Are you a fan of Shakespeare? There are a variety of Shakespeare-written plays on Toronto stages this week. As befits the season, there’s also a huge selection of Halloween-themed events happening this week. Our assistant editor Jess is here to choose a few shows that caught her eye in red text. Check them out below the cut:
Continue reading Playlistings in Toronto for the week of October 24th
Young People’s Theatre has opened their mainstage season with Spirit Horse, a Native American adaptation by Drew Hayden Taylor of the Irish play Tir Na N’og by Greg Banks, who also directed this production. Taylor is a First Nations writer I love for his humour and poignancy, and this offering is no exception.
Continue reading Kid +1 Review: Spirit Horse (Young People’s Theatre)
Right now, an extraordinary double bill is playing at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre: Mouthpiece, produced by Quote Unquote Theatre and presented by Nightwood Theatre, and Quiver, produced by Nightwood Theatre. Through innovative staging and raw storytelling power, these two shows offer a creative and profoundly moving exploration of the female voice.
These are two of the most urgent and unforgettable plays that I have ever seen. The storytelling techniques and structures in these plays are as bold as the stories themselves; together, Mouthpiece and Quiver offer an extremely cutting-edge night at the theatre.
Birdtown & Swanville presents an episodic play of mystery, myth, misery, and survival in TorontoBirdtown & Swanville’s Even This Old Town Was A Forest, playing at The Theatre Centre, is a performance-driven tale of mystery, myth, misery, and survival. It’s funny though so don’t let those last four words turn you off.
Even This Old Town Was A Forest gives us the story of sisters Mary and Becky as they travel from England to 18th century Toronto – with Mary’s fiancé William, and Becky’s husband Jonathan – to build a new life. Once there, the group meets Abequa, a First Nations girl who has an odd ailment and has literally lost her father. The group must face the elements if they hope to survive, but they are also taunted by a monster who is forever in their midst. Continue reading Review: Even this old town was a Forest (Birdtown & Swanville)
In the Canadian Opera Company’s premiere production of Ariodonte, by G.F. Handel, a holy-roller revival comes to town. The revival comes in the form of the sadistic, misogynistic, creeper preacher Polinesso. During the elegant, highly evocative overture, Polinesso pontificates to a rapt audience of villagers on the perils of seductive women of loose virtue. It soon becomes apparent that the true peril is him. Continue reading Review: Ariodonte (Canadian Opera Company)