Before we announce the winners of the 2018 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. An alumna of Theatre Sheridan’s joint drama program with University of Toronto, and more recently of Nightwood Theatre’s Young Innovator Unit, Lauren Wolanski elevated Theatre Born Between’s remount of Rosamund Small’s Vitals with her grounded, nuanced performance […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2018 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards…
Before we announce the winners of the 2018 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Pressgang Theatre’s Graham Isador is one of the best storytellers in town. As a writer, he brings creative structure and clarity to memorable, emotional stories. As a performer, he delivers said stories with calm charisma and […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2018 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Known for his lightning-fast dialogue and twisting narratives, celebrated Fringe favourite Martin Dockery earned his second career nomination at last year’s festival- Outstanding New Play for Inescapable, a mind-boggling timeline-jumping two-hander he performed with Jon Paterson. As quick […]
Be sure to check out our full list of Next Stage reviews. A Bear Awake in Winter Bullying as a topic in theatre, especially for young people, has been ascendent for the past few years. But it’s rarely examined with such nuance and even-handedness (and humour, even) as in Ali Joy Richardson’s script here. Richardson’s […]
Be sure to check out our full list of Next Stage reviews. Dinner with The Duchess Meet Margaret (Allegra Fulton), a celebrated female violinist, who is retiring after decades of an illustrious career. She is being interviewed in her home by young prodigy journalist, Helen (Rosie Simon), who is intent on asking hard, smart questions. […]
Be sure to check out our full list of Next Stage reviews. Raising Stanley/Life with Tulia Raising Stanley/Life with Tulia is a multidisciplinary success of a show that brings together one-woman storytelling, video of original paintings, director narration, recorded artist interviews and music to create a sense of warm, remarkable insight to the world of […]
This can be a difficult time of year for people. The pressures of holiday shopping, the long days without much sunlight, work and family obligations, all conspire to ratchet up the pressure, especially for those who suffer from anxiety and depression. So it’s heartening to see Canadian Stage programming a show about depression that’s ultimately […]
From the shadows at the back of the theatre, a haggard looking man appears. He’s running, breathing hard, and as he approaches us, we see his eyes are wide with confusion and fear. “Why can’t I remember what’s happened to me?”, he cries aloud. So begins The Runner, Christopher Morris’ harrowing and gripping new play, staged […]
The proof is in the pudding is a strangely apt synopsis of The Art of Degeneration, a solo show by Louis Laberge-Côté. Why so? Because the climax of the show is him dipping his hands in chocolate pudding and smearing it all over this body. But here is the crazy part: it is absolutely appropriate […]
Pearle Harbour’s Chautauqua- presented at Theatre Passe Muraille, written and performed by Justin Miller in his Critics’ Pick Award-winning role- is what’s been missing in theatre. With the political climate, we are starving for a noble leader and Pearle Harbour steps up to fill that role. The show is set in a mid-century wartime tent, similar to what […]
The Rendezvous with Madness Festival – known for its films – expanded this year to include visual art and performance. The mental health themes addressed in the festival are relevant in today’s world more than ever, and the programming was fittingly launched on World Mental Health Day. I had the opportunity to catch some of […]
The production of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, performed at the Theatre Passe Muraille, is truly a wonder. A perfect stage for a one-man play, actor Bob Nasmith shines. Like the beacon of Canadian theatre he is (if it’s not too overblown to say), Nasmith commands the stage with the gravitas of person and character […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews Café Sarajevo episode 1 (A+) A surprising diversion from the usual SummerWorks lineup, Café Sarajevo is a live SummerWorks LAB podcast discussing the nature of humanity, the implacable human spirit, the importance of language and the heartbreaking struggles of war. Inspired by a famous […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews Third World (B+) & ZAYO (A) Movement and stories of obstacles overcome merge in these two fascinating, viscerally performed dance pieces. dancer FLY LADY DI opens Third World with a brief, funny and insightful summary of her relationship to dance as a discipline. What […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews … And You’ll Never Believe What Happens Next (A) The sneaky dissonance of this latest storytelling show from Pressgang Theatre’s Graham Isador adds an intriguing layer of unspoken complication to an already rich and rewarding hour. Demonstrating once again his uncanny knack for structure, […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews 4inXchange (A) Warning in advance, if you are not into heavy audience participation experiences, 4inXchange may be a bit difficult to handle. Without spoiling too many surprises, performing group xLq have set up a personalized game show experience meant to explore how we think […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews Body So Fluorescent (A+) Desiree and Gary are close friends. Very close. Until one night in a club leads to an explosive fight. Lets just say that Desiree is black and Gary is white, but sometimes takes on the mask of a black woman […]
August 9-19th, our writers reviewed nearly every show in Toronto’s annual SummerWorks Festival. The full list of shows with letter grades and links to our reviews is below. Check out our Twitter and Instagram @MyEntWorld for more from our SummerWorks 2018 experience. Reminder to SummerWorks Artists: If your SummerWorks show scored an A+ or A, you can […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews BikeFace (A) BikeFace is as if Kate Beaton’s Velocipedestrienne comic came to glorious life. BikeFace is more specifically the theatrical realization of writer Natalie Frijia’s real life journeys across Canada on her bicycle. Performer Clare Blackwood imbues the one woman sequences with the restless […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Everyone Wants a T-Shirt! (A-) Exuberant, absurdist and smart, this Prairie Fire, Please production is a hilarious satire of the modern millennial corporate dilemma. Written by Madeleine Brown, It tells the story of Beatrice Little (Brittany Miranda), a young woman whose failed pitch for […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Harvey and The Extraordinary (A+) At once exploring childlike glee and darker undertones of more adult concepts of coping with loss through the lens of youth, Harvey and the Extraordinary is a stripped down play in a garage of one young Mimi, or […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews #KanderAndEbb (A) No stranger to cabarets, Ryan G. Hinds has delighted us over the years with many equally passionate and comedic one-man shows. #KanderAndEbb though is the most personal in my opinion. I really enjoyed hearing so many anecdotes, not only about the lives […]
Thom Pain (based on nothing) (Theatre By Committee)…
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. The brilliant Ingrid Hansen is a one-of-a-kind physical performer and out-of-the-box theatre creator. Her work is inventive, thoughtful, hilarious, and moving. She’s nominated this year for Outstanding Solo Performance for her Fringe piece Interstellar Elder, an odd, delightful, […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual…