I’m a firm believer that there is room for this kind of thing. I didn’t particularly like it, but I’ll defend its validity until I’m blue in the face because that’s how Shakespeare survives. For this co-production with Why Not Theatre, Stratford has cast 13-year-old Eponine Lee in the female title role. This raises […]
After a stellar workshop presentation at the 2017 Fringe, BRAIN STORM returns to Toronto with its world premiere at the intimate Dancemakers Studio Theatre. An innovative performance, BRAIN STORM is a ghostly mix of dance, projection, and text that leads us through a young woman’s day-to-day, post-brain injury. The layers of performance—from non-verbal expressions, to versatile […]
After having some time to digest 1991, I don’t think it would be right to say I enjoyed it. Instead, I will say I was affected by it, moved by it and am haunted by it. 1991, is Cole Lewis’ brutally honest coming of age story. There are many intense subjects that this show deals […]
I have been thinking about AVO Collective’s 11:11 for the last couple of days. I have been thinking about the openness and fearlessness that Samson Bonkeabantu Brown demonstrates in both his writing and performance as part of Why Not Theatre’s 2019 RISER Project at the Theatre Centre. I have been thinking about how d’bi.young anitafrika deftly […]
Sitting high above the crowd, atop her glorious hive at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, is emcee for the evening Busty Beatz. The Queen Bee of Hot Brown Honey, Beatz is definitely in the driver’s seat this evening and she is ready to take the rest of us on a ride, so be […]
What does it mean for a performer to take on a role? Prince Hamlet, Ravi Jain’s radical reframing of the Shakespeare classic remounted here by Canadian Stage and Why Not Theatre, juggles contradictory answers to that question. Jain describes his mission as “challeng[ing] what stories are being told and who gets to tell them”, which […]
Why Not Theatre’s Prince Hamlet is currently being remounted at the Theatre Centre. Though to say remounted is misleading: adapted from Shakepeare’s Hamlet by Ravi Jain, the script is similar to the original from ten years ago, and still has Jain directing, but the production itself is composed of an entirely new team of artists, […]
A Reason to Talk, produced by Why Not Theatre, has already started when you walk into the Theatre Centre mainspace. There creator Sachli Gholamalizad holds old family photos up to her laptop’s camera, which are projected in real time on to the screen above her. In this evocative way, Gholamalizad introduces us to the subtle […]
The Archivist as a title for a performance piece suggests an exploration of a reserved, organized and knowledgeable figure. It can also suggest someone with a degree of detachment from the material they are curating; when I think of archivists, I think of slightly senior employees who labour away in the bowels of an institution, […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2015 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. The dynamic and empathetic Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah was one of the biggest breakout stars of 2015, delivering show-stealing turns in two of the most-nominated productions of the year- Unit 102’s brilliant heavenly courtroom drama (Outstanding Supporting Actress, The Last Days […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2015 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. One of only three artists this year to be nominated in the same category (Outstanding Direction) in two separate divisions, Ravi Jain’s 2015 work on Toronto’s stages both large (Soulpepper’s Dora-winning Accidental Death of an Anarchist) and medium […]
There’s something really special happening at the Theatre Centre right now. Actually, there are two (soon to be three) special things happening at the Theatre Centre right now. They are the productions that make up Why Not Theatre’s latest theatrical experiment and I can’t say enough about them, or it. The November Ticket is an […]
Created by Why Not Theatre, The RISER Project is a new initiative that pairs established companies with emerging artists to share resources and make producing indie theatre just a little bit easier. The inaugural RISER season is taking place at The Theatre Centre with two shows already wrapped and another two currently on stage. Paolozzapedia […]
Created by Why Not Theatre, The RISER Project is a new initiative that pairs established companies with emerging artists to share resources and make producing indie theatre just a little bit easier. The inaugural RISER season is taking place at The Theatre Centre with two shows currently on stage (closing May 3rd) and another two […]