The Canadian Opera Company’s fall season presents a well-balanced duo of contrasting classics to signal that, even without the world renowned artistic director we recently lost to Paris, the COC is back on its feet. First up, The Flying Dutchman is a quick hit of Wagnerian sorrow coming in at only 2 hours and […]
Commissioned by Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Beautiful Renegades tells the somewhat indulgent story of the company that came before Peggy Baker Dance Projects as they made a mark on Toronto’s limited dance scene in the 1970s. There are long sequences of contemporary dance adapted from actual works staged at the time spliced between scenes written […]
Kim’s Convenience makes me a little bit sad. Don’t get me wrong, the hit CBC show is never even a little bit sad. That’s what makes me sad. Five seasons of lighthearted sitcomery, a controversial ending marred by behind the scenes drama, new CBC shows for two of its supporting actors, and post-Canadian major franchise […]
It’s confusing to me that there hasn’t been more August Wilson at the Shaw Festival (though in Canadian theatre in general). Especially as our major institutions have been putting in the effort to include more diverse voices in their seasons, bumping uncomfortably against limiting mandates that are by design exclusionary. August Wilson fits beautifully in […]
A restorative 90 minute tour of the heart by way of a gruff Canadian poet, The Shape of Home is an original narrative concert born in isolation with roots in a familiar form. Joined by fellow multi-instrumentalist super-talents Beau Dixon and Raha Javanfar, it’s thrilling see perennial favourites Frank Cox-O’Connell and Hailey Gillis reunite for […]
The world of Crow’s Theatre’s Uncle Vanya is filled with glorious light courtesy of the ever-reliable Kimberly Purtell and set in a beautiful almost semi-immersive stage design by Julie Fox. It’s looks like a painting and it feels like a return to form for Crows- a starry ensemble anchored by Tom Rooney and directed by […]
I love the concept behind Soulpepper’s bold Lear Family Double Bill that pairs a very solid production of Shakespeare’s King Lear with a new play by Erin Shields that imagines what might have happened seven years earlier to inform the behaviour of the characters in King Lear. Shields’ play Queen Goneril focuses not just on […]
The final piece of Outdoors at the Shaw programming I saw this year (I sadly missed A Short History of Niagara), Fairground is a kid-inclusive interactive fair that morphs into a roving concert showcasing members of the musical company (plus Kristopher Bowman). The break dancing from season standout Kevin McLachlan and pet puppets are the […]