Samantha is both a writer and a fan of the arts and has been able to find numerous ways to pair the two. Aside from being an editor here at Mooney on Theatre, she's a photojournalist for Been Here Done That, a travel, dining and tourism blog that focuses on Toronto and abroad and previously for Lithium Magazine, which got her writing and shooting about everything from Dave Matthews Band to Fan Expo. She's passionate about music, theatre, photography, writing, and celebrating sexuality -- not necessarily in that order. She drinks tea more than coffee, prefer ciders over beers, and sings karaoke way too loudly. You can follow her on various social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Serenity Wild, playing at the 2017 SummerWorks Festival, is personally a highly anticipated show and one of the first ones I knew I had to see. As a member of the local BDSM and kink-positive community, I’m excited by the idea of media — be it books, television, movies or plays — that paint BDSM in the light that I’ve always known it to be: a place where consenting adults can explore desires. Serenity Wild promises exactly that.
Catacomb is a site-specific exploration into the life of the honeybee juxtaposed to that of an addict on her downward spiral. Presented as part of the 2017 SummerWorks Festival, Catacomb takes place in an active greenhouse and features a guest appearance by live bees (enclosed in their colony, so I assure you, you’re fine). This intimate performance combines non-linear storytelling, movement, fun bee factoids, and plenty a twist and unexpected turn.
Rootless, playing at the Factory Theatre at the 2017 SummerWorks Theatre Festival, is a story about immigration, about being uprooted and transplanted into a new world and attempting to make it your own. It’s an experience that many of either us or our parents or grandparents have lived through. Rootless is not only touching and poignant, but beautiful and transcendent through its use of projections and shadow puppetry.
The SummerWorks Festival, to me, seems to be the home for unique and intriguing experimental theatre experiences. This is what drew me to The Smile Off Your Face. A half-hour fully immersive theatrical adventure meant for an audience of one that entices, coerces and even seduces all five of your senses in one memorable experience.
Mind-boggling physical theatre, Flooded sets sail on the Pirate Life in Toronto
My adventure into exploring Flooded, directed by Ara Glenn Johanson, started with my desire to explore the unknown. Reading the press release for the show, I knew it would take place on board The Pirate Life ship, that it involved highly physical theatre presented in a non-narrative style, and that there was something about the pelvis, which I perceived to mean this show would be raunchy. I learned just enough to find this production wacky, which was all I needed to want to explore further, but I still had no idea what I was walking into. I also figured that at the very least, I would get to hang out on a boat for an hour.
Mind-boggling physical theatre, Flooded sets sail on the Pirate Life in Toronto