Toronto’s (Canada’s?) most ambitious professional theatre company is undoubtedly Soulpepper. The artist-led organization has never been shy about making their mark on the city but lately they’re expanding at a rate worth noting. This is especially noticeable at Christmas time, a season which used to consist of just two signature productions remounted in alternating years […]
We’re grading on a curve here because, well, you’ve seen a CBS procedural, right? They’re outlandish, over dramatic, formulaic and cheesy- those are the rules and, while they can be worked around, they are never truly broken. So, grading curve, keep that in mind as I proceed to tell you that Scorpion is intermittently pretty […]
The Force Awakens was the female-led Heroes Journey I’d dreamed of through a tomboy childhood. Rogue One is just flat out an amazing Star Wars movie. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story may be the most aptly named film to come out this year. It’s a fantastically well-made, well-loved Star Wars film that manages […]
Am I the only person who actually enjoys clichés once in a while? I mean, not every production is the most inventive but is that really the worst thing? When your job title is “critic” it can be difficult to just…. enjoy. Old Red Lion Theatre’s production of Benighted reminded me that sometimes a cliché […]
Nigerian-born King Ajibade describes his music as “world fusion” – a danceable style with a savor that’s definitely tropical, incorporating elements of Caribbean, Latin and African musical genres with classic RnB and rap. In Yoruba, his name means “one that wakes into royalty” and keeping that connection with his heritage is another important thread throughout […]
Rosemary Doyle’s Red Sandcastle Theatre holds a lot for a small venue, seating up to 70, and almost every seat was taken on one of the first snowy nights of winter. It’s an unassuming place – and you definitely don’t want to arrive too early, especially on a cold night, because they really mean it […]
I was a full half hour into opening night of The Life when I heard the first not-so-great vocal performance. There wasn’t another in the 2+ hours that followed. There’s very little good acting to be found in this hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold story but, by god, Call It a Day Productions has found some great voices for […]
Having completed my first run-through of Dishonored 2 (the sequel to the excellent 2012 original from Arkane Studios), I feel some sort of pride in my ‘sneak around and don’t kill anyone unless absolutely necessary’ approach. Sure, I probably didn’t have as much fun as I could have had if I had taken the ‘high […]