by Dana Lacey

I’m glad I choose to see rAiz’n the sun ensemble’s SummerWorks performance of The Centre at the peak of one of the hottest days of this otherwise rain-drenched summer. As the lights dimmed at The Factory Theatre, the air was filled with the soothing, almost-breezy humming of worship. I forgot my discomfort and instantly slipped into the play. Two groups of women were introduced: five from the past (which is actually our present) and four from a thousand years in the future who are tasked with stopping a worker’s rebellion. They decide to travel back and examine a group of women who’ve agreed to exchange their opinions for money in The Centre: what we 21st-century people call a focus group. Continue reading Summerworks 2009 – The Centre – Factory Theatre →

by Lucy Allen

For all of our efforts to bring awareness to global poverty, we all too often forget that the same issues are right in our own backyard.  Project Humanity’s The Middle Place, playing now in the Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace as part of the Summerworks Festival, sheds light on the lives on several Toronto youths living in a shelter in one of Toronto’s roughest neighbourhoods.  The result is an eye-opening and moving look at the individuals of this marginalized community. Continue reading Summerworks 2009- The Middle Place- Project Humanity →

by Lucy Allen

It was entirely accidental that I ended up in the line for Daniel Barrow’s Everytime I See Your Picture I Cry, currently playing in the Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace as part of the Summerworks Festival.  I had intended to see another show also playing there, but due to my inability to read a simple ticket, ended up missing out. Continue reading Summerworks 2009- Everytime I See Your Picture I Cry- Daniel Barrow →

by Lucy Allen

On Sunday morning, slightly bleary eyed and wandering the streets of Toronto, I managed to get caught in a torrential downpour of rain on my way to see Faustwork Mask Theatre’s Carnival Knowledge, currently playing at The Theatre Centre as part of the Summerworks festival.  I sat down, damp and cold, cursing my umbrella sitting dry in my apartment and prayed that the show would be worth the shower.  Thanks to some clever and mesmerizing mask work, I had quite forgotten my misery by the end of the hour. Continue reading Summerworks 2009- Carnival Knowledge- Faust Mask Theatre →