Last week was the premieres of two new shows from Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre Company. One’s a Canadian 110 minute black comedy written in 1997, the other a 3 hour American drama from 1956 that’s largely considered the greatest North American play ever written. But they’re both, in some way, about morphine addiction– throughlines! First up […]
The latest indie theatre piece to crash down in Toronto’s Factory Studio Theatre is called The Big Smoke, a title which refers to its London setting, not its current location. The piece is essentially a weird solo acapella opera wherein Amy Nostbakken sings the story of aspiring artist Natalie using only an empty stage, some […]
A new company has journeyed to Boston to make its new home with a daring production of the provocative play Some Explicit Polaroids written by British playwright Mark Ravenhill. The Brown Box Theatre Project features local Boston actors with a mix of Boston and New York City designers and, with this show, makes a stark […]
There’s a reason The Who’s Tommy is called the original rock opera and not a great rock opera- it kind of stinks. The music is cool enough- I don’t think it calls for the rock-and-roll glorification older generations insist on, but that might just be my stubbornly square 20-something self talking-, but the story and storytelling are […]
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 […]