Toronto has some killer young actresses, a few of whom have found particularly big showcases in small productions currently on Toronto stages. Below are a few of note, in order of impact. Changeling; A Grand Guignol for Muderous Times (Desiderata Theatre Co.) There’s a lot to like about Harrison Thomas’ brutal and inventive production […]
There’s only one more week to see The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? playing at Unit 102 Theatre, and see it you should. Leroy Street Theatre’s production is a stunning example of the excellent indie theatre scene currently flourishing in Toronto. Directed by Christ Bretecher, this staging of Edward Albee’s play about a man who […]
The latest production at the Storefront Theatre is a stop-and-go situation. There are long swaths where I struggled to stay engaged; meandering monologues from playwright Jason Maghanoy’s broad characters in a time and place surprisingly ill defined considering the seeming importance of time and place in Maghanoy’s underdeveloped story about an outlaw unsuccessfully hanged. It’s […]
John Steinbeck’s novella is such a staple of middle and high school reading lists that it may be easy (in my experience, at least) for it to blend into a series of vaguely recalled Western frontier archetypes typical of The American Novel, ranches and all. Unit 102’s intimately staged production of the author’s self-penned stage […]
Scarberia (Young People’s Theatre) As the lights dimmed on Evan Placey’s coast-jumping, Shakespeare-referencing, mind-bending one-act about two sets of teenage boys tied together by a young woman who goes missing in Scarborough, Ontario and shows up in Scarborough, England, the early-high school audience began muttering that it was “too complicated” and “confusing”. It is really […]
The Archivist as a title for a performance piece suggests an exploration of a reserved, organized and knowledgeable figure. It can also suggest someone with a degree of detachment from the material they are curating; when I think of archivists, I think of slightly senior employees who labour away in the bowels of an institution, […]
Heather Litteer is not a stripper or a prostitute or a junky who will go to any length to score a fix – but, as she explains at the beginning of her new play Lemonade, she plays one on television and in films. Litteer’s autobiographical play explores her disappointing type-casted acting career as a sexualized […]
Spur-of-the-Moment Shakespeare Collective just announced the details (April 24th, The Rivoli) of their upcoming Shakesbeers Showdown. It’s the fifth iteration of the ever-expanding event and this year they’ve added Wolf Manor Theatre Collective (they’re an intense group, should be fun to watch) and Shakespeare at Play (like, the app? Intriguing) to the list of companies […]