All posts by Samantha Wu

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.

Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts I, II, III) (Soulpepper)

Photo of Lisa Berry, Dion Johnstone, Walter Borden, Akosua Amo-Adem, Marcel Stewart, Daren A. Herbert, Peter Fernandes, Roy Lewis in Father Comes Home From the Wars by Cylla von TiedemannThis American Civil War drama is modeled after classic Greek Tragedy, on stage in Toronto

There is so much to be said about Father Comes Home From the War Parts I, II, and III that I feel this review may not be enough to do this production justice. Set against the American Civil War, the first three parts to this nine part epic deals with the pursuit of freedom and the complex and ever so relevant hot button topic of racism. Constructed as an American Odyssey with all the elements, including the lyrical style, of a Greek Tragedy, this moving, eye-opening and heartbreaking tale is something you won’t soon forget.

Continue reading Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts I, II, III) (Soulpepper)

Quiet Revolution (The AMY Project) 2016 SummerWorks Review

The AMY Project is a free arts education and mentoring program for young women and non-binary people, fostering leadership and confidence while encouraging their unique voices. For the 2016 SummerWorks Festival, the hard-working young people of the AMY Project present Quiet Revolution, the culmination of the AMY Spring Theatre Creation Project.

Continue reading Quiet Revolution (The AMY Project) 2016 SummerWorks Review

Intent City (Eventual Ashes with Red Slam Collective) 2016 SummerWorks Review

Intent City

Playing for free at 1196 Queen St West is Intent City. Part of the Live Art series at the 2016 SummerWorks Festival, this performance piece combines live music, video projections and audience input in the forms of pre-recorded sound bites answering the questions of what is your intent on this land and how can we shape the future together for Indigenous people?

Continue reading Intent City (Eventual Ashes with Red Slam Collective) 2016 SummerWorks Review

Lessons in Temperament (TuneSmith Productions) 2016 SummerWorks Review

Lessons in Temperament #1

James Smith is a wonderfully talented piano player. He also tunes pianos for a living — a profession you don’t hear much about these days. Smith also has OCD and a complex and complicated family history. Through his love of music and piano tuning, he has managed to tame both complexities in his mind. In Lessons in Temperament, playing at the 2016 SummerWorks Festival, Smith is happy to tell you all about it in an intimate setting while he demonstrates how he wrangles the savage beast of an untuned piano.

Continue reading Lessons in Temperament (TuneSmith Productions) 2016 SummerWorks Review

4 1/2 (ig)noble truths (zeitpunktheatre) 2016 SummerWorks Review

IG Noble truthsWriter and performer Thomas McKechnie presents 4 1/2 (ig)noble truths at the 2016 SummerWorks Festival — an intense, incredibly manic, physical, chaotic, cacophonous, fast and delirious one man show on the causes of clinical depression, the effects on the sufferer, and how to cope. This performance speaks to those days when a frontal lobotomy sounds more appealing than getting out of bed, and to those times when basic social interactions is excruciating and unusual torture. It also speaks to those with loved ones who have experienced the same. Just watch your head.

Continue reading 4 1/2 (ig)noble truths (zeitpunktheatre) 2016 SummerWorks Review