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.
Family drama play out in The Sad Blisters playing at the Common Space in Toronto
The Sad Blisters is one of those family stories that make you realize that your family may not be the strangest one around and that other people had tougher childhoods than you did. Wait, wait! Keep reading. It isn’t a downer at all. I have a theory that in dysfunctional families with more than two kids, when the chips are down the kids either band together to protect each other or they throw each other under the bus. When they’re adults the ones who protected each other may squabble and disagree but in the end they are always there for each other. On Thursday evening at The Commons Theatre four sisters were there for each other.
They squabbled and laughed and cried and screamed and reminisced along the way. There were hugs and kisses and an attempted strangling and in the end sisterly love prevailed. The late playwright Andrew Batten loosely based the play on his wife’s sisters, one of whom married three times, each time to a man named John. Definitely a good starting place for a story. Batten wrote really authentic women’s voices. My friend Marg, who hadn’t paid attention to the playwright’s name, assumed it was written by a woman. Continue reading Review: The Sad Blisters (Glass Hammer Productions)→
Coal Mine Theatre presents the Toronto premiere of this dark, irreverently funny play
In the dark comedy Hand to God, a Texas teen’s Christian ministry puppet comes to life becoming a foul-mouthed, troublemaker and slowly takes over the teen’s life, wreaking havoc on everybody around him. I first saw this play on Broadway in 2015 and though I had forgotten most of the plot details, I distinctly remember laughing so hard I nearly cramped up so I jumped at the opportunity to catch the first Toronto production by Coal Mine Theatre, performed in their intimate storefront venue on the Danforth. Continue reading Review: Hand to God (Coal Mine Theatre)→
Choreographer Lee Su-Feh creates a participatory meditation on migration in Toronto
Developed as part of the Migrant Bodies Project, The Things I Carry is a solo performance by seasoned artist Lee Su-Feh. Presented by Theatre Passe Muraille and Dancemakers, Su-Feh tells stories while reflecting on her life and other’s surrounding the topic of migration.
I did not want to go out on Wednesday evening; during the day I’d received some not so good news and the idea of trekking to Tarragon to see a play wasn’t particularly appealing. I’m so glad that I went. Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story turned my crappy day into a truly special evening.
Canadian Opera Company’s revival of its 2013 production of La Bohème is aural perfection
The Canadian Opera Company’s current elegantly simple production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème is aural perfection. Regardless of what certain pompous composers and music historians have had to say about Puccini’s composition style, there is a reason why he has been an audience favourite for almost one hundred and fifty years. In my view Puccini is what opera is all about. Towering, raw emotion in response to life and death situations and breathtaking musical beauty. Continue reading Review: La Bohème (Canadian Opera Company)→
Family drama play out in The Sad Blisters playing at the Common Space in Toronto
Coal Mine Theatre presents the Toronto premiere of this dark, irreverently funny play
Developed as part of the Migrant Bodies Project, 
Canadian Opera Company’s revival of its 2013 production of La Bohème is aural perfection