I was shocked as I walked into the completely transformed space of Artscape Youngplace to see the Toronto Premier of Bad Jews presented by the Koffler Centre of the Arts. Completely decked out with risers, a lighting rig, a full stage and even a kitchen sink(!) I was amazed and slightly wary of the time […]
Based on Pushkin and Tchaikovsky’s nineteenth century poem and opera, respectively, with themes including love at first sight, unrequited love, and regret, one might be weary of another attempt to adapt old tales for our current times. However, you will be very surprised with what The Musical Stage Company has created with Onegin. A powerful […]
Wolf Manor Theatre Collective’s Caesar is a sporadically competent reimagining of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with five actors playing multiple roles. Julius Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus are all played by women (Melanie Leon, Maddelena Vallecchi Williams, and Megan Miles, respectively). The cast is rounded out by Kevin Kashani as Marc Anthony, and Felix Beauchamp as Casca. […]
Soulpepper’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow is Enuf is now on at the Yonge Centre. Ntozake Shange’s play was originally written in 1974, but still resonates today as deeply relevant. Directed by Djanet Sears, the show depicts seven women, each distinguished by different colours, representing every colour of the rainbow, as […]
What a delightful pleasure to familiarize myself with the unique performance style of Haley McGee for the first time…
The lights go down, the famous crashing motif begins and the curtain immediately flies up to reveal the chapel of a massive Roman church, into which an escaped prisoner appears, searching for refuge. Giacomo Puccini’s famously sensational work cuts through all the introductory formality (no overture!) and instead plunges us straight into the drama, sparing […]
The final offering of the Canadian Stage Spotlight Festival: Australia was The Return by Circa, a genre-defying combination of cirque and opera. The stage is shared equally between the circus artists and the live chamber ensemble, with the former occupying stage right, and the latter stage left. An imposing black wall spans the width of […]
Two Birds One Stone “Some of this is true and some of it is not” Natasha Greenblatt says to openTwo Birds One Stone, which premiered as part of the Why Not Theatre’s Riser Project, Thursday night. But co-star and creator Rimah Jabr, disagrees. It’s all true, she tells us. What unfolds is an aptly named […]