What if the Canadian government banned the sale, production and consumption of alcohol and imposed a modern Prohibition? Would you rise up for your right to imbibe? Theatre Brouhaha’s production We Are The Bomb, playing at the Paddock Tavern as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival, explores this scenario in a hilarious farce. Continue reading We Are The Bomb (Theatre Brouhaha) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review
All posts by Wayne Leung
What is a Fringe Festival Anyway?
A primer on fringe festivals and why they’re so important to Canadian theatre
It’s that wonderful time of year again; the Fringe Festival season is upon us and once again Mooney on Theatre will exclusively dedicate the first two weeks of July to coverage of the Toronto Fringe Festival.
The Fringe is really our flagship event of the year, we pull out all the stops and put in many sleepless nights to provide you with the most comprehensive coverage of the Festival. Those of you who are new to Mooney on Theatre, or to the Fringe Festival may wonder why we dedicate so much of our blood, sweat and tears to covering the Fringe.
What is a fringe festival anyway, and why do we think it’s so important? Continue reading What is a Fringe Festival Anyway?
Announcement: 34th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners
The 2013 Dora Mavor Moore Awards were held last night at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. The Doras are held annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) to honour excellence in Toronto’s performing arts industry.
The Doras serve as Toronto theatre’s night out and a chance for the community to celebrate and honour its own.
Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus, co-Artistic Directors of The National Theatre of the World, hosted a consistently upbeat, tightly-paced evening and winners kept their acceptance speeches short and to-the-point making this one the shortest Dora Award ceremonies in recent history. Despite there being more categories of awards to present this year the ceremony clocked in at a breezy two-and-a-half hours. Continue reading Announcement: 34th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners
Review: L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (Mark Morris Dance Group and Luminato)
Luminato presents the Toronto premiere of Mark Morris’ dance show L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
Mark Morris is an acclaimed contemporary American choreographer known for his eclectic style, ingenuity and wit. Morris created L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato in 1988 and his company, Mark Morris Dance Group, has performed it regularly ever since.
L’Allegro is widely revered and considered the company’s magnum opus. However, it has never been performed in Toronto until now. Luminato is presenting the Canadian premiere for the work’s 25th anniversary. Continue reading Review: L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (Mark Morris Dance Group and Luminato)
Review: Feng Yi Ting (Lincoln Centre Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Currents – Art & Music, and Luminato)
Toronto’s Luminato Festival presents Feng Yi Ting; a Chinese opera directed by Atom Egoyan
When Luminato announced it was presenting Feng Yi Ting, a Chinese opera sung in Mandarin and directed by Canadian director Atom Egoyan, it piqued my interest. I grew up with my grandparents in the house and I remember they’d often listen to Chinese opera records and watched bootlegged performances of traditional Chinese operas recorded on grainy Betamax video cassettes.
I have to admit I never developed a taste for Chinese opera. I suspect many Western theatre- and opera-goers won’t have had much exposure to traditional Chinese opera either and that’s why I found the concept of a Western director directing a Chinese opera primarily for a Western audience so intriguing.