Coal Mine Theatre’s Chief Engineers Diana Bentley & Ted Dykstra stand out among Canadian theatre heads for the consistency of their taste level in both script selection and personnel. Not every production at Coal Mine will work for every audience member but every production is thoughtfully programmed, expertly produced, and brought to life by a […]
Annie Baker is good at making her stories the story. The Flick, a three-hour epic (or dirge, if you prefer) dazzled and bored audiences across North America before taking its talents to Toronto. After an off-Broadway debut in 2017, Antipodes now prompts audiences at the Coal Mine Theatre to examine the purpose of stories – […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2019 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Nicole Underhay has long been one of my favourite actresses in the country. In Coal Mine Theatre’s hilarious and brutal Hand to God, she weaponized her natural sunniness to deliver a brilliantly dark and perfectly pitched […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2019 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Five years ago, I interviewed the effusive and self-effacing Sergio Di Zio for the first time. Though he’s known for his screen work (you probably know him from Flashpoint but he’s in everything), he was nominated for […]
What do you get when you combine sharply written dialogue, deft direction and an all-star ensemble? Coal Mine Theatre’s production of Marjorie Prime. In 90 minutes, I was taken on a journey that challenged the way I perceived the world around me, my relationships and my ideals. For me, it was Nick Blais’ lighting design […]
Coal Mine Theatre debuted with a Stephen Adly Guirgis text back in 2014 and his style of hard-hitting, emotionally complex American drama/black comedy has become something of the house style in the seasons since. Their return to the playwright isn’t as impactful as their debut with a more uneven cast and a less enthralling script but the floor […]
The Coal Mine’s presentation of Knives in Hens is a beautiful rendition of the mid-nineties play written by David Harrower — Director Leora Morris has skillfully and lovingly brought the Scottish work to Toronto in a way that captures the audience well for the 80 minute production. A small farming community’s characters know little more than what […]
Hand to God is a really fucking weird play. Excuse the language but there’s really no other way to fully get the point across. This is some weird shit. Playwright Robert Askins has crafted a pastel-coloured Southern Gothic puppet show about demonic possession and religious hypocrisy that’s also a pointed mental health allegory and a […]