SummerWorks Festival
Announcement: Lucy Eveleigh appointed the new General Manager of Toronto’s SummerWorks Theatre Festival
By Megan Mooney
The Mooney on Theatre team would like to congratulate our writer Lucy Eveleigh on her new appointment as the General Manager of the SummerWorks Theatre Festival.
Lucy became a regular contributor to Mooney on Theatre last year and has since become a unique voice on the site; leveraging her wealth of experience as an actor, improv performer, theatre publicity and outreach coordinator and festival organizer.
Lucy will undoubtedly be an incredible asset to SummerWorks as the festival continues its important work developing emerging theatre and arts in Canada.
Congratulations Lucy and best of luck in your new endeavour!
- The Mooney on Theatre Editorial Team
The official release from the SummerWorks blog is below:
The Physical Ramifications of Attempted Global Domination (Birdtown and Swanville) 2011 SummerWorks Review
By Wayne Leung
In The Physical Ramifications of Attempted Global Domination, writers Aurora Steward de Peña and Nika Mistruzzi explore some interesting hypothetical questions.
What if some of the most powerful and ruthless despots in the history of the world, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Oliver Cromwell, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Pancho Villa, Pope Pius XII, and Chairman Mao could meet together in a summit? What if they were pitted against each other in a game show-like contest to determine which among them would be named the strongest man who ever lived? Read the rest of this entry »
THIRD FLOOR (DeCo.) 2011 SummerWorks Review
By Sonia Borkar
I heard about THIRD FLOOR while waiting in line for a Fringe Show last month. The lady that recommended it was a friend of the playwright, Jason Hall, so I was a little skeptical as her opinion may have been a little biased. I later read the description and decided to give it a shot. I’m so glad I did.
Ingrid Hansen and SNAFU take on Fort York: SummerWorks 2011 Dance Interviews
By Lucy Rupert
SNAFU Dance Theatre’s Ingrid Hansen answers some questions about Pretty Little Instincts.
The Trolley Car (Solo Collective Theatre) 2011 SummerWorks Review
By Jenna Rocca
Solo Theatre Collective brings us a titillatingly dark period piece set in German-occupied Paris: The Trolley Car by Amiel Gladstone. Performed with exquisite depth by Monica Dottor, Rosa Laborde, Matthew Tapscott, the premise takes a dark, philosophical problem and applies it to an evocatively nostalgic love triangle, as indicated in bashful silence by our main protagonist by pressing her index fingers and thumbs together to form the shape.
The question of The Trolley Car is one of choice: given one track with five people tied to it, and a split in it where only one person is tied, a speeding trolley car heads towards the five people. Do you shift its gears so it only kills one, or do you choose to remain uninvolved and let it kill the five?
Even not making a choice is a choice. Read the rest of this entry »
Morning Glory (Kate Lushington and Soo Garay) 2011 SummerWorks Review
Morning Glory is a show written out of the truth. It documents, dramatizes, and details the experiences of Karin Bolette Sonne, in prison and in a center for women with what are referred to in the program as “mental health issues.” It feels facile and unfair to try to review a show that’s so obviously not meant to be entertaining in the typical sense. Morning Glory is much closer to an Augusto Boal-style, Theatre of the Oppressed series of performances, created to bring hidden injustice to light through the art form of theatre. It utterly succeeds.
Little Crickets (Foundry Theatre) 2011 SummerWorks Review
By Sonia Borkar
Little Crickets at Factory Theatre was interesting, sophisticated and thoroughly engaging. Set in 1990 Paris, we follow two Romanian sisters who have fled the revolution to find a new life in the city. It’s apparently based on a true story that transpired between two Romanian girls and a man they met at La Fleur en Isle Cafe. Read the rest of this entry »
Shudder (hum dansoundart) 2011 SummerWorks Review
By Nadaa Hyder
Shudder is a show inspired by the paintings of Francis Bacon. Comprised mainly of what I would describe as creative movement, but not quite dance, this show is like nothing you’ve ever seen.
Francis Bacon was a painter with an unusual style, especially at his time. He conveyed a sense of the strange and eerie with his paintings, and this show certainly does as well, but in my opinion this becomes overstated.
Read the rest of this entry »
Dancing to a White Boy Song (ift theatre and Newface Entertainment) 2011 SummerWorks Review
By Nadaa Hyder
Last night at the Theatre Centre I saw Dancing to a White Boy Song. Due to the title I expected a dance-heavy performance, which was not the case. With that said, this play did a great job and conveyed what it aimed to.
Dancing to a White Boy Song is a play simply about immigration and the struggles immigration brings to those who partake in it. It combines not only dance, but also poetry, spoken words, and visual imagery. Even though it specifically deals with African immigrants, the issues are easily relatable to those of all backgrounds.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lizardboy: A One Man Show (Winged Centarous and Whimsical Productions) 2011 SummerWorks Review
By Nadaa Hyder
Lizardboy: A One Man Show is a window into the life of a 9 year-old Columbian boy. Victor Gomez, as both actor and playwright, creates a whole setting simply through anecdotes and role playing.
This is a play that deals with a child’s innocence and the development of violence due to one’s surrounding community. It is certainly a thought-provoking subject matter that is presented from a child’s perspective. This results in a serious subject becoming more playful, making it an interesting experience as an audience member.