I see so much theatre that sometimes a really great show can slip through the cracks and not get reviewed. If I see something without a press ticket, or on closing weekend, or when I’ve already got an overwhelming pile of playbills on my desk, I have a bad habit of telling myself I’m not […]
The Canadian Opera Company is known for big productions- whether it’s the expansive drawing room of Rigoletto, the stark abyss of Iphigenia in Tauris or the cathedral from Tosca, currently splitting time on the Four Seasons Centre stage. Usually, the stunning sets and lush costumes are the cherry on top of full voices and enthralling stories. […]
I’ve heard nothing but glorious praise for Acting Up Stage/Obsidian Theatre’s recent production of Caroline, or Change at the Berkeley Street Theatre. After Acting Up Stage’s glorious production of Parade last winter and their exceptional Joni Mitchell/Leonard Cohen concert in the spring, and knowing as I do what a phenomenal talent leading lady Arlene Duncan […]
The one-man show is a tricky form that seems to always work best in Fringe Festivals-where plans are spontaneous and ticket prices are low- because it’s a tricky thing to wrap your head around that one person can carry a show. Of the many brilliant one-man acts I’ve seen, all have had low budgets, most […]
The Trojan Women, Alumnae Theatre’s latest effort, was the best thing I’ve seen from the company since 2010’s Hedda Gabler. It was not, however, as good as it should have been. With a strong cast led by a wizened Molly Thom as the beaten-but-not-yet-broken Hecuba and My Theatre Award nominee Sochi Fried as the defiantly […]
I’m loving the fact that Atomic Vaudeville/Acting Up Stage’s Ride the Cyclone has all the buzz in the world heading into the last 2 weeks of their sold-out run at Theatre Passe Muraille, not because I adored the show (it’s good, but nothing to write home about), because it’s weird. Really weird. And when it […]
I am extraordinarily picky when it comes to Romeo and Juliet. I adore the play and have what my friend Maddi calls “thoughts and feelings” about it, meaning I’m overly attached to a very strict interpretation that exists in my head of the pedestalled piece. I know it like the back of my hand, to […]
Toronto’s Red Light District is the only company that’s ever gotten me to like things I don’t like- from audience participation to Trinity Bellwoods after 9pm to German expressionism to blatant stage sex.