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.
Acting takes centre stage in this many-charactered play
The Ends of the Earth – playing at Alumnae Theatre – is a bold choice for Don’t Look Down Theatre Company’s first on-stage production of 2019. Written by Morris Panych and first produced in 1992, it’s a Canadian play that isn’t particularly Canadian. The setting isn’t specified; it could be anywhere with a coastline. This production is set in the present, but it could as easily be set in the early 1990s when it was first produced, or in the 1950s or even the 1920s.
There are a couple of things that date the play. It’s two hours long, 2 hours and 15 minutes with an intermission. In this day of 60 to 90 minutes plays and short attention spans (mine included), that’s a long play. There are 20 characters with lines in the play; 20! That’s a lot of characters.
Sometimes I see shows where, even after reading the SummerWorks 2019 program, I have no real idea what to expect– and they turn out to be among the ones that I love the most. Footnote Number 12 from Theatre Replacement / Spreafico Eckly certainly falls into this category. In the program it says “This monologue for two people asks you to observe a creature — a creature whose voice is being repeatedly modulated through digital means.” A creature? A monologue for two people? A digitally modulated voice? Could it possibly come together into something coherent, something wonderful? Yes!
The Pressgang Theatre production of White Heat, playing as part of Summerworks 2019, is disturbing, powerful, and could be pulled from today’s headlines. Playwright Graham Isador based the play on real events, which makes it even more ominous.
Ravi Jain’s direction, Claire Calnan, Miriam Fernandes, and Andrew Musselman’s acting, and Nicolas Billion’s script are a magic combination. It has yielded an exquisite, polished theatre gem.
Crossing into Lullaby is a work in development, and part of the SummerWorks 2019 Lab programming. The best way I can describe the way it’s presented is that it’s like a staged reading, but with actors moving around the stage rather than sitting in place.
I love stage readings. They set my imagination free. Often, when I think back to them, I’m not sure if it’s a reading I saw or a play with a set and costumes that I’m remembering.
