Trayvon Martin’s death marks one of the most significant moments in the history of the hooded sweatshirt (henceforth referred to as a hoodie). The hoodie has been made to seem synonymous with Black American culture, but it’s also lent its stylings to thug culture, criminal culture, “badassery” culture and anonymizing culture. As an item of […]
Written by Jordan Tannahill, directed by Eric Brubacher and Cara Spooner, Concord Floral is currently opening Canadian Stage’s 2016-2017 season. To top it all off, just a few days ago, the play earned Tannahill a nomination for a Governor General’s Award. The play centres around Concord Floral, an old abandoned greenhouse in Vaughn nesting within […]
In one sense, it’s the ultimate indulgence to a craving no-one asked for. I don’t mean “ban experiment; bring on the potboilers”, I mean that this production feels irrelevant, and that irrelevance is compounded by the awkward pose of its prose. No’s Knife is an adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s obscure mini-tales, Texts for Nothing, and […]
A very accomplished production of a show that boasts an utterly enchanting score, Floyd Collins is sophisticated, intriguing and beautifully performed with some truly breath-taking moments. It is clear that every detail of this carefully produced musical has been considered meticulously, with the piece emanating waves of meaning and feeling. Instantly you know you are in […]
If it takes seven people to tell a story, you hope it’s a good story. Luckily, The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas is a good story and a gripping performance. At the start of the production, the audience is tremendously confused. There is a guy named George who had bad luck in love and in life, but […]
Noises Off Did we need another 70s-set backstage theatre farce mere months after Jitters? No. But Soulpepper’s production of Noises Off made me laugh louder and with more obnoxious uncontainable shrieks than anything else I’ve seen this year so I’ll welcome the repetition. Simon Fon’s fight and stunt work was still too careful and a […]
Adapting a novel for the stage is certainly no easy feat. Sacrifices and changes must be made to slim down what can be a lengthy and detailed narrative into a coherent, streamlined and more visual medium. The risk lies in the impact this conversion can have on the end-product, specifically whether what works on the […]
We live in a world that is full of people. We see some of them every day, we recognize the big names and the prominent celebrities, but we also face familiar individuals, people that interact with us on the interpersonal level, individuals who do not affect the world at large, but small parts, microcosms, samples […]