“It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but that you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it.” Sherlock Holmes was right – such is the reality of being a Watson. No, I am not simply talking about Holmes’ friend, Dr. John H. Watson. As […]
Increasingly, some of the most solid theatre on the Toronto scene has come from companies you could classify as “Indie 2.0” (technically an Equity term but one I’ve decided to allocate a bit more freely). These are companies that operate along indie lines, with small-ish budgets and casts, but use union artists. The effect is […]
Choreographer Jose Navas is the clear winner of Innovation-Off 2013, the National Ballet of Canada’s 4-piece showcase of new work (actual title: just Innovation). Navas’s Benjamin Britten-scored ensemble piece Watershed is up first in the lineup and packs the biggest artistic punch. The 20-minute collaboration between creator and dancers is full of invention and beautiful […]
If you have ever taken public transportation, congratulations, you have shared a common life experience with a handful of complete strangers. For a brief moment, your lives collided in transit. Like a good New Yorker, I generally live in my own headphone-generated musical bubble on the subway, but, unlike most New Yorkers, I do not […]
There are a large number of suspicious deaths occurring at the Walter Kerr Theatre, and, strangely enough, all of the victims bear striking resemblances to one another – and to Jefferson Mays, the gifted actor who portrays every doomed D’Ysquith family member in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Gentleman’s Guide is an artistically […]
Tucked away within Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood, 14 Markham Street is an inconspicuous-looking building. This domestic veil, however, belies the existence of hub14 – the hotbed incubator of independent contemporary performance that is cosily nestled inside. The space may feel tight, but imaginations are by no means as confined. Currently showing inside is director and […]
Let’s start with the good news- within DJ Sylvis’ long-awaited new play The Nefarious Bed & Breakfast there lies a founding idea that is incredibly strong. What happens when a super villain wants out? Say he just wants to settle down, run a quaint little establishment with a focus on customer service. Will the so-called […]
I like Kat Sandler a lot. She’s one of Toronto’s most consistently excellent young playwrights, always offering up vivid characters, spry dialogue, fabulous pacing and unique plots. But Sucker, the first two-act piece I’ve seen from her, is way better than typically good Sandler. It’s identifiably her- that wondrous wit is still there in spades; […]