Opera Atelier’s sexy production of Armide is a perfect refutation to those who claim that opera is too long or too boring. Overflowing with sumptuous sights and sounds, the production’s two-and-a-half-hour-plus run time sped by in a captivating flash.
This week, our theme is ‘strange.’ Whether it’s fire-breathing contortionists or undead monsters, all of these shows are looking to spook, unsettle or amaze! Check out our five picks for wallet-friendly theatre this week under the cut. Continue reading Cheap Theatre in Toronto the Week of October 26th
Toronto’s Factory Theatre Age of Arousal: a play of capricious English accents at lightning paceAge of Arousal: the title of the play by Linda Griffith, playing now at the Factory Theatre, arouses interest in itself. Not having any previous knowledge of the play going into it, I was extremely curious as to what sort of story was to unfold. I wish I could say, after over two hours in the theatre, I now had a better idea of the story and the arguments contained in Age of Arousal, but I could only decipher fragments amongst the sped up text and hollow quips.
At long last, the spooky shows are flooding in! Get ready for ghouls, ghosts, and all manner of scares this week as we inch ever closer to old Hallow’s Eve! We’ve highlighted those we’re most excited about in bloody red text. Here are the picks:
Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company presents Barbara Monk Feldman’s original opera Pyramus and ThisbeTwo star-crossed lovers parted by a wall, able to communicate only through a tiny hole: so goes the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, a tale beloved enough for Shakespeare to use (and deliberately mangle) it in his play-within-a-play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; now it finds a home with the Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto.
But the COC’s production isn’t a literal take on the story; rather, it takes a more metaphysical approach, preferring to play with structure in a work of curious irresolution and ambiguity. It certainly is a bold vision, but for me, the results were mixed. Continue reading Pyramus and Thisbe (Canadian Opera Company)