Theatre Smash’s production of Marius von Mayenburg’s dystopic one act The Ugly One is a whole lot of funny and whole whack of unsettling all wrapped into a tiny 1 hour package. Director Ashlie Corcoran and designer Camellia Koo pair to stage Maja Zade’s superb translation of the excellent play in a unique and […]
Ranking: #2 My first tears of the 2011 Stratford Festival Season came in the Studio Theatre one afternoon as I took in a play about which I knew nothing. John Mighton’s original work The Little Years was the surprise delight of the season, a new play I loved so much that it usurped some […]
Ranking: #4 After I read late Stratford artistic director Richard Monette’s beautiful memoir This Rough Magic, I couldn’t wait to buy a copy of the play that made him famous. But when I finally got to read great Canadian playwright Michel Tremblay’s groundbreaking 2-man play Hosanna, I was surprised by how much I didn’t like […]
Ranking: #5 Frank Galati’s stage adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath is incredibly demanding. With no fewer than 61 characters (not including “Travellers, Guards, Strikers, Citizens and Hoopermen”), an on-stage river, a rainstorm, ever-changing locales and a moving vehicle of remarkable size, it’s a wonder that any company would consider attempting a production. But if […]
Ranking: #11 Alright, Pinter is not my thing. In fact, he is so far from my taste that I found myself getting progressively annoyed at his characters and their seeming inability to make a decent decision about their lives. I have a tendency to not think nutso people are interesting or metaphorical, I usually just […]
I think it’s delightful when I can just enjoy theatre; it doesn’t happen often that I can sit back with a glass of Pinot Grigio and appreciate a play like a good sitcom. Sugar Cereal Productions’ launch and world-premiere of Girl Hopping was such a night. Housed in the infamous Club Oberon, Girl Hopping is a sweet, tarty […]
Alumnae Theatre’s current production of After Mrs. Rochesteris somewhat of a mess. Polly Teale’s uneven script tells the story of Jean Rhys, a novelist who grew up in the West Indies, which inspired her to write a prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre about the life of Bertha, Mr. Rochester’s troubled first wife who hailed […]
I’ve been to many productions in the Tarragon theatre but until recently I had never been to a Tarragon Theatre production. Turns out it’s a remarkably capable company with strong production values and solid actors. In the hands of director Richard Rose, Sarah Ruhl’s clever play on modern medicine, domestic power and female sexuality is […]