The Canadian Opera Company has been slogging through Wagner’s interminable Ring Cycle over the past three seasons. And I’ve been slogging through my reviews of said marathons of melancholy Germans singing about dwarves. The summary was always the same: the set is bonkers but impressive, the singers and orchestra are technically sound, no one is […]
Liv Stein at Canadian Stage manages to achieve the strange combination of beautiful mediocrity. Nino Haratischwili’s play is about a couple, Liv and Emil, their angst over the loss of their son, and that aftermath of that grief. Liv (Leslie Hope) is a pianist, someone once renowned for her interpretations and performances of Rachmaninov but […]
Kate Hennig’s contemporary history play traces the story of King Henry VIII’s sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr (Kate) – beginning with his awkward and aggressive pursuit of her, her negotiation of their marriage (and sex life, which was pretty impressive), to Kate’s attempt to be both a mother and political advocate for Mary and […]
On back-to-back nights in Toronto, I saw one of the best representations of what musical theatre can be, and one of the worst…
Nightwood Theatre’s Unholy stages a debate about whether you can be both religious and a feminist. Written by Diane Flacks and directed by Kelly Thornton, the production presents us with four women, two a side, arguing both for and against institutionalized religion. On the pro side, we have Yehudite, an Orthodox Jewish leader and mother, […]
Kristen Thomson’s new play The Wedding Party opens not only the 34th season of Crow’s Theatre, but has the honour of being the inaugural production of the new Toronto theatre Streetcar Crowsnest. Those of us who have been to a few weddings (or a few dozen, as the case may be) will know that although […]
The Magic Hour, created and performed by Jess Dobkin, is nothing less than pure delight from beginning to end. The audience is ushered into the upstairs lobby, where we are invited to hang up our coats and remove our shoes. Dobkin enters, wearing a dress made out of a burlap bag, greeting the audience at […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2016 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Nominated for Outstanding Sketch/Improv Performance for their 2016 run at the Toronto Fringe Festival, Songbuster is an improv troupe who creates a live original musical at every performance based on a suggestion from the audience. […]