Banana Shpeel “a-peels” to audience at Toronto’s Canon Theatre
By Crystal Wood
I’ve seen a few Cirque du Soleil shows in my time, so I thought I knew what I was in for when I went to see Banana Shpeel at the Canon Theatre. But my expectations were turned as upside-down as one of their trapeze acts.
Banana Shpeel has none of the motorcycle-on-a-tightrope death-defying acts that you might recognize from its other shows. There are, however, still plenty of Cirque du Soleil’s trademark contortionist acts that make my spine hurt just to watch.
If you’re the kind of person who has ever gone on a behind-the-scenes tour at a theatre and thought “Neat! I want to see more!”, you will probably enjoy Drama & Desire: Artists and the Theatre at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
This show is a look at how art forms bleed together, featuring music, paintings, costumes, theatre sets, live performance and more. Since it’s set at the AGO, visual art is obviously key, but the show makes a couple of good points. 1) Theatre has long informedvisual artists, and 2) theatre actually is visual art in its own right.
Family drama unfolds in Sharon Pollock’s play at the Young Centre
By Crystal Wood
Soulpepper’s current production of Doc, playing at the Young Centre until September 18, feels at once very familiar and very unique.
It’s familiar because it’s a family drama that deals with unhappy people, hiding their secrets and battling their demons. (I’ve read more than one comparison to Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night.) But it’s unique because playwright Sharon Pollock uses subtle writing and interesting time shifts to tell this nearly universal story in a new way.
My first thought after watching The Emotionalists was “Wow, this is a really good play.” My second thought was “Wow, this is a Sky Gilbert play?” That’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed his other work, but it’s quite different in style and tone from most of his Buddies in Bad Times fare. Mr. Gilbert, if you’re reading this, more The Emotionalists please!
I’m probably the only person in the world who didn’t read The Fountainheadin my teens, so I know Ayn Rand only by name. You don’t need to know much about the woman or her philosophies before going in, though, because the play is clear and entertaining in its own right.
I wanted to see The Kreutzer Sonata when the Art of Time Ensemble produced it earlier this year, but this silly need to pay my bills got in the way. So, I was excited to hear that the monologue was being remounted for Summerworks, but a little suspicious about whether the story would stand on its own without Art of Time’s music and dance to accompany it.
I’m happy to say that it did. (What can I say? I’m a worrier.)
