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.
Echo Productions brings America’s first ‘power couple’ to life at the Factory Studio Theatre in Toronto
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow took America by storm in a spree of high stakes bank robberies during the Great Depression that also resulted in the deaths of various police officers and civilians along the way. Their wave of crime came to an ultimate fiery end in 1934. Since then, their lives of crime have been the focus of numerous shows and movies including Echo Productions‘ latest show.
Pleiades Theatre presents the award-winning Sound of Cracking Bones on stage at the Passe Muraille in Toronto
I was drawn to see The Sound of Cracking Bones, a play presented by Pleiades Theatre with the support of the Theatre Passe Muraille, for various reasons — the subject matter of the liberation of child soldiers spoke to me as both a journalist and a humanitarian and simply the very visceral and guttural nature of the title itself. I have a strong appreciation for theatre with heavy subject matter and significant points of view — I want to experience these performances and leave feeling equally strong emotions be them enlightened or pained or angered.
After the performance I left the theatre speechless feeling all those things and more.
Blood Relations takes a chilling look into the Lizzie Borden murders at the Alumnae Theatre in Toronto
Alumnae Theatre‘s latest production, Blood Relations, takes on the infamous and bloody tale of Lizzie Borden, the young lady who was tried and later acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother in 1892, and projects it ten years in the future. In this imagined future, Lizzie and her friend and lover, known only as “Actress”, play a mind game where Actress takes a stroll in Lizzie’s shoes during those critical few weeks leading up to the murder in order to answer the question ‘could Lizzie have done it?’
It was this very interesting take on the famous murder case that instantly piqued my curiosity having long been fascinated by the trial. Having now seen this production, I can honestly say I was blown away.
A couple’s life takes a downward spiral in Lungs playing at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto
I’m at that age where most of my friends that I’ve known since high school are somewhere in the process of starting family life — they’re engaged or already married; they’re pregnant, have their first and, in a few cases, are expecting their second. At some point in their lives, they had the same whirlwind conversation that is the driving force behind Lungs, presented by Tarragon Theatre, that inevitably starts at the same point: “let’s have a baby”. From that point onward, life gets complicated and awkward, to say the least.
Toronto Operetta Theatre’s The Mikado is a fun and frivolous jaunt to end the holiday season
I was admittedly hesitant before going to see Toronto Operetta Theatre‘s The Mikado. Granted, this would be the first time I’ve seen an operetta live, let alone the Gilbert and Sullivan classic. What was truly causing my reservations was the fact that I had recently subjected myself to the massive train wreck of a movie that is The Interview, and wasn’t sure if I could stomach anymore overt racism. But, when The Mikado is described literally as “a thinly-veiled poke at English bureaucracy disguised as a Japanese idyll”, and it is made perfectly clear that this is a cultural parody, it’s akin to complaining about violence in a movie labelled “violent” — you knew what you were in for.
If you can put aside the “yellow face” (the fact that there isn’t a single Asian actor on stage for a production set in “Japan” with “Japanese” characters) and the silly names, The Mikado is actually quite fun.
I’m at that age where most of my friends that I’ve known since high school are somewhere in the process of starting family life — they’re engaged or already married; they’re pregnant, have their first and, in a few cases, are expecting their second. At some point in their lives, they had the same whirlwind conversation that is the driving force behind 