Age of Arousal (Factory Theatre) The best thing I’ve seen at the Factory Theatre in ages, Linda Griffiths’ Age of Arousal is funny and sad and executed with plenty of pathos to balance its slight lecturing vibe. As the lone man in the play, Sam Kalilieh is the exact kind of charming that leaves you […]

The use of white makeup as a base for exaggerated features has become a fairly standard practice in productions with a sense of heightened reality. This month in Toronto there are three shows all making use of the convention, albeit in wildly different ways.   Trudeau & Levesque Their distinctive makeup is arguably the most […]

Warning: Extreme negativity ahead. Why don’t you read Rachael’s piece about all the Friends Thanksgiving episodes instead? Tapestry Briefs: Booster Shots (Tapestry) Conceptually, this evening of short opera scenes tied together with corresponding shots of curated liquors was a brilliant idea. How do you battle every simplistic but not altogether unfounded accusation of “long, boring, old, […]

Patrons are standing in the lobby of the Big Picture Cinema – yes, cinema! – many of whom know Paul Bellini well. I even strike a conversation with him myself as I took a writing class of his last year. Bellini kindly excuses himself as he has received word that it is, finally, okay for […]

As two actresses slyly emerge from a heap of garbage, Renata (Mina James) is pushed along by her mystic uncle named Doctor Garbage (Richard Zeppieri) on a rolling ladder denoting the exit of a plane and, subsequently, a customs booth. The apprehension and fatigue revealed in this young lady’s eyes, so vividly depicted by James, […]