Ilana Lucas has been a big theatre nerd since witnessing a fateful Gilbert and Sullivan production at the age of seven. She has studied theatre for most of her life, holds a BA in English and Theatre from Princeton and an MFA in Dramaturgy and Script Development from Columbia, and is currently a professor of English and Theatre at Centennial College. She believes that theatre has a unique ability to foster connection, empathy and joy, and has a deep love of the playfulness of the written word. Her favourite theatrical experience was the nine-hour, all-day Broadway performance of The Norman Conquests, which made fast friends of an audience of strangers.
Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) is now on stage in Toronto
In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), being presented by RedWit Theatre at the Tarragon Extraspace, is the Sarah Ruhl play about the Victorian treatment for “hysteria” that earned three Tony nominations in 2010. Set in 1880, as the world begins to electrify, the play takes place in the home of Dr. Givings (Christina Fox), who has introduced his (utterly clinical) invention to reduce depression and languor in the lives of Victorian women. The device, essentially an ur-vibrator, induces a restorative “paroxysm” in the woman to relieve congestion in the womb. Continue reading Review: In the Next Room (RedWit Theatre)→
Lauren & Amanda Do It, presented by Toasted Theatre Company at the Next Stage Theatre Festival, bills itself as a frank discussion about sex in a province where sex ed is currently in crisis. Pared down from its hour-long iteration into a 30-minute performance in the Factory Theatre Antechamber, it’s styled as an ever-changing talk show, with a rotating roster of guests.
Hosts Lauren Cauchy and Amanda Logan, aided by sprightly, bright original music and participation from Alli Harris, determine each night’s topic by spinning the “Wheel of Fucking.” The wheel has topics ranging from “Fetishes and Fantasies” to “Masturbation,” the latter being our fortune for opening night. Even if the wheel spin is the same two nights in a row, we’re assured that there will be different material for returning customers. (Three nights in a row, perhaps not.)
Possessed, presented by Classy Little Bitch Productions at the Next Stage Theatre Festival, is a short exploration into family history, framed as a ritual. The 30-minute show is written and performed by Diana Bang, of Fringe hit SELF-ish; she portrays Sarah, a Korean-Canadian woman on the eve of her 35th birthday who is attempting to cure her shinbyeong, or self-loss, by becoming a Manchin, or shaman.
This type of spiritual healer, usually female, must originate through an initiation wherein she becomes possessed by spirits. Sarah calls on the spirits of her family, particularly those who endured or succumbed to great tragedy, in order to instigate her own healing.
Believable science fiction is difficult to achieve on stage, a fact acknowledged by Eric Helle, director of Seven Siblings Theatre’s production of From The Water, which is now playing at the Tarragon Extraspace. Much of science fiction relies on the ability to create believable worlds and advanced technology, something that tends to require an enormous effects budget. Low-budget theatre knows it can’t really compare, so it has to concentrate its efforts elsewhere. Anyone who’s a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series and its cardboard sets, however, knows that it’s the characters and ideas that really matter in the long run. In these ways, From The Water largely succeeds in captivating our imaginations.
What I Call Her explores relationships through personality disorders, on stage in Toronto
In What I Call Her, Ellie Moon’s sophomore play presented by Crow’s Theatre/In Association, 25-year-old Kate’s mother, not that she calls her that, is desperately ill and near death. Kate (Charlie Gould) doesn’t seem particularly broken up about it. While her boyfriend Kyle (Michael Ayres) attempts to find the right pieces for his 3D puzzle – appropriately London Bridge, for things about to fall down – jumpy Kate, intense to the point of distress, breaks the silent companionship to announce her desire to write a tell-all Facebook obit about mom, ready to go for “when she croaks.”
Kate’s mother was a childhood sexual abuse survivor who tried to help others; she was also physically and emotionally abusive to Kate throughout her childhood. There’s a rift in the family. Kate’s father took her away from her mother, believing Kate’s accusations of abuse; Kate’s younger sister Ruby (Ellie Ellwand) sided with mom and refused to leave, believing Kate made up or was at fault for her experiences. Continue reading Review: What I Call Her (Crow’s Theatre/In Association)→
Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) is now on stage in Toronto
Play balances speculation with comedy in Toronto
What I Call Her explores relationships through personality disorders, on stage in Toronto