This week’s selection of cheap theatre is filled with productions that will surely make you smirk, giggle, chuckle and simply bust out laughing. From dark comedy to absurd situations and even a vaudeville burlesque act (which, though definitely cheeky, still studded with moments of great comedy) and improv, what better way to fill your evening with laughs.
Continue reading Cheap Theatre for the Week of October 1st, 2013
Having grown up with supportive family, friends and peers, my coming-out process was an enviably easy process. I have been—and do appreciate this—quite fortunate in that I have not had to dwell on my sexual orientation. It has never been an obstacle for me, nor even particularly interesting subject matter, and so I rarely seek out specifically gay content. I arrived at the Alumnae Theatre Studio Space to see the second annual Gay Play Day feeling dubious, yet intrigued.
The festival features plays by local LGBTTQ playwrights. (For those who are not familiar with what all of those letters signify, here is a breakdown: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Two-Spirit and Queer.) Six short plays ran for two evening performances on the Friday and Saturday, with an additional matinee on Saturday that featured four solo shows. There was considerable talent showcased this year. Continue reading Review: Gay Play Day 2013 (Gay Play Day)
There’s a special place in my heart for the workshop performance, in exactly the same way there is for a brand new foal: I adore them even though they cannot yet do all that they someday will. You can see their good bones and spirit even in the hours when it’s all they can do to stand, damp and wobbly. Catherine Hernandez‘s Femme Playlist (shown at Aluna Theatre for a single-night benefit) is beyond the damp and wobbly stage; not quite outgrown some of it’s angularity but clearly at the last stage before dazzling.
Here is what’s going on in Toronto theatre this week. There are several great shows to catch for the week of September 30th, 2013. ** Shows marked with the double asterisks and in red are the ones that make Mike, our Editor, wish he could exist in multiple parallel universes so he could check them all out.
Continue reading Eye-Catching Theatre for the Week of September 30th 2013
There’s something marvellous about small town spelling bees, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (which played the Al Green Theatre) captures it beautifully.
Spelling, in the format used for the bee, is a useless skill: nobody over the age of 14 will ever be asked to stand up and spell a word in front of an audience. On the list of weird things we do to children, it ranks quite high. But in this middle-school gymnatorium (“THIS IS A BULLY-FREE ZONE!”, shouts the poster on the wall), nothing could possibly matter more. The lives of these students revolve around dictionaries and all-night drill sessions–and the bee itself, for this afternoon, may as well be the Thunderdome. Ten kids enter. One kid leaves.
Continue reading Review: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Easy Street Productions)