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.
Toronto’s Opera Atelier launches their 25th Anniversary Season with Acis and Galatea
This is Opera Atelier’s 25th Anniversary Season. It opened Saturday night with with Handel’s Acis and Galatea at the Elgin Theatre. My friend Elaine came with me. Neither of us are particularly opera fans (or particularly not opera fans). My experience with Opera before last night was limited to seeing The Marriage of Figaro about 30 years ago. Elaine’s wasn’t a lot broader. I wanted to go because my mother discovered opera at the age of 82 and loves it so it seemed like a good idea.
And it was a good idea. This is the kind of opera that anyone could see and enjoy.
One of the authors, Ian Brown, noted that book readings are quite rare for non-fiction authors because they’re simply reporting facts instead of presenting individual ideas. It’s true that the night felt more like a university lecture than an artistic performance, but it was one that I enjoyed nonetheless. For a reader of non-fiction, a chance to meet and hear from writers who have devoted years to one particular subject can be a very rewarding experience.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Alison Sealy-Smith rocks! And she is a perfect anchor as matriarch Lena Younger in Soulpepper’s A Raisin in the Sun. Were the rest of the production stripped bare save a lounge chair, a meek potted plant and Lena, I would have been satisfied.
You can imagine my elation when director Weyni Mengesha’s lavish production combined a period set with a collection of heartfelt performances. I’m pretty sure my mouth hung open the entire night.
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been affected by the financial crisis in the last couple of years. Heck, even with no assets to my name to lose I find myself scrounging for change in the couch for subway fare. Of course, any world crisis is always ripe for parody and countless plays and tv shows pop up to give their own commentary on the disaster. Spent, which opened last night at the Factory Theatre, is one of those many shows. It’s one of the only shows, though, that does it right. Continue reading Review: Spent (Theatre Smith-Gilmour)→
You might be wondering why Mooney on Theatre is covering the IFOA. We believe that author readings are akin to staged play readings or to monologues. Not a lot of lights and music but they definitely engage the imagination and entertain. Person + stage + material+ audience = theatre.
