Present Laughter isn’t particularly remarkable. It’s a pretty standard Shaw production despite being written by Noel Coward and not George Bernard Shaw (who only wrote two plays slated for the 2012 season, actually). The costumes are pretty, the set is impressive if not interesting and everybody has British accents. Shaw’s Festival Theatre is a typical proscenium arch- […]

In a season where Stratford is struggling a bit, I haven’t seen a bad Shaw production yet. Ragtime is Fantastic (more on that later) and His Girl Friday is pretty good (again, more to come) but it’s French Without Tears that surprised me the most. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into at […]

 

TORONTO – On July 24th, Piers Handling, CEO and Director of TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival), and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, unveiled some of the films that will headline the 37th Toronto International Film Festival. According to Bailey, TIFF 2012 will include the “most diverse Gala programme to date with films from Japan, China, […]

“Even if I have to dig ditches for the rest of my life, I’ll be a ditch digger who once had a wonderful day” – Cornelius Hackl, the brightly optimistic heart of Stratford’s uneven but partly adorable oldschool comedy.   I was highly skeptical of The Matchmaker, knowing that it would be even more dated […]

 

Next year, The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is getting a new Artistic Director. Antoni Cimolino isn’t actually all that new, he’s been with the festival for decades (remember when he played Romeo to Megan Follows’ Juliet?) and is currently its General Manager. But his promotion means a lot for where the festival is going. And, predictably, […]

This was a tough Fringe. On one hand, I did a terrible job of getting out to shows, only seeing 9 in total (plus whatever I take in at Best of Fringe). On the other hand, part of the reason I was so  unenthused about long days of Fringing was that I wasn’t impressed with […]

The 2012 Toronto Fringe Festival Has Finally Begun! Actually, it began last Wednesday, but I just saw my first show so I say it has only now officially begun (remember how this site is an evil dictatorship? Never forget again). I’ve just returned from a 1:45pm-12am day consisting of 5 Fringe shows (and a detour […]

 

The Toronto Fringe Festival starts today! So, to arm you in your battle against the overwhelming number of options, we thought we’d give you the scoop on some of the productions involving My Theatre favourites (and a couple that just look awesome). Here’s what the actual artists involved have to say about their Fringe shows: […]