August in New York City can only mean one thing: it is Fringe festival time. Each year for two weeks in August, the Fringe takes over a vast array of cozy theatre venues throughout Manhattan to showcase new and established talent and unique theatrical story-telling ventures. Unfortunately, between travel and work obligations this summer, I […]
A Doll’s House Recent Soulpepper Academy grad Katherine Gauthier is perfectly cast as Nora in this stylish, contemporary take on Ibsen’s story of a trapped, underestimated housewife. Pretty, poised and a little performative, Gauthier perfectly captures the meticulously put-together type of woman Nora is, especially in director Daniel Brooks’ insightfully modern vision. She’s at her […]
The Tom Patterson theatre is great; it allows for fully in-the-round staging (or in-the-rectangle, rather) and it’s big enough that the kings aren’t undermined by a crowd too small for their thundering speeches but it’s small enough that we can see them up close for the men they are underneath the crown. I wouldn’t wish […]
Millennials, like me, who graduated from high school in the mid 2000s are hovering around the life cornerstone of “30” – no longer able to blame bad decisions on youth and expected, perhaps, to embrace the responsibilities of an adult life.* For many, this time of life includes a journey home to attend one’s 10-year […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews Situational Anarchy (A) This was a very succesful SummerWorks and a lot of the credit for that goes to the vast array of excellent storytelling shows. Graham Isador’s evocative punk rock solo show is yet another strong showing in that category. Filled with rage […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews Trompe-La-Mort, or Goriot in the 21st Century (A) The great success of Trompe-la-Mort lies in the unexpected pairing of director Ted Witzel (an avant-garde intellectual with a strong visual aesthetic and Brechtian sensibility, known for mining timely poignancy from classical texts) and playwright […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews Goggles Must Be Worn at All Times (B+) Strange, arcane, and with a level of technical wizardry that can be nothing but impressive, Goggles is a show with a lot of pieces, and keeping an eye on all of them is next to impossible. […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of SummerWorks Reviews Extremophiles (A) A delicate, grounded, two-handed story about an anthropologist and her subject in the apocalyptic near-future, Extremophiles is played by a single performer (playwright Georgina Beaty) oscillating between young and old(er), optimistic and weary, open and guarded, visionary and practical with incredible […]