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.
House of Many Tongues at Tarragon, written by Jonathan Garfinkel and directed by Richard Rose, is probably one of the biggest theatrical surprises I’ve had in a long while.
Given the subject matter (Israeli-Palestinian conflict) and the director (Rose is the guy who brought us ‘Scorched’), I fully expected a drawn-out family saga, ripe with preachy sentimentalism aimed to mollify our white liberal guilt. What I got instead, though, is a pleasing (if naïve) evening of magical realism and laughs.
Last night was my first experience at the CrossCurrents play-reading series at Factory Theatre that Megan caught earlier this week.With a series of one-night-only works in progress, you can never be too sure of what you’re in for.I am happy to report that last night, we weren’t disappointed.
I won’t lie—despite the Oscar buzz, I never bothered to see Doubt on the big screen. It looked boring and weighty and depressing.
Nuns and pedophilia? No thanks.
Yet, somehow, with only 4 cast members and very minimal sets, Bluma Appel Theatre’s production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play was fantastic.
Weighty, yes, with an overdose of hit-you-over the head morality… but also intelligent and funny (never thought I’d find myself laughing at Lent-related humour.)
Balls – a comedy about testicular cancer – was the second performance of the “Show Us Yours” series that Kathy and I attended. (See Kathy’s review of Giant Invisible Robot here.)
A big fan of inappropriate humour, and terrible puns, I found myself laughing wholeheartedly through the entire performance. That is, until the final scene, which held the silent audience rapt, reminding us of the seriousness of the topic.
