I love The Actors’ Shakespeare Project, I really do, but this will prove a very short review because I far from loved their Antony & Cleopatra (playing until May 21st at The Modern Theatre). I could write for hours about Adrianne Krtansky’s clunky direction, the snail-like pacing and strange focus. I could complain loudly about […]
Theater For a New Audience’s The Merchant of Venice, a restaging of a New York version of Shakespeare’s famously controversial “problem play”, is an odd duck of a production– a whack-a-mole of quality that pulls concepts and character arcs off stage just as they begin to fully form. The production is nowhere near a loss– […]
BU’s School of Theatre took on Julius Caesar last weekend, staging the homosocial epic in the unique Studio 102 space in the College of Fine Arts with a fifteen person all-female ensemble. It was an uneven production that made good use of space (the wonderfully dressed up studio was a feast for the detail-oriented eye) […]
It’s time for the 2010 My Theatre Honorary Award. This distinction, announced separately from the rest of the winners, is awarded each year to celebrate standout achievement in any given category. Winners aren’t nominated in the regular My Theatre Awards. Rather, they’re honored separately as the best things that happened in theatre all year (whether […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. When I reviewed the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s 2010 production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, I cited Dion Johnstone and his costar Gareth Potter as “the inarguable top of the young-leading-man pyramid at Stratford”. […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. . The Independent Drama Society’s production of Romeo and Juliet is nominated in every category in the Local/Independent division of the 2010 My Theatre Awards: Best Production, Best Director (Sarah Gazdowicz), Best Actress (Megan […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. . Keir Cutler is a fixture on the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit. His one man show Teaching Shakespeare was a highlight of the summer theatre season and earned him a My Theatre Award nominated […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. . Trish Lindstrom created a truly memorable Miranda last season at Stratford opposite Christopher Plummer, a role she’s now nominated for as Best Supporting Actress in the My Theatre Awards. The flagship production is […]
The Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s Winter Festival kicked off this month with Shakespeare’s excellent if obscure romance Cymbeline. There are only 3 performances left (tonight- Saturday Feb 19 at 8pm; and tomorrow- Sunday Feb 20, at 2pm and 7pm) but if you get a chance, this is not a production to be missed. The bench depth […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. I’ve been following Sophia Walker’s Stratford career since 2008 when she first caught my eye as Lady Capulet. Since then, she has lent her classical charm to wonderful portrayals of Lady Macduff (Macbeth), Hermia […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. . Dean Gabourie, the Assistant Artistic Director of The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, directed my favourite Shakespeare production of their 2010 season: Two Gentlemen of Verona. The studio theatre production is nominated for Best Actor […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. This summer I dubbed Urban Bard “Toronto’s Coolest Classical Company”. Now their artistic director, Scott Moyle, joins our interview series to talk about the company, his innovative approach to found-space Shakespeare and his My […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. . Toronto actress Adrianna Prosser gave one of the summer’s most memorable performances in Urban Bard’s production of Shakespeare’s obscure but fascinating Two Noble Kinsmen. As the tragically starry-eyed Jailer’s Daughter, Prosser was easily […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. Sarah Gazdowicz is the brains behind The Independent Drama Society’s Romeo and Juliet, nominated for 2010 My Theatre Awards for Best Actress (Megan Cooper), Best Actor (Adam Lauver) and Best Production. Sarah herself is […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. The Independent Drama Society’s production of Romeo and Juliet is nominated for 4 My Theatre Awards this year. One of those nominees is Megan Cooper as Best Actress in an independent production for her […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. Here with our first interview of the series is one of My Theatre’s favourite actresses. Stratford leading lady Andrea Runge is nominated for her performance as Rosalind in As You Like It. She took […]
The Actor’s Shakespeare Project’s Coveted Crown begins and ends each piece of the puzzle with a song. The fabulous Bobbie Steinbach, armed with a tambourine and the acoustic backup of the humming ensemble, tells us everything we need to know going into the prologue (excerpts from Richard II, starring the sometimes affected/sometimes effective Marya Lowry). […]
I wish I had gotten this review out earlier for many reasons. Of course it would have been nice if the show was still running and maybe some of you reading this could decide to go see it on my recommendation; it’s also a lot easier to write with the show freshly in mind. But […]
At least once a year, my father tells me he’d rather not go see Romeo & Juliet. When I ask why, he always says it’s because he’s seen it before. Personally, I think the great thing about Shakespeare is that it’s always different. No matter how many times you’ve seen Hamlet, the actors and director […]
I, like almost everyone else, had never seen The Winter’s Tale before this year at the Stratford Festival . I’d read it, discussed possible stagings, and analyzed the characters, but never seen for myself the play with 2 worlds. That, I suppose, is a theme at Stratford this year: 2 contrasting worlds in a single […]
I love Toronto. There are many many reasons for this, not the least of which is the independent theatre scene. Every week it seems I stumble upon another company dedicated to doing theatre their way, whatever way that may be. Often small, rarely well-funded and often brimming with talent, Toronto’s many many theatre companies are […]
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is my favourite production at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival this year. If you know me at all, it wouldn’t have been very difficult to predict that. First of all, it’s the first show I’ve ever seen in the festival’s relatively new studio theatre (a beautiful and intimate space with a […]
That quote is actually referencing Lear but seems somehow appropriate to The Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s current production of The Tempest. First of all, it’s from Slings and Arrows, a television show based on the festival. Second, it’s addressed to William Hutt, a Stratford star with insurmountable gravitas (not unlike Christopher Plummer), who’s final role before […]
In a joint article with other My Entertainment World website My Cinema, here is a preview photo from one of my most anticipated films of the year: Julie Taymour’s adapatation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Due out on December 10 (in the year of the play’s 400th anniversary) from Touchstone pictures, The Tempest stars Helen Mirren […]
Stage Fighting or Choreographed Violence for Violence’s Sake There are a few things that people always find memorable when they go to the theater. For my purposes, I’ll use Shakespeare’s Hamlet to illustrate (I have a theme, and I like to stick to it). People will always remember “To be or not to be” (but few […]
Urban Bard is unlike any company I’ve ever seen. It is exactly what its name suggests, urban bard, nothing more or less. This season’s contrasting productions of the uber popular Twelfth Night and the sadly obscure Two Noble Kinsmen are innovative to the point where I was literally giggling in delight at every scene change. […]