Simon Stephens often writes plays that are difficult to perform. He will display a character through a pinhole rather than a window. It is therefore very much up to audience to find meaning in what he writes, albeit with assistance from a shrewd director and cast. One Minute is the story of an investigation into […]
It’s difficult with a play like this to separate the effectiveness of a production from one’s emotional reaction to the story being told. It’s Anne Frank- dark and devastating, punctuated by heartbreaking moments of lightness, romance and even joy. Anne’s words, structured by playwrights Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (adapted by Wendy Kesselman), are so […]
Gord Rand is new to Stratford; he did one studio production back in 2002 but Oedipus really feels like a brand new introduction. Like with Maev Beaty last season, this is a strange reality that gets people talking about a well-established and highly respected performer as if they are just now being discovered. In the […]
I’m drawing the line. The Toronto theatre community is big and getting bigger and the My Theatre staff is small (also getting bigger, but still small). It’s impossible to cover everything so, if we’ve given a particular company bad review after bad review, the only thing I can think to do is scratch them off […]
A very well executed production of a unique and interesting new play, And Then Come the Nightjars is simultaneously funny, heart-breaking and eye-opening, and is a real credit to the writer, production team and cast. Centred on the Foot-and-mouth crisis of 2001 and how it affected a South Devon farm, the play tackles an […]
‘Now this overdone, or come tardy off, though it make the unskilful laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve; the censure of the which one must in your allowance o’erweigh a whole theatre of others.’ Act III, Scene II Shakespeare summarises my feelings towards this latest attempt at Hamlet better than any else […]
Possum Creek Beth Ann, a naïve farmer’s daughter with a heart of gold (and, ostensibly, unlimited ink and paper) left behind over 3000 letters written to her husband Joseph after he left home to fight in the Civil War just one day after their marriage – letters that would later serve as the basis for […]
In the forward to Melancholy Play, Sarah Ruhl, makes a plea to future producers of the show: “The audience knows the different between being talked to and talked at. Talk to them, please.” This phrase is in many ways the essence of Big Plans, the dark comedy by Jeremy Taylor, and directed by Kat Sandler. […]