A few days before going to see Shakespeare BASH’d’s production of Cymbeline, an article title flashed before my eyes as I scrolled through my Facebook feed, “Can Shakespeare still surprise?” Coincidentally, the post had come from Shakespeare BASH’d’s Facebook page, and as I was just about to watch the show, I chose to bypass the […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2019 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Catherine Rainville is a multi-hyphenate artist whose work performing, directing, producing and designing for site-specific indie favourites Shakespeare Bash’d has never failed to thrill and surprise us. She’s nominated this year for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a […]
There is something quite delightful about walking into a bar, grabbing a beverage and settling in to watch a show. If you are familiar with this feeling, odds are you have seen a few Shakespeare BASH’d shows in your day. Their take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins the way any good show should- with […]
Theatre company Shakespeare BASH’d “is an actor initiative that… produces Shakespeare’s plays in social settings”, “with simple staging, clear and sympathetic language, and an emphasis on the text and actors telling the story”. (This is all cribbed from their program.) They stage their work in pubs and bars, in the round, and have progressively gotten […]
Many Shakespeare plays present an imposing barrier to entry even for educated audiences. Directors devise increasingly inventive ways to make them accessible or relevant – or at least to have their own fun and leave their own mark on the work in the guise of doing this. Othello weds a simple plot, touching on familiar […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. The delightful Lesley Robertson is one half of the beloved musical comedy duo The Diddlin’ Bibbles, and a standout dramatic performer with companies like Hart House and Red One Theatre Collective. In Shakespeare Bash’d’s 2017 production […]
The Shakespeare Bash’d production of Richard III at the Monarch Tavern was just the thing for one of these wintry February nights. In contrast to the weight of the play, the atmosphere is cozy as we walk into the space: the narrow space has been transformed into a stage – chairs line the sides of the […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2016 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. James Wallis has been nominated for a MyTheatre Award 4 out of the last 5 years for directing and acting with his company Shakespeare Bash’d. Known for bare-bones, text-focused productions staged in local bars, Bash’d is one of […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2016 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. There are only a few artists who one might call staples of the MyTheatre Awards nomination list- Jesse Nerenberg is undoubtedly one of them. He won Best Actor the first year the awards existed, won Outstanding Ensemble last […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2016 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. This is Jennifer Dzialoszynski’s third nomination in a row. Well, third and fourth, really, since she’s nominated in two different categories- Outstanding Supporting Actress for her scene-stealing turn as Laertes in Shakespeare Bash’d’s Hamlet then for Outstanding Actress as no-nonsense Vivie […]
The Winter’s Tale (Groundling Theatre Company) I’ve talked about this production before, focusing mainly on the problems that overwhelm the action of the first and last acts of this strangely dichotomous play. Sicilia is grey, over-dramatic, over-acted and full of unnecessary melisma but what I discovered upon a return trip (this time set against the lantern-lit […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews The Comedy of Errors (A) Shakespeare BASH’D bows out of the Fringe Festival with a fast and slick final show that is the most flat-out successful play I’ve seen so far at this year’s festival in terms of pulling off what it sets out […]
Spur-of-the-Moment Shakespeare Collective just announced the details (April 24th, The Rivoli) of their upcoming Shakesbeers Showdown. It’s the fifth iteration of the ever-expanding event and this year they’ve added Wolf Manor Theatre Collective (they’re an intense group, should be fun to watch) and Shakespeare at Play (like, the app? Intriguing) to the list of companies […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2015 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Though he appears regularly in contemporary theatre like Next Stage’s Mockingbird, Studio 180’s NSFW and with his own group The Howland Company, James Graham always shines brightest with Shakespeare, making his 2015 debut with indie stalwart Shakespeare Bash’d a […]
There’s something of a false hierarchical narrative around Shakespeare performance that suggests the grander the stage, the stronger the performer, the mecca that is the Stratford festival theatre serving as the (Canadian) pinnacle where only the best of the best are allowed to tread the boards. If you’re somehow unconvinced that this narrative is nonsense, […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2015 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Back in the Nominee Interview Series for the second year in a row for another standout comedic turn at the Shaw Festival, the brilliant Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee Jennifer Dzialoszynski takes us into the wacky world of You […]
I realize that the title of this piece may be a bit misleading. To “bash” something, at least in my line of work, is to pan a production so aggressively that you run the risk of being pulled from the comp list. Luckily, Shakespeare Bash’d and I are not in the same line of work. […]
Brantwood (Sheridan College) It’s a shame that this immersive, site-specific, multi-narrative, multi-genre theatrical experience will be closing on May 3rd so that the century-old school in which it’s housed can do what it’s prophesied to do in the show (be turned into condos) and the cast can do as their characters do in the final […]
With the weather warming up and city-dwellers coming out of hibernation, the Toronto theatre community is providing plenty of places for them to go. You could head down Yonge Street to see Once (starring the always likeable Ian Lake) or to The Annex for The LOT’s Hairspray (with the amazing Matt McKay as Seaweed) then […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2014 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. This is the last Dark Matter interview, we promise (including director Alec Toller and Three Other Castmembers, we’ve interviewed pretty much everyone but the crew at this point) but what would Heart of Darkness in Space (one […]
The history of Shakespeare Bash’d, up to and including their current production of Macbeth at the Monarch Tavern, reveals a pattern of wonderful comedy and middling tragedy. Some of this has to do with the Fringe Festival comedies being shorter and more fun, enlivened by the festival environment. But, mostly, I think it comes down […]
My second day at the Toronto Fringe was a one-play affair (don’t judge, I had things to do). But here’s the FULL LIST of our festival reviews if one isn’t enough for you. Love’s Labour’s Lost (A-) I was nervous about this one. My love of Shakespeare Bash’d and their clear, thoughtful approach to the […]
I just spent an hour and a half with Shakespeare Bash’d Artistic Director James Wallis and his wife/collaborator Julia Nish-Lapidus. The conversation sprawled- I asked them what fans of their previous Fringe hits The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing could expect from their upcoming Love’s Labour’s Lost; they sung the praises […]
As you likely already know (because we talk about it All The Time), earlier this month we hosted Toronto’s inaugural My Theatre Awards ceremony. The awards have been around since 2010, but this was the first party. Because it was the first party, it took a ton of planning. In the process of all said […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2013 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Nominated in last year’s awards for her outstanding performance in My Name is Rachel Corrie, this is Amelia Sargisson’s second time in the Nominee Interview Series. She’s back in the same category (Best Actress in a Regional […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2013 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Shakespeare Bash’d Artistic Director James Wallis is nominated for his second My Theatre Award in a row for playing one of Shakespeare’s great comedic leading men at the Toronto Fringe Festival. This time around the Best Actor […]