Apart from his (pathological?) obsession with airplane disasters, Istvan is a filmmaker and film enthusiast, but began his creative adventures in theatre. Starting out as an actor, he soon discovered a preference for life behind-the-scenes. He has experience in lighting design, stage management and production management, but his passion is writing and directing. With several short films and an indie feature under his belt, film has been his focus in recent years, but theatre has been calling him back. You see more of his critical writing at his film reflection blog: http://captiveviscera.wordpress.com/
Sterling Studio Theatre in Toronto brings a Woody Allen classic, Central Park West, to their May One Acts
Woody Allen’s Central Park West isn’t so much about people and the things that happen to them as it’s about the idea of how funny and awful they can be. Those familiar with Allen will find all his trademark obsessions here: New York socialites, neurotic rambling, and—my favourites—the unforgiving cosmos and the terror of existence.
Soulpepper brings The Road to Mecca, a story about the Apartheid struggle, to the Toronto stage
I used to think that harshly critical reviews were the hardest to pen, but I’ve since discovered that, for me, writing about the great shows is equally troublesome. When a performance is so carefully wrought and meaningful, so perfect in its blending of elements, I struggle to figure out how to best frame the experience. Such is the case with Soulpepper’s production of The Road to Mecca.
The works of Caryl Churchill are featured in this year’s Playwright Project starting with A Number at The Downstage
The Playwright Project is both a celebration of influential playwrights and a showcase for indie theatre companies here in Toronto. This is the third installment since the festival began in 2012. The project brings several theatre companies together to mount selected works from a particular playwright. This year’s choice is Caryl Churchill.
Toronto’s Unit 102 Theatre’s Reasons to be Pretty‘s social commentary on female beauty falls short of hitting the mark
I was intrigued by this description: “LaBute’s play questions how we value female beauty in modern society.” It’s a hot topic and worthy subject matter. This is not really what Reasons to be Pretty is about though. In fact, having seen The LaBute Cycle’s production at the Unit 102 Theatre, I find the title of this play to be rather misleading.
The core conflict is sparked by a remark about physical attractiveness (and there’s some preaching at the end), but Neil Labute‘s play doesn’t really explore the phenomenon of beauty. The narrative suggests an eternal conflict between the sexes, without much hope for mutual understanding. Continue reading Review: Reasons to be Pretty (The LaBute Cycle)→
My evening at Sterling Studio Theatre to see their double-bill of A Lonely Impulse of Delight and Sailor’s Song was bittersweet. I was excited to see them tackle John Patrick Shanley again. (I was very fond of their production of Where’s My Money?) But this is the final week of their May One Acts, after which the company will be leaving this warm, intimate space.
