The street where you would normally see thousands of cars passing through on any given day has been transformed into a hyper-interactive four-day exhibition of lively street performances. Yonge Street – between Queen and College – is now the home of the 14th annual Scotiabank BuskerFest.
Moving from its long-time home in the St. Lawrence Market area, this year’s BuskerFest has more than 60 different acts including jugglers, contortionists, musicians, fire eaters and theatrical performers. In addition to being the largest festival of its kind in North America, it’s also the biggest epilepsy awareness event in the world. Continue reading A Look at Scotiabank BuskerFest 2013→
Shakespeare in the Ruff presents the Bard’s classic play Richard the III outdoors in Toronto’s Winthrow Park
Shakespeare in the Ruff is a great venue to bring your picnic blanket, your discreet drinks, maybe your kids, and enjoy a polished and vibrant interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s classics. This year the offering is Richard the III, one of the earliest instances of a villain protagonist.
I arrived at the show in a fairly foul mood and, because of some of the circumstances of my rough day, had no companion and no blanket or camp chair to sit on. I was not looking forward to having to be there. But once the show started I was quickly distracted from my personal worries. Continue reading Review: Richard the III (Shakespeare in the Ruff)→
The Von Tiedemann series for Dance: made in Canada/fait au Canada (d:mic/fac) featured three unique contemporary dance performances by Louis Laberge-Côté, Blue Ceiling Dance and Mocean Dance (company based in Halifax). Each piece offered the audience something new. Laberge-Côté used inspiration from his own life to choreograph an emotional duet about a time in his life he was away from life-long partner and performer, Michael Caldwell. Lucy Rupert, from Blue Ceiling Dance, presented a solo piece that she originally did in 2006 and that was remounted for this festival. Tedd Robinson choreographed for Mocean Dance, fusing Celtic inspired and contemporary choreography for the strong all-female dance troupe.
Schützen is a performance piece that provides a uniquely insightful take on the demands made on the human body in wartime. In just over an hour, Danish performance artist Cecile Ullerup Schmidt guides her audience through a successful hybrid of education and entertainment; investigating and helping the audience investigate this subject. This smart piece is a winner.
This musical is set against the backdrop of a South that is proud and angry, still recovering from the Confederate defeat some 50 years prior. The year is 1913 and, deep in the heart of Georgia, Leo Frank is wrongly convicted of the murder of Mary Phagan. Continue reading Review: Parade (StageWorks Toronto)→
The street where you would normally see thousands of cars passing through on any given day has been transformed into a hyper-interactive four-day exhibition of lively street performances. Yonge Street – between Queen and College – is now the home of the 14th annual Scotiabank BuskerFest.
