This week we have stories about Regent Park, one story about a disastrous affair playing at a theatre in Regent Park, several love stories, and a much-anticipated musical set in Newfoundland. With so much to choose from, aren’t you glad our editor Lin is here to pick out a few that caught her eye in red text? Check them out below the cut:
Continue reading Playlistings in Toronto for the week of November 14th
I had high hopes for The Storefront Theatre’s production of Beaver, a coming-of-age story set in small-town Northern Ontario. Unfortunately, I thought this play was extremely uneven.
Beaver had great sound design that skillfully evoked a Canadian winter, but I thought many of the characters lacked depth, and I was perplexed by some of the playwright’s structural choices. At the end of the play’s two-hours-plus runtime, I felt more disappointed than anything.
The world can sometimes feel like a dark and unforgiving place and—particularly after the events this week—it may feel like we’ve made a deal with the Devil. Chasse-Galerie, a Kabìn and Storefront Theatre co-production, now playing at Soulpepper’s Young Centre, is a bright antidote to dark times. It’s theatre that feels like a party, and it’s one hell of a ride. Continue reading Review: Chasse-Galerie (Kabin/Storefront/Soulpepper)
An honest dramedy about black lives and gentrification on stage at the Passe Muraille in TorontoPlaying at the Theatre Passe Muraille until November 20 is Secrets of a Black Boy, an honest yet endearing, funny look at the lives of young black men living in Regent Park while facing gentrification. This collection of stories explores topics from police brutality and racism, to sexuality and domestic violence, and arrives on the heels of the shocking US presidential election — which drives home the relevance that these stories have in the here and now.
Continue reading Review: Secrets of a Black Boy (PLAYING with CRAYONS/Theatre Passe Muraille)
Playwright Nick Payne provides a glimpse into quantum possibilities in Constellations, which opened Thursday at the Bluma Appel Theatre. At the end of the play my friend Elaine said “I wish that had lasted longer, it just zipped past.”
Not really something you’d expect to hear about a play that includes string theory and quantum physics. It wasn’t that she felt it was too short or unfinished; she liked it so much that she didn’t want it to end. Continue reading Review: Constellations (Canadian Stage and Centaur Theatre)