Reviews of productions based in Toronto – theatre includes traditional definitions of theatre, as well as dance, opera, comedy, performance art, spoken word performances, and more. Productions may be in-person, or remote productions streamed online on the Internet.
by George Perry
Tea at the Palace (Puppetmongers) is currently onstage in Toronto at The Tarragon Theatre Extra Space. It is great fun for parents, children, families and single people wishing they had a family. The play retells two old Russian fables using puppets.
by George Perry
I was really looking forward to seeing Mojo. It is played in a rented warehouse in Toronto’s east end. The company is Ezra’s Atlantic Co-op. It is really hard not to be a fan of these folks. They have been mounting plays in unconventional locations throughout Toronto for years.
The play was written by Jez Butterworth in 1995 and premiered at The Royal Court Theatre in London, England. It is billed as a dark comedy that looks at the backrooms of the British rock scene in the late 1950s.
By Adelina Fabiano
As a non – Torontonian until just a few years ago, I have never had the pleasure of seeing the revered productions of Ross Petty. This holiday season’s savagely silly family musical of Beauty and the Beast at the Elgin Theatre has just about anything you could ask for.
Familiar pop songs are woven into a humorously written script for any child or adult with the inner child still inside. Bold lighting effects and sounds, goofy characters, and dazzling dance numbers merge together for a truly enjoyable evening for parent and child alike. Continue reading Review: Beauty and the Beast-The Savagely Silly Family Musical (Ross Petty Productions)
By Adelina Fabiano
I sat in the audience as I watched Shadowpath’s production of Paradise by the River, written by Vittorio Rossi, shocked at my own ignorance that I had never before heard of this bit of Italian-Canadian history.
In this moving script, playwright Vittorio Rossi wholeheartedly dramatizes events that took place from 1940-1945 in Canada while war raged on in Europe. With its dramatic plot set in historical context, heartfelt performances and vivid setting, this production exposed a dark part of Italian-Canadian history that few have acknowledged. Continue reading Review: Paradise by the River (Shadowpath Productions)
by Dorianne Emmerton
I’m not sure how The Wrecking Ball was not on my radar before, being both a theatre buff and a person with political sensibilities. I’m certainly glad I know of it now.
The concept is: the playwrights have one week to write a short script, around ten minutes. The actors have a couple of days with the script, and are on book for the performance. They do tech the day of: this is stripped down theatre. The plays are to be politically relevant to current events. Each show runs one night only.
The promo for Monday night’s show read:
On Tuesday December 7th, the new Toronto City Council including 14 new city councillors and His Worship Mayor Rob Ford will meet for the first time.
The night before this new era of civic governance, The Wrecking Ball presents the works of six Toronto writers who consider the question, “Now What?”
Given this, I expected six short plays depicting a bleak Fordian future but only one of them could really be described as that. They were quite diverse in their approach to the subject. Continue reading Review: Now What? (Wrecking Ball Theatre)