Always a theatre lover Sam realized in middle age that there's more to Toronto theatre than just mainstream and is now in love with one person shows, adores festivals, and quirky venues make her day.
A “stunning piece of theatre” both brutally funny and honest
There are two more performances of Class, Scottee’s one-person show. Go see it. It’s amazing. I can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did last night. My stomach muscles are still tender this morning. I also can’t remember the last time I worked as hard to not sob during a performance. Or was as angry.
Working Class Dinner Party is “a joy to have dinner with”
There are times when it doesn’t matter what the description of a show says; I have no idea what to expect. I think of it as ‘theatre roulette.’ Sometimes they’re the best experiences. Working Class Dinner Party, part of the Progress Festival, is one of those shows.
Normally I see plays on opening night, but for a variety of reasons, I saw Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes at a Saturday matinee at Tarragon. It’s a different feeling, a different audience; a lot more people my age (middle-aged plus). The standing ovation felt genuine rather than obligatory. It was certainly well deserved.
The plot is familiar, even clichéd. It’s 2014. Jon (Matthew Edison), a 42 year old professor and best-selling author, has an affair with Annie (Alice Snaden), a 19 year old student. We can predict the story. Right?
Cash Me If You Can is a ‘fun evening’ of a one-man performance full of self-deprecating humour
Patrick Combs took on a bank and won. Cash Me If You Can is his story and he’s telling it at the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre. It’s a great story and he tells it well. Which is to be expected; he’s been telling it to a lot of people for a while now.
When Combs was 29 he got one of those junk mail cheques in his mail. The kind we’ve all received, part of a ‘you can get rich too’ pitch. It was payable to him in the amount of $95,095.33, drawn on a real bank, signed, and had “NOT NEGOTIABLE FOR CASH” printed in the top right corner. He decided to deposit it as a joke. The show is the story of what happened after that.
You can’t vote at The Election at Theatre Passe Muraille, but you’ll laugh
The Election opened at Theatre Passe Muraille on Friday. “Huh?” I can hear you thinking, “I’m pretty sure the election is on October 21st.” Yes, the Federal Election is on Monday, October 21st. That’s not the election I’m talking about. This is a play is about volunteering for federal candidates in the 2015 election.
My friend Patricia has a lot of experience working on federal political campaigns, both as a staffer and a volunteer. It made sense for me to ask her to come with me, I don’t know anything about volunteering for a campaign. She said that the campaign office parts of the play were true to life. It reinforced why I don’t volunteer to work election campaigns.
A “stunning piece of theatre” both brutally funny and honest
Working Class Dinner Party is “a joy to have dinner with”
You can’t vote at The Election at Theatre Passe Muraille, but you’ll laugh