Toronto Theatre Reviews

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.

burn, burned (Rodney Diverlus and Syrus Marcus Ware) 2019 SummerWorks Review

Picture of actors in burn, burnedburn, burned, produced by Rodley Diverlus and Syrus Marcus Ware,  is now playing at SummerWorks.  Part performance art and dance, the show features a band of revolutionaries regrouping after “decades of race wars” in a fictional future.

Diverlus notes that his choreography primarily strived to explore – but not definitively answer – areas of his own curiosity. As such, I tried not to find a clear story in the movement, but to pay attention to the feelings it evoked.

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CHILD-ISH (Sunny Drake and the CHILD-ISH Collective) 2019 SummerWorks Review

Actors from CHILD-ISH at SummerWorks 2019 A man and a child stand side by side holding long stemmed roses and staring wide-eyed at the camera

CHILD-ISH, a work-in-progress play by Sunny Drake and The CHILD-ISH Collective is playing at the 2019 SummerWorks Festival. If you’re missing school over the summer, or the child-like wonder of your youth, this one’s for you. It’s fun, silly, earnest and heartfelt, and gives voice to the unbridled curiosity and wisdom of children.

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Encumbrance (Johannes Zits) SummerWorks 2019 Review

Photo of Johannes Zits lying bent backbackwards on a pile of clothes

Encumbrance, created and produced by Johannes Zits with the assistance of Holly Timpener, is listed on the  SummerWorks 2019 website as a live art performance. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. The listing goes on to say “…contemplating the relationship between the body, identity and clothing.” which, in retrospect, is quite funny because the four performers just wore hand-made thongs most of the time.

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Review: Dusk Dances 2019 – Celebrating 25 Years (Dusk Dances)

This year the charming outdoor dance festival, Dusk Dances, celebrates 25 Years, featuring five different works in Toronto’s east end. Each piece is spread throughout Withrow Park, using the park’s amenities, like its a baseball field and hockey rink.

The 2019 festival includes work from Hanna Kiel, Meredith Thompson, Mix Mix Dance Collective, Denise Fujiwara and Yuichiro Inouo, Pulga Muchochoma & Naishi Wang.

Each choreographer creates a ten-minute site-specific piece, mostly staying within a contemporary dance style, with the exception of a work that mixes house, waacking and breaking street styles.

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