David Mark’s debut, The Dark Winter, is a stout, hardy, character-driven mystery that treats what is an introductory novel as a satisfying, whole, stand-alone work, complete with office politics, fleshy back story, and a series of seemingly random murders—as well as an interesting question posed concerning mercy and justice. The Dark Winter features the mysterious […]
The Canadian Opera Company had an interesting fall with two repertory productions that had little in common beyond being of about the same quality. Both Il Trovatore and Die Fledermaus had the stunning design work and professional overall calibre that is to be expected from the COC, but they were both about average when it […]
My dad does this thing that drives me crazy. I mean, my dad does countless things that drive me crazy, but this one drives me particularly crazy. Every time I ask him to see one of Shakespeare’s oft-produced masterpieces- like Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, or King Lear– he says “I’ve seen it already”. Cue my […]
Modern classical music is primarily a consort of the modern musical elite, with little to no basis in consumer demand. It is more often than not the product of a graduate thesis, or commissioned by an eccentric for equally eccentric ends. They Will Take My Island by Robert Martin is one such project. At this juncture I […]
Father Gaetano’s Puppet Catechism is the latest effort from dark dream team Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola. It’s a little darker, a little more claustrophobic than their previous effort (Joe Golem And The Drowning City), and I had more mixed feelings about it. But if you can stand a little work, Father Gaetano’s grows into […]
The stage adaptation of David Sedaris’ first person account of elf life at Macy’s is as smartly sarcastic and belly-shakingly funny as you’d expect from the famous essayist, but what struck me most is how not-so-dark the heart of his dark comedy is. I would even go all the way to sweet. Insofar as a […]
15 AUGUST 2012- I am about to watch a show directed by my favourite Canadian playwright (Morris Panych). The set is fascinating to me. I love absurdist drama, and the designer (Ken MacDonald) has made appropriately bold choices with this fantastical set that feels like an even larger than life version of a cute doll house. The […]
I was walking through the grocery store the first time I heard “Ghost Years” by the minimal-electro-glam-darkwave group WAZU. I melted when the guitars came in. They shimmer on both sides of the stereo image. As I walked down the grocery aisle I felt I was being carried by these massive metal structures. It felt […]