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.
A woman reunites with her estranged mother in 6 Essential Questions coming to Toronto’s Factory Theatre
The debut play from writer, novelist, and academic, Priscilla Uppal, 6 Essential Questionslaunches at Factory Theatre on March 6. A personal story, based on Uppal’s memoirs Projections: Encounters with My Runaway Mother, 6 Essential Questions is the story of Renata who travels to Brazil to reunite with her mother who abandoned her when Renata was 5 years old. Learning quickly that some dreams were never meant to live, Renata asks herself “how do I tell my brother that yes, yes, I found our mother and she’s about as lovely as an electrical storm when you’re naked and tied to the highest tree in the county?”
Choral vocals and ensemble movement blend for a unique night of Toronto theatre in The Caucasian Chalk Circle
This is not my first trek down the rabbit hole and into the crazy epic theatre world of Bertolt Brecht. Being both impressed and dazzled by my previous sojourn, the idea that Humber Theatre (Humber College being my own alma mater) was taking on Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle immediately piqued my curiosity. Accompanying me for the evening would be my friend Grace, my previous Brecht date.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle is fashioned loosely as a play within a play featuring a community of villagers exhausted from the aftereffects of war. Within this play, a servant girl takes on the care and raising of an abandoned baby, the Governess’ child, and endures two years of hardships and struggles in order to raise it. The final question remains: who is the true mother?
There’s something uncanny and fantastical about Brecht’s work, and how that translates is simply this — expect the unexpected.
Argentinian tango takes center stage at Toronto’s Panasonic Theatre in Arrabal
Buenos Aires. From the shantytowns in 1979 to the underground tango clubs 18 years later. Following the life of an innocent teenage girl getting lured into the scintillating world of tango in the face of a cultural revolution. Wait, you had me at the tango club. When I first learned of Mirvish‘s latest dance-oriented production, Arrabal, playing at the Panasonic Theatre, images of the Tango Roxanne from Moulin Rouge swam through my head. Yes, sign me up.
Arrabal is a story told entirely through dance, namely the tango, and does so in fun and exciting ways that I normally didn’t attribute the tango to do. Being as that there isn’t any dialogue between performers, the plot is fairly easy to follow — it’s not abstract or arcane, but the choreography speaks volumes.
The Wedding Singer is a lively musical filled with ’80s nostalgia playing at Toronto’s Hart House Theatre
Out of the classic Adam Sandler movies, The Wedding Singer is one of my favorites. Free from his repertoire of signature vulgar humor often done for sheer shock value, The Wedding Singer is light, comical, filled with great ’80s musical nostalgia, and it’s romantic — and I’m usually not one for romantic movies. Until recently I didn’t realize that The Wedding Singer was made into a stage musical and that U of T’s Hart House Theatre was taking it on.
With my head filling with the chorus to Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round”, I was eager to see how they took the movie to the stage and wondered how many of those classic songs I’d be able to rock out to in my seat.
Jack Your Body celebrates underground dance trends through the ages at Toronto’s Next Stage Theatre Festival
Back by popular demand to this year’s Next Stage Theatre Festival is Mix Mix Collective‘s Jack Your Body, version 2.0, having made their debut at last year’s Fringe. Jack Your Body is a diverse and innovative celebration of underground dance styles through the ages from the here and now straight through to 70s’ Soul Train.
Dance performances for me have always been a hit or miss. Though I’m far from a dance aficionado, I can appreciate a piece of beautiful movement. If well performed, choreographed and executed, you’ll have me sold. Unfortunately, Jack Your Body didn’t entirely sell me.
Buenos Aires. From the shantytowns in 1979 to the underground tango clubs 18 years later. Following the life of an innocent teenage girl getting lured into the scintillating world of tango in the face of a cultural revolution. Wait, you had me at the tango club. When I first learned of 
