Onwards and upwards I go along the string of shows I encountered at this year’s SummerWorks theatre festival in Toronto. I’m now in the middle section of my crescendo of impressions on the seven different shows I witnessed. I certainly didn’t soft-pedal my thoughts about the plays that impressed the least, as featured in Part […]
There were 9 Shakespeare productions happening in and around Toronto this summer (that I know of). I missed only one of them (Mother Nature really didn’t want me to see The Taming of the Shrew, even though it was directed by one of my favourite theatre artists in town!). The best was Shakespeare Bash’d’s no-frills […]
How to Disappear Completely was the second best thing I saw at SummerWorks this year (after Wild Dogs on the Moscow Trains). I loved it. It was everything I wished some of the other shows had been- personal, truthful, and funny without losing its sense of tragedy. Itai Erdal is the rare theatre creator able […]
It comes as a relief to know that there is careful curation behind SummerWorks’ programming. Aside from modest ticket prices, it is even more encouraging to feel as though you’re in good hands. There is always something gambled when attending either Luminato or Fringe: your money with the former and your time with latter. Each […]
Joe Orton’s black comedy Entertaining Mr. Sloane is a strange but compelling piece of theatre. It slyly speaks (in a strong cockney accent) to the fragility of our moral character while presenting us with people who reach very extreme conclusions. There’s an absurdist bent to the dark realities within these flawed human beings but the […]
Be sure to read about my pick for the Must-See production of SummerWorks ’13 as well as Part 1 of everything else. I was warned that Murderers Confess At Christmastime is incredibly disturbing. And it is. But it’s far more accessible than I was expecting. Generally with boundary-pushing theatre I find that you can be […]
CLICK HERE to read my review of the one Must-See production I’ve identified so far this SummerWorks, Wild Dogs on the Moscow Trains. Wild Dogs aside, my first few days at Summerworks ’13 have been a mixed bag. I started off with the crazy surrealist black comedy Holy Mothers that is, as someone I know […]
The image of a totally nude young dancer prancing around the stage at the Betty Oliphant Theatre (fondly referred to as the Betty O) to “You’re So Vain” bleating from a heavy boombox is a sight that one gets used to surprisingly easily. Ben Kamino opened the dance: made in canada festival on Wednesday night with an excerpt from […]