I was shocked as I walked into the completely transformed space of Artscape Youngplace to see the Toronto Premier of Bad Jews presented by the Koffler Centre of the Arts. Completely decked out with risers, a lighting rig, a full stage and even a kitchen sink(!) I was amazed and slightly wary of the time […]
Soulpepper’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow is Enuf is now on at the Yonge Centre. Ntozake Shange’s play was originally written in 1974, but still resonates today as deeply relevant. Directed by Djanet Sears, the show depicts seven women, each distinguished by different colours, representing every colour of the rainbow, as […]
I’m gaslighting myself in going to the big shows. Shows that scream, shows that flash, shows that flail their banality around like spaghetti and people clap. They clap! They clap. Why review? It’s hard to be in a room with 890 people who probably disagree with you. I wasn’t in love with Angels; I don’t […]
The final offering of the Canadian Stage Spotlight Festival: Australia was The Return by Circa, a genre-defying combination of cirque and opera. The stage is shared equally between the circus artists and the live chamber ensemble, with the former occupying stage right, and the latter stage left. An imposing black wall spans the width of […]
Two Birds One Stone “Some of this is true and some of it is not” Natasha Greenblatt says to openTwo Birds One Stone, which premiered as part of the Why Not Theatre’s Riser Project, Thursday night. But co-star and creator Rimah Jabr, disagrees. It’s all true, she tells us. What unfolds is an aptly named […]
Developed and collectively dramaturged by Public Recordings- a theatrical dance company with a distinctively eclectic aesthetic- Evan Webber’s alternative gospel narrative is a little bit biblical adaptation, a little bit dystopian allegory, and a little bit sacrilegious fan fiction. Long-haired and tunic-clad, Ishan Davé repeatedly declares “I am Jesus” and we combine the evidence before […]
It was an Event. Jez Butterworth is The Playwright. An Architect. Racy and gnomic. Not a priori great—David Hare was The Playwright and he’s made no great work since Skylight. But look at any recommendations of the century’s best plays: Jerusalem ranks one. Since 2009 Butterworth’s done minor work, like The River, and disconcertingly/reassuringly added […]
Meeting by Antony Hamilton and Alisdair Macindoe Sharing the space with 64 custom designed (Macindoe)…