Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter in the 15th and 16th Centuries that created some fantastical imagery of religious scenes. Here, choreographer Marie Chouinard captured the imagery and spirit of Bosch’s most famous work, The Garden of Earthly Delights.
Sound of the Beast is a challenging, powerful work now on stage in Toronto
Theatre Passe Muraille‘s mixed-media production Sound of the Beast takes us on an intense, challenging journey that moves from Tunisia to Toronto and back. Solo performer Donna-Michelle St. Bernard uses a well-crafted mixture of rap, song, spoken word, and story to share her experiences at the intersection of race and institutional power.
This unusual show isn’t for the politically faint of heart; St. Bernard is forceful and direct in her condemnation of racist cops, racist power structures, and our racist society. But her message is so strong, and the issues she discusses are so important, that I found the show to be very rewarding.
The show itself is a fast paced, witty, and at times raunchy look at what it means to be a “banana” — a cultural term indicating someone who is ‘yellow on the outside and white on the inside’. A displaced Asian with roots in the East but born and raised in the West. From the perspective of five young Chinese-Canadian men, they explore their struggles with career, education, love, friendship, identity, and the ever present pressure from mom and dad.
The Penelopiad tells the story of The Odyssey from Penelope’s perspective, on stage in Toronto
We think we know the story of Odysseus, whose journey home following the battle of Troy took him ten long years, but we do not. George Brown Theatre’s production of Margaret Atwood’s play The Penelopiad–an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus’s faithful wife–embraced the feminism and lyricism of this retelling of a truly timeless story. Continue reading Review: Penelopiad (George Brown Theatre)→
A Toronto adaptation of Hamlet features American Sign Language and a female lead
For its tenth anniversary, Why Not Theatre and director Ravi Jain re-visit their first-ever production: Prince Hamlet, Jain’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. For this new production the director set about—as described in the press materials—to “illuminate the contemporary relevance of the 400-year-old play and ask the question ‘who gets to tell this story?’”
Canadian Stage brings the classic painting by Hieronymus Bosch to life in Toronto
Sound of the Beast is a challenging, powerful work now on stage in Toronto
The hit show Banana Boys returns to the Factory Theatre stage in Toronto
The Penelopiad tells the story of The Odyssey from Penelope’s perspective, on stage in Toronto
A Toronto adaptation of Hamlet features American Sign Language and a female lead