All posts by Tracey Beltrano

Review: The Skriker (Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts)

2341Toronto’s Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts takes on Caryl Churchill’s play The Skriker

The Skriker, by Caryl Churchill is no easy undertaking. In fact, I would suggest anyone who isn’t familiar with the play or playwright do a little research before attending, to get a better grasp of what you are about to see. It’s a dark and magical play that blends themes of love, revenge and loss. It’s surprising that freshly trained actors at The Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts would be given the task of making sense of a very intense, imagery-driven script.  I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by their grasp of the text. Continue reading Review: The Skriker (Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts)

Review: Leading Ladies (Stage Centre Productions)

Toronto’s Stage Centre Productions presents Ken Ludwig’s farce Leading Ladies

Leading LadiesSadly, I did not enjoy last night’s opening performance of Leading Ladies presented by Stage Centre Productions at The Fairview Library Theatre. It’s community theatre but with the types of missteps that give community theatre a bad name. The show has a lot of heart but I definitely think it misses the mark on the essential polish and precision a farce so desperately needs to succeed. Continue reading Review: Leading Ladies (Stage Centre Productions)

Review: Boeing Boeing (Hart House Theatre)

Brandon Gillespie stars in Boeing Boeing at Hart House Theatre, Feb. 26-March 5, 2016 in Toronto, ON>

Hart House Theatre’s Classic Farce Soars

Boeing Boeing at Hart House Theatre is one heck of a non-stop , roller coaster of a farce. Written originally in French by Marc Camoletti, it was translated into English by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans. The version presented tonight was more current to the time, according to director Cory Doran, with a more palatable male/female dynamic then the original script would have had.

I absolutely love a good farce and this play definitely has all the elements that set it up for a great evening of hijinks. Bernard, “a swinging bachelor”, is engaged to three different  stewardesses who never find out about each other thanks to the help of his faithful maid, Berthe. But when Bernard’s friend Robert arrives in town, things get out of whack and that’s when all the juicy stuff happens. Bernard’s once perfectly orchestrated timetable to keep each fiancée away from each other begins to falter, and they all end up in the same place at the same time.  Continue reading Review: Boeing Boeing (Hart House Theatre)

Review: Threesome: An Evening Of One Acts (Minmar Gaslight Productions)

Threesome: An Evening Of One Acts plays at Red Sandcastle Theatre, Toronto ON. Feb. 16-20, 2016

Toronto’s Red Sandcastle Theatre presents an evening of one acts with “something for everyone”

When you are experimenting with new works and going to present them in front of an audience, boy am I ever glad it’s in a one act format. Threesome: An Evening of One Acts playing at The Red Sandcastle Theatre claims to have something for everyone. This is true. Unfortunately though, everything is not for everyone.

Continue reading Review: Threesome: An Evening Of One Acts (Minmar Gaslight Productions)

Review: The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine (Soulpepper)

The Anger in Ernest And Ernestine (Soulpepper) runs January 25th-February 20th, 2016 at Young Centre For the Performing Arts, Toronto ON.Soulpepper show incorporates clowning, improv into relationship play, now on stage in Toronto

What did I just watch? I’ve never seen anything quite like The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine, playing at The Young Centre For The Performing Arts. I was expecting a simple comedic two-hander and instead got a package so stuffed with little treats and surprises, I couldn’t pull my eyes away for fear I would miss something.

This play is about the evolution of a couple’s relationship. From dating and being madly in love, to marriage and the realization that they are opposites. Continue reading Review: The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine (Soulpepper)