Toronto Theatre Reviews
Review: Dani Girl (Talk Is Free Theatre & Show One Productions)
Written by Christopher Dimond and Michael Kooman, a duo who has been dubbed some of the hottest up-and-coming writers in New York, Dani Girl tells the story of a nine year old girl battling leukemia. It is set entirely in a hospital, and in Dani’s imagination (played by Gabi Epstein), as she struggles to understand cancer and overcome the disease. While in the hospital, she meets and befriends Marty, a young boy played by Jonathan Logan, who Dani likes to refer to solely as Meriwether. A fact which she learns from snatching up his hospital chart like any nine-year-old would do when curious and impatient for information. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Beckett: Feck It! (Queen of Puddings Music Theatre and Canadian Stage)
Toronto’s CanStage and Queen of Puddings Music Theatre explore Samuel Beckett’s absurdist plays using Irish classical music in Feck It!
One of the first things you get to see in Beckett: Feck It! is a very phallic-looking device, followed by an actor presenting his bum and scrotum. This isn’t obscene – the actor is wearing underwear – but it is very funny. The combination of lowbrow humour with rather highbrow existentialist concepts is one of the hallmarks of Absurdist Theatre. The humour is necessary comic relief because the philosophy expressed would be too depressing, and the rote repetition of the stage action would be insufferable, without it.
I love this stuff. I love playing with structure and form and language and I love exposing the meaninglessness of the trappings of human society. But it’s not to all tastes. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Everything Under The Moon (World Stage)
Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre stages Everything Under The Moon, a fantastical visual performance for all ages
Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2012 season begins with Everything Under the Moon, an adventure tale pairing hand-animated projected image with narrative song at the Enwave Theatre.
Undertaken by visual and performance artist Shary Boyle and songwriter and performer Christine Fellows, Everything Under the Moon is part of the Fresh Ground new works programme, which seeks artists who don’t normally set out to create child-friendly performances. The result can be described as performance art for kids.
The show tells the story of a honeybee, Idared, and a brown bat, Limbertwig, on an urgent quest to save themselves and their respective species. On their journey they encounter an owl, a man, a woolly mammoth, a mummified child and a top-hat wearing spider. Everything Under The Moon intends to touch on themes of loss, environmental threat, adaptation and the restorative powers of friendship and community.
Review: Reasons To Be Pretty (Theatre Bassaris)
By Adam Collier
Reasons To Be Pretty plays at Toronto’s Red Sandcastle Theatre and focuses on relationships and vulnerability
Before the performance began, I turned to the stranger sitting beside me. What have you heard – I asked – about Reasons To Be Pretty?
She didn’t know this work, though she was familiar with other plays by Neil LaBute, the playwright behind Reasons To Be Pretty, which runs until February 18th at Red Sandcastle Theatre. She described Mr. LaBute’s style as gritty.
At intermission, she amended that description. “Visceral,” she said.
Review: Les Cheminements de L’Influence (Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie)
A daughter’s dance and a father’s life of research combine in Laurence Lemieux’s Pathways of Influence at Toronto’s Citadel
I would have never thought one’s research methodologies in political science could be translated onto the stage through dance. Choreographer, performer and company founder Laurence Lemieux does just this in her innovative dance piece Les Cheminements de L’influence (Pathways of Influence), co-produced by Lemieux and her husband and business partner, Bill Coleman.
Borrowing its title from her father’s published book on political science, Les Cheminements des L’influence, Lemieux creates a 50-minute dance piece honouring her father, Vincent Lemieux, and his extensive and inspiring work in the field of political science. An undoubtedly original piece, Lemieux dissects her father’s theories using intricate contemporary movement, interesting musical compositions, impressive lighting designs, and a newly renovated theatre space in the round (well, more like a square). Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Lucia di Lammermoor (Toronto Opera Repertoire)
By Samantha Wu
Community opera at its best, Toronto Opera Repertoire offers accessible and entertaining shows like the Italian Lucia di Lammermoor
If you’re fascinated by the opera (like I am) but are nervous about a heavy ticket price, not understanding the show and feeling overwhelmed being stuck in a tuxedo, ball gown, opera glasses and stuffy opera crowd (like I have been), then the Toronto Opera Repertoire (TOR) is perfect for you.
Opera – complete with stunning sets, stunning voices, amazing musicianship, costumes and supertitles (projected to the ceiling) combined with the dedication and accessibility of community theatre is what the TOR is all about. Their production of Lucia di Lammermoor playing at the Bickford Centre is a perfect introduction to the world of opera. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Potted Potter (Potted Productions)
By Dana Lacey
Potted Potter at Toronto’s Panasonic Theatre offers laughs for fans and non-fans of all ages
Potted Potter is a goofy, fast-paced celebration of character acting – one actor plays Harry Potter, another plays the other 300 characters from J.K. Rowling’s imaginary world.
The story: a pair of Brit playwrights embark on the ambitious goal of performing all seven Harry Potter books in 70 minutes. There’s Jeff (Jefferson Turner), the straight man and Potter devotee that must overcome his dream of a high-quality production complete with fire-breathing dragons and full-blown Hogwarts sets. And then there’s Dan (Daniel Clarkson), who’s a lot less worried about accuracy: he hasn’t read the books.
Review: Pomme is French for Apple (Bahia Watson and Liza Paul)
By Sam Mooney
Bahia Watson and Liza Paul are a delight in their fantastic show Pomme is French for Apple
I had a wretched afternoon and on my way to the car I fell on some ice. Pomme is French for Apple starts at 9 pm – late in my books. Not really the best way to go to see a show; I wasn’t in the most receptive frame of mind.
Thank you Bahia and Liza for turning my day around. Pomme is for Apple is a fantastic show. Hilariously funny!
Review: The God Of Hell (Unit 102 Actors Company)
By Adam Collier
Unit 102′s take on Shepard’s play The God of Hell impressed in Toronto
A cow was not what I was expecting.
Taped up around the doorway to Unit 102 were posters for The God Of Hell.
On the poster, the title appears in bold, no-nonsense lettering. Above it, an image of perhaps the most docile of animals: a cow.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents The Rhubarb Festival
The Rhubarb Festival playing at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre showcases experimental works from emerging artists
For the next two weeks, over one hundred artists will transform Buddies in Bad Times Theatre into a centre of creativity and experimentation.
There are several different categories which this year’s performances explore: the politics of our communities, spotlighting queer history, and confronting the fragility and resilience of our bodies. The shows I caught yesterday explored the latter.
I had never been to a Rhubarb Festival before, and knew only to expect some avant-garde (experimental) theatre. What happens is that you are confronted with a choice upon arrival – shows run simultaneously in The Cabaret, to your left, and The Chamber, to your right (or you can stay in the lobby for a while and catch some performance art – yesterday was a made-to-order café set up). Each show has a half-hour slot, and your ticket allows you to go back and forth between the two spaces – you pick and choose which show you want to attend at what time. It is a little bit confusing as to what show is going on where, but the staff is pretty helpful when it comes to that.