S. Bear Bergman has great faith in the power of theatre to make change, and has been putting his money where his mouth is on that one for some time. A writer, performer, and lecturer, Bear works full time as an artist and cultural worker and loves to see as much live performance as possible – making this a fantastic gig for him.
Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times presents a show exploring the experience of being Black and queer
In 1989, as fifteen-year-old white suburban queer kid, I snuck downstairs into the basement at midnight and watched Marlon Riggs’ groundbreaking documentary Tongues Untied on PBS with the sound turned down so low I was two inches from the set, afraid to be caught but more afraid to miss a second of it. As Black Boys started to unfold on the Buddies In Bad Times stage I found myself catapulted back to the electric sensation of seeing genre-defining work about queerness and Blackness.
d’bi young anitafrika creates an intense experience in Bloodclaat, on stage in Toronto
There were only 14 people in the audience the night I saw Bloodclaat at The Watah Theatre, and that means a great many people are missing out on the power and brilliance of d’bi young anitafrika and this show.
Don’t be one of them. Even (or especially) if you’re not sure you have it in you for a difficult show, even (or especially) if you have no clear sense of what to expect: this is so worth seeing.
Mothers and daughters are paired on the Toronto stage for a unique not-quite-theatre experience
To be fair, Like Mother, Like Daughter (playing at 918 Bathurst) is very difficult to review. It’s not really a piece of theatre so much as it is a production or a spectacle or possibly an encounter group, in which mother/daughter pairs answer questions as honestly as they can while sitting at a table surrounded by an audience.
It is, however, very interesting to watch and to think about.
Canadian Opera Company’s Norma burns bright at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre
For me, a night of opera can fall into three categories: Please Make It Stop; That’s So Interesting; and Transported By Magic. Norma, a co-production of Canadian Opera Company with San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) is pure Magic.
COC is great at opening the season with something spectacular in both music and visuals, with Norma at the front of this 2016-2017 season being no exception.
Young People Theatre’s colourful stage show “transfixed” Toronto babies and toddlers alike
You might imagine that a show for babies would be boring for anyone else, but that idea would be based on the conventional wisdom: that shows like One Thing Leads To Another at Young People’s Theatre would be simplified or dumbed down versions of a longer narrative. The genius of One Thing Leads To Another is that it’s colourful and joyful and contains perfect baby-logic — as evidenced by the fact that an entire room of babies and toddlers were transfixed by it, to the point that some of them (like mine, ahem) had to be physically restrained from joining the fun on the stage.
Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times presents a show exploring the experience of being Black and queer
Mothers and daughters are paired on the Toronto stage for a unique not-quite-theatre experience
Young People Theatre’s colourful stage show “transfixed” Toronto babies and toddlers alike