Reviews of theatre, dance, opera, comedy and festivals. Performances can be in-person or streamed remotely on the web for social-distancing.
Making its triumphant Canadian debut at the Young People’s Theatre, Emotional Creature is a poignant look at the various struggles endured by young women all over the world. This V-Day Toronto production (presented in conjunction with Nightwood Theatre) employs song, dance and dialogue to explore a wide range of issues – from trying to fit in to escaping a horrible life of sexual slavery.
Leaving the Winchester Street Theatre, it struck me that a converted church seemed fitting for what I had just seen. Working with all of the Toronto Dance Theatre company members, Ame Henderson’s Voyager was almost religious in its dedication to their theme.
The question posed in publicity about Voyager was “What would happen if you never stopped moving?” My initial gut response, albeit a pessimistic one was ‘nothing, we never stop moving’. Our hearts beat, our lungs pump, and our synapses fire we are constantly in motion. After seeing the show I realized what was missing from these press releases and e-blasts was the idea of constant motion at a single tempo.
In Cher Menteur/Dear Liar, the Théâtre français explores the–often very convoluted–romance between the famous George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell, a leading actress at the turn of the 20th Century. Their relationship was turbulent, swinging from infatuation to revulsion and back again. Historians believe that, while it may have been the greatest romance in both of their lives, the ties between them remained unconsummated. Both married other people, and although the two exchanged ideas and took inspiration from one another, in smaller or greater ways, throughout their lives, their only notable joint project was Shaw’s Pygmalion.
Cher Menteur/Dear Liar (presented in French, with English surtitles) explores this relationship through their correspondence, itself a point of considerable tension between the pair. Fortunately, both Shaw and Campbell were witty fiends, and the playfulness inherent in these letters–even when things are on the rocks–shines through, more than a century later.
Continue reading Review: Cher Menteur/Dear Liar (Théâtre français de Toronto)
Same Same But Different, now onstage at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille, is two plays in one. Both acts are capable of standing alone as completed works, and have done so to acclaim in the past. With timeless themes forming a shared backbone, this fine night of theatre shows us both sides of the same rupee.
Same Same But Different is the brainchild of uber-talented Anita Majumdar. Majumdar wrote, choreographed and stars in the play. She’s onstage for the vast majority of the two acts, and the total running time is about 2 hours and 40 minutes. That might sound like a recipe for “we’re going to grow tired of this woman”, but trust me, you won’t.
Continue reading Review: Same Same But Different (Theatre Passe Muraille and ATP in assoc. with Nightswimming)
Forgiveness: a theatrical poem is playing at the Black Box Theatre and the show opens with a microphone on a cord being lowered to a tape player resting on a chair. Recorded voices talk about forgiveness and their take on it. The first scene erupts in violence, chaos and movement before we land again in the presence of a couple at odds with each other. Forgiveness is a series of scenes dealing with the titular theme and that theme is explored in romantic and familial relationships, between strangers, in empty political apologies, in war crimes, and with the self.
Continue reading Review: Forgiveness: a theatrical poem (Modern Times Stage Company)