1939. An English teacher, anticipating a visit by King George VI, enlists her students in a production of All’s […]
Originally set to premiere in 2020 after a long development process, it feels as though Britta Johnson & Sara Farb’s musical collaboration Kelly vs. Kelly has been in the “hotly anticipated” category forever. It’s easy to understand why with buzzy proven talents writing the book (Farb) and music & lyrics (Johnson) and all The Musical […]
At about the fifteen minute mark of seeing this show, a thought crossed my mind that whined, “Oh (insert expletive) me, is this gonna be art with a capital (insert expletive) A?” But what I found myself instead was a state of deep intimacy, emotional connection and an environmental love. From the theatre performance group […]
After two years of cancellations, a series of tentative theatre-ish offerings, and more than a few false starts, Toronto’s theatre companies are coming back. The journey towards a normal theatrical experience has taken place a little bit then seemingly all at once as my once-bare calendar suddenly doesn’t have a night off for weeks. Of […]