Interviewed by dramaturg Jessie Baxter, young playwright Ruby Rae Spiegel spoke about how writing a certain distance from the past helps her produce convincing work: “In high school I wrote a play about middle school, and in college I wrote a play about high school…I like to write when I have a bit of perspective, […]
While perhaps counterintuitive, staging a once-successful revival does not guarantee present-day success at the box office nor an audience enamored with the subject matter presented. The cold, harsh truth is that some plays simply do not age well. The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn, currently running at the Golden Theatre, is one such production that […]
“What the hell just happened?” My first words when the curtain closed are indicative of where this piece is headed, so take a deep breath with me. Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of The Old Times may be unintelligible, but the fault does not necessarily lie with the director, Douglas Hodge, the three-person cast of […]
This is a tricky and charming work. The National Youth Theatre has made something first-rate and empoweringly original with Consensual. It is a discussion of sex but simultaneously a discussion of that discussion, critical of the current discourse yet accepting of a world transformed by porn and marketed sexualisation. Evan Placey’s script is punchy: […]
Rowing (Then They Fight) Writer/director Aaron Jan’s new play about a small town rowing team sports a strong cast delivering well crafted quick-pace dialogue. Each individual arc is, for the most part, clear and engaging, especially those of the contrastingly lovelorn Chris and Rick, played with great pathos and excellent timing by Lauren Griffiths and […]
After a summer off to make way for Panamania, Toronto’s biggest repertory company has returned to regularly scheduled programming with a diverse slate of four new productions running now through the 18th, soon to be followed by returning favourite Spoon River. Here’s the lowdown on their latest: Marat/Sade This weird, bold, complicated, controversial, thoughtful, […]
Its language and rhythms belong more to the French New Wave than a stage, yet La Musica has some inspired instances. Within it, we get to know a couple about to complete their divorce proceedings, the man being played by Sam Troughton and the woman by Emily Barclay. We learn of seduction, attempted murder and […]
Winner of the 2014 Moliere Award for Best Play (France’s highest theatrical honour), Florian Zeller’s The Father is an open, distressing, often humorous but also deeply tragic new play currently showing at Wyndham’s Theatre. Revolving around the lives of Andre, an elderly man with dementia, his carer daughter, Anne, and her family, The Father is […]