On the night of Saturday the 10th at 7:30 pm, The Great Hall hosted the first public performance of the musical A History of Summer. One of the three works included in Summerworks‘ Musical Works in Concert program this year, A History of Summer follows the lives and loves of LGBT vacationers on Fire Island over more than a century. The success of this epic musical as a concert-style performance makes me eager to see a full stage performance.

Continue reading A History of Summer (Musical Works in Concert) 2013 SummerWorks Review →

This year, there have been several notable dance performances playing at SummerWorks.  for me? is a half-an-hour long dance piece by Crooked Figure Dances that chronicles the real-life interpersonal relationship between the dancers.

Continue reading for me? (Crooked Figure Dances) 2013 SummerWorks Review →

nanny: maroon warrior queen is being workshopped at Lower Ossington Theatre as part of SummerWorks. As usual, I like to minimize the amount of research I do on a show before I see it. I chose to review nanny: maroon warrior queen based on the themes of feminism, anticolonialism, history and spirituality as laid out in the program description.

Because this is a work in progress, every night’s performance is different. The mythologized historical figure Nanny begins the performance by  silently taking us through her daily ritual. She wears a mask behind which her wide eyes peer her audience and we really feel that she sees us.

There is no fourth wall; Nanny acknowledges all latecomers. Nanny addresses the audience and asks very difficult questions: Why have you come here? Are you burdened by something? What is your greatest fear? Continue reading nanny: maroon warrior queen (anitafrika dub theatre) 2013 SummerWorks Review →

Broken, performed at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace at SummerWorks, is a solo show about memory, family, family stories and how the details of our lives are captured and transmitted for posterity.

The performer, Brian Fidler, introduces himself as Will, not his real name, and invites the audience to adopt aliases for the show. Parts of the show, he tells us, are true. Parts are not. Will asks the audience a series of questions about our memory and informs us that we may very well be at one of the seven stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Will shows us a box he finds in his parents’ basement full of his grandfather’s possessions. He proceeds to tell us about his relationship with his grandfather and how as a child, he revelled in the stories his grandfather told based on the slides he projected for the boy. Continue reading Broken (Ramshackle Theatre) 2013 SummerWorks Review →

Five strong diverse actors take the stage in the beautifully written SummerWorks play, Eating Pomegranates Naked. The play addresses issues relating to fertility, race, gender identity, faith, religion, relationships and sexuality.

As a woman who is pregnant, I could especially relate to the issue of fertility and the importance our society places on being fertile. Having friends who are currently experiencing infidelity or others who have miscarried; I think playwright Andrea Scott addresses the sensitive issues in a profound and honest way. Continue reading Eating Pomegranates Naked (Call Me Scotty Productions) 2013 SummerWorks Review →