Set in the British Columbia town of Kelowna against the backdrop of the worst wildfire season in Canadian history, Dock Mother God Society, Blood Pact Theatre’s latest production, is the story of personal, familial, and societal dysfunction that is both tragic and hilarious in its storytelling and delivery. In this one act play, we meet […]
A captivating pairing of co-productions has taken over the east end Streetcar Crowsnest venue this fall with a world-renowned but perfectly grounded everyman epic in the mainspace and an understated but otherworldly one-act song cycle in the studio. The studio piece, Dave Malloy’s Ghost Quartet, is a Crows collaboration with Eclipse Theatre Company and it […]
Tarragon Theatre has set up a wonderfully witchy opening to its autumn season. Leaves are turning, the air is cooling, and the fall season of theatre has begun. Onstage from September 17-October 27, Yaga is the perfect play to get those autumnal feelings flowing. We’re talking witches, murder, and powerful females, not pumpkin spice. Written […]
Set in Duluth, Minnesota in winter 1934, Girl from the North Country is not a typical musical. Understated and thoughtful, this Depression-era drama does not conform to what people might expect from a West End and soon to be Broadway hit. Instead of attempting to blow you away, the production quietly pulls at your heart […]
The Coal Mine’s presentation of Knives in Hens is a beautiful rendition of the mid-nineties play written by David Harrower — Director Leora Morris has skillfully and lovingly brought the Scottish work to Toronto in a way that captures the audience well for the 80 minute production. A small farming community’s characters know little more than what […]
There are a few key ways to judge a new artistic director taking over an established company. Some people who aren’t technically wrong but are awfully cynical might look to fundraising ability or at least PR prowess. Artists invariably talk about company leadership and setting the right tone in the rehearsal room, which makes sense. […]
In Tennessee Williams’ extensive canon, The Glass Menagerie stands out as the original “memory play”: the work is framed as the hazy recollections of the main character, whose reliability as a narrator is an open question. Williams uses this to issue an invitation to actors and directors to fill in and flesh out those memories as […]
Both the best and worst thing about theatre, and indie theatre especially, is its ephemerality. Productions close so fast that you never have the time you need to tell every person you’ve ever met, and some you haven’t, that they have to see the show you just saw. And in the Toronto independent theatre landscape, […]