The Royal Court’s associate designer, Chloe Lamford, got five writers ‘exploring performance through language, physicality and the power of the imagination’. They wrote a piece each. I caught two of those. I’ll be writing this review in past tense because the plays were on for three nights, and I wanted time to think over them. […]
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche pined after her and she rejected his multiple proposals of marriage. She was the muse for German-language Poet Rainer Maria Rilke who fell in love with her and she remained his confidante for life. She was one of the first female psychoanalysts having convinced Sigmund Freud to accept her into his inner […]
Echo Productions’ latest production, Context, attempts to recreate the subjective experience of anxiety. One hour long, the show first depicts the evening of Jamie, a burgeoning artist, who attends an art show after being absent from the community for quite some time. They then retrace the same events, but from Jamie’s perspective, highlighting her emotional […]
We all have bad experiences with teachers; some are worse than others. Jam tells the story of a history teacher named Bella (Jasmine Hyde) who, haunted by a rough past with an old student, has moved towns in an attempt to start a new life. Ten years later, Kane (Harry Melling) visits her classroom in […]
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, […]
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 […]