All posts by Sarah Siddiqui

Review: OIL (ARC)

Picture of Bahareh Yaghari and Samantha Brown in OILOIL is “even more timely than when it was originally published.”

***NOTE: The rest of run has been cancelled to respect social-distancing requests around COVID -19

ARC celebrates its 20th anniversary with the Canadian premiere of OIL by British playwright Ella Hickson, directed by Aviva Armour-Ostroff and Christopher Stanton.  OIL tells a 150-plus-year-old story of the fossil fuel industry as it changes around a mother and daughter.

OIL tells the story of a mother, May (Bahareh Yaraghi), and her daughter Amy (Samantha Brown). The play follows their relationship over five time-periods and locations. All told, the story takes us from England to the Middle East over 150 years of history – from the advent of the fossil fuel industry to an imagined post-petroleum world.

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Review: Asian Comedy All Stars (RushZilla Productions)

Picture of Rush Kazi, Cassie Cao, Big Norm, Thurka Gunaratnam, Anto Chan, Carolina DG, Zeeshan Ansari, and Shuhei Murakami in Asian Comedy All StarsConsistent high-quality performers solicit belly laughs in this comedy revue

Wednesday I had the pleasure of checking out a comedy revue featuring Asian comics with a wide spectrum of backgrounds and styles. Comedian Rush Kazi presents monthly comedy shows at the Rivoli, and one of them is Asian Comedy All Stars, a comedy revue showcasing comics from Asia, or of Asian descent.

This month’s revue featured Anto Chan, Thurka Gunaratman, Zeeshan Ansari, Carolina DG, Big Norm, Shuhei Murakami, and headliner Cassie Cao. The show also featured two burlesque numbers by Imogen Quest.

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Review: Affioramenti (Surfacing) (DopoLavoro Teatrale/Progress Festival)

Picture of various items washed ashore by Antonella Bersani for Affioramenti (Surfacing)

Affioramenti (Surfacing) is a unique, immersive experience combining installation with immersive theatre.

Affioramenti (Surfacing), presented by DopoLavoro Teatrale, is now on at The Theatre Centre as part of Progress Festival. A collaboration of visual artist Antonella Bersani and composer/videographer Matteo Pennese, Affioramenti invites its audience to co-create a unique oceanic world over the course of 30 minutes.

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