The final offering of the Canadian Stage Spotlight Festival: Australia was The Return by Circa, a genre-defying combination of cirque and opera. The stage is shared equally between the circus artists and the live chamber ensemble, with the former occupying stage right, and the latter stage left. An imposing black wall spans the width of […]
Two Birds One Stone “Some of this is true and some of it is not” Natasha Greenblatt says to openTwo Birds One Stone, which premiered as part of the Why Not Theatre’s Riser Project, Thursday night. But co-star and creator Rimah Jabr, disagrees. It’s all true, she tells us. What unfolds is an aptly named […]
Developed and collectively dramaturged by Public Recordings- a theatrical dance company with a distinctively eclectic aesthetic- Evan Webber’s alternative gospel narrative is a little bit biblical adaptation, a little bit dystopian allegory, and a little bit sacrilegious fan fiction. Long-haired and tunic-clad, Ishan Davé repeatedly declares “I am Jesus” and we combine the evidence before […]
It was an Event. Jez Butterworth is The Playwright. An Architect. Racy and gnomic. Not a priori great—David Hare was The Playwright and he’s made no great work since Skylight. But look at any recommendations of the century’s best plays: Jerusalem ranks one. Since 2009 Butterworth’s done minor work, like The River, and disconcertingly/reassuringly added […]
Meeting by Antony Hamilton and Alisdair Macindoe Sharing the space with 64 custom designed (Macindoe)…
There are a few refreshing intellectual, social, and theatrical ideas in Peter Hinton‘s new production of Harry Sommers’ 1967 Canadian history opera Louis Riel. The judgemental chorus seated high in a jury box of designer Michael Gianfrancesco’s perfectly measured creation, watching history happen with the cold detachment Riel’s dramatic and important story so often receives […]
Boy does this play keep you gripped. Partly a detective noir drama, partly a psychological thriller, partly an exploration of the human mind, City of Glass is filled with so many twists and turns that it keeps you guessing long after you’ve left its home at the Lyric. With innovative effects and an array of […]
Leaving the Tarragon Theatre after Midsummer, I realized that the play had brought me through a full spectrum of emotions. Happiness, sadness, despair, joy, anxiety, envy, pity, and all of this unusually done, for the most part, through comedy. At its heart, Midsummer is a play about desperation, albeit hidden in the package of a […]