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.
Tonight I spent another evening being read to at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA). I realized that if authors are going to stand on a stage and read, they need to have a stage presence. That isn’t to say that any of them didn’t, rather some authors had presence in spades.
Linwood Barclay could stand on stage reading from the phone book and manage to stop at a place that would make me rush out to buy the phone book, just so that I could finish reading it.
He read from Fear the Worst. One sentence. A brilliant opening sentence.
And then read from his new novel that will be published in the spring.
For the record theatre doesn’t have to be a play, any performance in front of an audience can be theatre. In June I reviewed the Griffin Poetry Prize short-list readings, it was poetry as theatre, and it was great.
Tonight I went to see (or hear) Michael Connelly, Dani Couture, Denise Mina, and William Deverell read from their newest works. Ian Rankin was the host, introducing the writers. Each author reads for 20 minutes – except poets who read for 10, (kind of a strange rule).
You might remember The Toxic Avenger. The campy horror/comedy film about a vigilante mutant nerd debuted in 1984 to little fanfare, but quickly captured the hearts of B-movie aficionados. Well it’s back, and more musical.
You might be asking yourself why a theatre website is writing about an author’s festival, but here at Mooney on Theatre we look at the idea of what constitutes ‘theatre’ in a very broad way. So that it includes a very wide variety of ‘performances’. Speaking of a wide variety of performances, the tribute to Paul Quarrington seemed to cover all the bases. It had speeches, live music, the occasional quotes from scripts, and even family slideshows.
A strange tale told in an old house during the Halloween season should be sufficiently gruesome. It should tingle the skin and infuse even the most banal aspects of your surroundings, the creaking step and flickering light, with menace. At this, DVxT’s adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, playing at The Campbell House Museum, is particularly effective.
Tonight I spent another evening being read to at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA). I realized that if authors are going to stand on a stage and read, they need to have a stage presence. That isn’t to say that any of them didn’t, rather some authors had presence in spades.
This year marks the 30th annual 