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.
Do you ever watch a show and think to yourself: ‘this feels like exactly what I have been missing.’ Claudia Dey’s Trout Stanley, playing at the Factory Theatre Mainspace as part of their 50th season, is that play for me.
I sat in my seat and thought: weird, funny, rhythmic – this is exactly the type of play I feel like I never get to see.
Daisy Productions‘ presentation of Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters opened at the Sweet Action Theatre at Artscape Youngplace last night in all its geeky glory, a rollicking ride with a scrappy, Fringe Festival vibe.
Playwright Qui Nguyen’s New York-based Vampire Cowboys theatre company is often credited as the originators of “Geek Theatre” – theatre inspired by superheroes, graphic novels, and martial arts flicks, often presented at comic cons. “Geek Theatre” is alive and well in Toronto.
Continue reading Review: She Kills Monsters (Daisy Productions)
Life in the Residential School system is told through dance at the Young People’s TheatreThe cultural – and literal – genocide perpetrated against Indigenous communities via the Residential School system is one of our country’s most shameful actions in a history with no shortage of shame. Taken from their parents, Indigenous children from toddler through teenagehood experienced conditions similar to those at a prison labour camp allowed to operate without any concern for human rights. Beaten and starved, sexually abused and isolated, they were there to have their culture forcibly removed and replaced with degradation and servitude.
Young People’s Theatre’s 2019-2020 season, based around the Seven Ancestral Teachings of the Anishinaabe, opened with The Mush Hole, a dance-theatre piece by Kaha:wi Dance Theatre which is attached to the teaching of Truth. Truth (Debwewin), separate from Honesty, is symbolic of principle and the basic law of nature; it represents a commitment to speaking about one’s experience, and exhibiting resilience, evolving without being fundamentally changed.
Continue reading Review: The Mush Hole (Kaha:wi Dance Theatre/Young People’s Theatre)
Eldritch Theatre pairs old fashioned ghosts with historic walking tour in an eclectic Halloween pairingIf you’re interested in plenty of laughter and scares this Halloween season, check out Haunted High Park at Colborne Lodge. On from now until October 30, this ghostly evening provided a great experience that delighted my guest and I.
Haunted High Park is a two-part event; the first being a performance of The Baldoon Witch Séance by Toronto’s Eldritch Theatre Company. I’ve reviewed a performance by Eldritch before and went into this a big fan; little has changed. What caught me off-guard, though, was the fantastic the haunted walk we went on afterwards. Continue reading Review: Haunted High Park & The Baldoon Witch Séance (City of Toronto/Eldritch Theatre)
Themes of imbalance and renewal characterize Dancers of Damelahamid’s MînowinDancers of Damelahamid’s new work, Mînowin, is a mesmerizing session of song and dance about reconnecting with ancestral Indigenous knowledge, easing the struggles of Indigenous people, and exploring how progress is a continuous process of imbalance and renewal. Staged in the cozy Harbourfront Centre Theatre, this DanceWorks production flirts with epic themes in the most intimate of spaces.