Kelly Bedard

A Poem for Rabia (Tarragon Theatre) Spanning three continents and three generations, Nikki Shaffeeullah’s world premiere currently on stage in the Tarragon Extraspace is an intimate epic full of big ideas. The capable cast performs an exceptional array of accents- some executed with precision and nuance, others less successful- as they each take on multiple […]

The historic Campbell House is creaking open its doors for another seasonal romp. Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, this production – like the Netflix series bringing some of Poe’s collected works to a new medium this spooky season – centers around the ill-fated House of Usher. Audience members are […]

  Kelly Bedard

At the Small World Centre in the Queen W Artscape Youngplace building, Apothecary Theatre & Dandelion Theatre have teamed up to create a new adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, onstage now through Halloween.   Slimming the epic down to two performers and a single hour, adapter/stars James Llewellyn Evans and Augusta “Gus” Monet aka […]

  Kelly Bedard

A lot is changing in Ontario theatre lately, nowhere more than in the musical theatre landscape. With commercial companies expanding both in and out of Toronto, exciting initiatives supporting the creation of new works, and a fresh generation of artists emerging, it seems that musical theatre is the next frontier for an area that has […]

Part of Soulpepper’s Her Words Festival, the latest work from playwright/director Kat Sandler is a historical epic full of wild details too unbelievable to not be true.   Set in the 16th century French court on a stunning Nick Blais-designed set, Wildwoman tracks Catherine de’ Medici (a compelling Rose Napoli with a very tricky job) […]

  Kelly Bedard

Coal Mine Theatre’s Chief Engineers Diana Bentley & Ted Dykstra stand out among Canadian theatre heads for the consistency of their taste level in both script selection and personnel. Not every production at Coal Mine will work for every audience member but every production is thoughtfully programmed, expertly produced, and brought to life by a […]

After four months, 12 towns, and 98 productions, our most ambitious summer of theatre coverage came to an end in Gananoque. With good food, cute accommodation options, fun tourist activities, and one of the best single-production showings we saw from any company on the Ontario Theatre Tour, our last stop might be remembered as our […]

Canada’s most famous theatre town is famous for the company that bears its name. To “go to Stratford” means to attend a play at the Stratford Festival, North America’s most prestigious classical institution. But the real lifeblood of a theatrical landscape is not the most established, wildly well-funded companies with their bus stop advertisements and […]