For anyone seeking reassurance that opera still has a place in the modern world, Maometto II is an excellent place to start. Directed by David Alden, the COC’s current production (onstage until May 14th) blends dramatic tension and modern themes to create an utterly compelling performance that is difficult to tear yourself away from. Luca […]
Kahn (playwright Fabrizio Filippo), a tech genius, has died and his friends and colleagues, both intimate and estranged, are summoned to an unremarkable airport hotel for the reading of the will. Once they are there, Kahn continues to manipulate the strings from beyond the grave. There are baffling levels of bureaucracy, and a man named Quentin […]
I had doubts about London improv: we lack institutions (the equivalent UCBs and ImprovOlympics)…
An intelligent and knowing comedy musical that remains totally aware of itself throughout, not shying away from its farcical nature but rather embracing it. This show is fun but polished and a joy to watch. The title itself, The Toxic Avenger, provides a pretty clear indication of the tone of the musical before you are […]
First they killed Stannis the Mannis, and now Spruce Bolton. I don’t think I loved a ‘bad guy’ on Game of Thrones more than I loved Roose Bolton. Tywin was the classic silver fox with a twist of Bond villain, but his appeal was more in his acting and charisma than his villainy. Viserys wasn’t […]
Directed by Joel Ivany in his mainstage debut with the Canadian Opera Company and designed by Michael Yeargan (set) and Francois St-Aubin (costumes), the COC’s current production of Carmen (onstage at the Four Seasons Centre until May 15) is very clean. The stage, the blocking and everything else is neat and tidy with precisely delineated […]
Tina Fey’s film about an Afghanistan war correspondent isn’t strictly a comedy but I wouldn’t call it a dark comedy (where the comedy comes from the darkness) or a dramedy (where the parts that are comedic are more subtle) either. It’s pretty obviously a comedy- act one plays out like a grownup, transplanted How to […]
It starts weak and ends strong. For a play about a physically-disabled protagonist, it pays to have the action centre on how he cares for others rather than himself. Despite a heap of flaws, Chips Hardy’s decade-old play achieves something resembling poignant, even if it takes an hour to get there. Wheelchair-bound veteran Moss (Darren […]