Holy Mothers, playing at The Factory Theatre as part of SummerWorks, is less a play than a magic trick.

We are initially confronted by a perfectly ordinary show: a sort of domestic comedy-of-manners. Funny, but unexceptional.

But about five minutes into the second act, when the characters stand up and turn themselves into storytellers, you realize nothing was quite as it appeared–and the third act transforms it all yet again, with a whole new layer of meta-metatheatre which must be seen to be understood.

I was wobbly up until I figured this out; until that second-act revelation, I wasn’t sure what was going on. But as soon as I picked up on the thread, I loved it.

Continue reading Die Präsidentinnen / Holy Mothers (Divine Bovine) 2013 SummerWorks Review →

Games are not only a source of amusement, they are good practice for the heavy challenges of life.  Salome’s Clothes is very much about the games that families play, how some games can be constructive and prepare our children for the world, while others (if not carefully tended) can mask ugly problems and allow them to fester.

The play gives us a Mother of two teenage girls, Nila and Salome.  To raise her daughters with a respect for the education she never received, she sets up a game where, when one of them uses a particularly loaded word, each must recite a different definition of that word.  Each character’s unique definition serves as a metaphor for their particular attitude toward whatever situation is being addressed and reveals the conflicting inner worlds of each woman in that particular moment. Continue reading Salome’s Clothes (Body Theatre) 2013 SummerWorks Review →

Outside the March has become a perennial favourite at SummerWorks. The company has presented acclaimed shows at the festival the past couple years including their wild roller coaster ride of a production, Terminus, last year.  Their offering this year is Murderers Confess at Christmastime, and if Terminus was a roller coaster, this show is more like a fun house; a dark, twisted ride. Continue reading Murderers Confess at Christmastime (Outside the March) 2013 SummerWorks Review →

In the English language, there are certain words you never expect to see together. And while these oxymorons may at first seem puzzling, they can often be quite thought-provoking as well. Tender Napalm is a critically acclaimed British play making its Canadian debut at this year’s SummerWorks Festival.

True to its name, this Phantasmagoria Collective production was heart-warming yet explosive – a juxtaposition of the contradictory themes of passion and loathing, allegory and bittersweet reality. But then again, love – which is the central theme of this production – is never straightforward anyway.

Continue reading Tender Napalm (Phantasmagoria Collective) 2013 SummerWorks Review →

7 Important Things  – part of SummerWorks – opened last night at Theatre Passe Muraille. Opening nights can be tricky. Sometimes the cast isn’t quite as comfortable with the piece as they will be later on. The audience can sometimes be loaded with friends and family and that can provide an immediate bias.

Last night, as I was waiting for the show to begin, I noticed how many people in the audience knew each other and – from my limited eavesdropping – seemed to be theatre people. I never know whether that makes a tougher audience or an easier audience.

Continue reading 7 Important Things (Wakefield Art Collective) 2013 SummerWorks Review →