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.
This darkly chaotic story focusing on themes of art, obsession, and fiction is a tumultuous spiral of human emotion that, despite a few hiccups in the production, left me mesmerized and enthralled.
Two troubled souls meet in a bar in this exciting site-specific play on stage in Toronto
Two seemingly mismatched but deeply troubled souls meet at bar, and events spiral clumsily and rapidly from there in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. The two-hander site specific show takes place in a local bar. Having just completed their run at the Imperial Pub on Dundas, Wolf Manor Theatre Collective will continue their run at the ROUND Venue beginning January 19-22, 2017.
Right from the start, the show is abrasive and uncomfortable. It is vulgar, raw and gritty, but all of these aspects forces the audience to sit and take notice. As the story progresses in this dark and dingy bar, the characters blossom, their relationship gels, and you can’t help but feel for them. Watching this performance is not easy and there are many themes present that may be triggering and will likely stir up uneasy emotions–at first I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy myself, but I found myself enthralled in the end.
Soulpepper Theatre brings the Christmas classic to the Toronto stage
For the holidays, Soulpepper Theatre returns to the St Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts to present the stage version of the Christmas movie classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. Staged as a 1940s era radio play complete with live sound effects and vintage commercials, George Bailey’s Christmas miracle story is brought to life and your family will love it.
An honest dramedy about black lives and gentrification on stage at the Passe Muraille in Toronto
Playing at the Theatre Passe Muraille until November 20 is Secrets of a Black Boy, an honest yet endearing, funny look at the lives of young black men living in Regent Park while facing gentrification. This collection of stories explores topics from police brutality and racism, to sexuality and domestic violence, and arrives on the heels of the shocking US presidential election — which drives home the relevance that these stories have in the here and now.
Concord Floral explores peer pressure in a microcosm of teen life on stage in Toronto
There are three main reasons why I was originally drawn to Concord Floral, on stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre at the St Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts until October 16th. First, its focus is on teen life in suburban Vaughan, Ontario, which was exactly where I spent my teenage years. Second, it’s written by Jordan Tannahill who is pretty much the IT playwright of the here and now. He picked up a slew of Dora Awards for Botticelli in the Fire & Sunday in Sodom, a show he presented earlier this year with Canadian Stage that simply blew me away. Third, the transformation of the Bluma Appel Theatre, placing the audience on bleacher style seating directly on the stage looking down on the performers, intrigued me and I had to see it for myself.
Having experienced the play and now understanding what it really is — a teen horror flick on stage, reminding me a lot of the movie Unfriended, just in time for Halloween — I see both the emotional underpinnings of the bullying and peer pressure that comes with the territory of being a teenager, and the darkly twisted joy of Concord Floral itself.
Canadian Stage presents the North American English language debut of Liv Stein in Toronto
Two troubled souls meet in a bar in this exciting site-specific play on stage in Toronto
Soulpepper Theatre brings the Christmas classic to the Toronto stage
An honest dramedy about black lives and gentrification on stage at the Passe Muraille in Toronto
Concord Floral explores peer pressure in a microcosm of teen life on stage in Toronto