You are almost always sure to expect an enjoyable evening of theatre with the director-designer duo and real life couple of Morris Panych and Ken MacDonald who have been collaborating for decades, as some of the archival production photos lining the lobbies of the Tarragon can attest to. Now that I have seen several of […]
This show has led me to realize that “falling” in love is a rather ominous term. It appears that relationships are doomed from the beginning, especially ones that have started off as a coup de feu: too intense to really survive their original spark. It seems like this is the case between Anabel (Julia Lederer) […]
Documentary-style theatre creation often has a tendency of being too dry, too filmic or too wordy for the stage which requires extended use of body and voice – and, these days, other mediums – to keep audience members engaged. This is not the case with Awake, a multidisciplinary production by Expect Theatre as part of […]
15 AUGUST 2012- I am about to watch a show directed by my favourite Canadian playwright (Morris Panych). The set is fascinating to me. I love absurdist drama, and the designer (Ken MacDonald) has made appropriately bold choices with this fantastical set that feels like an even larger than life version of a cute doll house. The […]
It is not that often we get to see realism on stage anymore. Even more rare: three hour productions. Do people even have that sort of attention span these days? Lucky thing for intermissions. At least in opera you have the chance of being taken on a musical journey. But this is three hours – […]
Equal parts tragedy and comedy with a tinge of history, Alumnae Theatre’s season opener is a real visual treat. Audience members are aptly greeted by a tall pyramid structure positioned centre stage which I – for better or worse – immediately deemed the “tower of Babylon.” Contained within are many of the props which actors […]
I’ve always liked to believe you can tell a fine play by its title. In this case, playwright Jordi Mand has ingeniously chosen a seemingly ordinary one which, in actuality, alludes to the electrifying secret that propels the story forward in this head-to-head dispute between Marion (Susan Coyne) and Teresa (Christine Horne) about what really […]
Two weeks after the PQ was elected as Quebec’s minority government- causing concern of renewed interest in nationalist policies- the time could not be more right for a project fusing our country’s strong English playwriting tradition with the electroacoustic music Quebec is renowned for. Montreal-based composer Louis Dufort and Toronto-based writer Tom Walmsley were both […]