Among audience members in the packed Tarragon lobby for Blind Date on opening night, there was a palpable buzz among the men as it became clear to anyone who hadn’t heard that one of the men in the audience would shortly be chosen to spend the following ninety-odd minutes onstage. With the performer. Creating (as creator and performer Rebecca Northan quipped) a “new Canadian play.” If I hadn’t been tagged as a reviewer, and therefore off limits, I freely confess that I would have been nervous too.
The Play’s The Thing, presented by Soulpepper for the third time in the company’s 17-year lifespan, is a big airy cream-puff of a play; a juicy, over-ripe peach that is nonetheless a treat. Written by Ferenc Molnár (known for Liliom, the basis for the musical Carousel) and adapted in 1926 by P.G. Wodehouse of Jeeves and Wooster fame, it’s not a deep play, but it doesn’t pretend to be. Rather, it’s a play about plays, a delightfully sly send-up of the conventions and form of the well-made play, with a dollop of farce on top. Its references are irreverent, its artifice the most natural thing in the world.
Spiegelworld presents circus, burlesque, cabaret show Empire under the spiegeltent in Toronto
As part of its Canadian tour Spiegelworld presents Empire, a contemporary take on a circus/burlesque/cabaret show performed under a gorgeously-decorated, 700-seat European mirror tent, or “spiegeltent,” set up near Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre.
The show is bawdy, sometimes lewd and unabashedly fun. Its conceit is not as precious as theatrical circus giant Cirque du Soleil’s shows. Plus the venue, with its tiny three meter-diameter stage, is far more intimate than the big tops (or more recently, cavernous hockey arenas) where Cirque performs, but Empire is also nowhere near as polished or satisfying for those of us who like a little more theatre in their theatrical circus shows. Continue reading Review: Empire (Spiegelworld)→
Upside Downside Theatre, an interdisciplinary theatre company based in Toronto, is creating an ambitious site-specific, immersive theatre and circus piece called HOT 5, set to open this weekend.
We asked the show’s co-creator and company creative director Zoey Gould a few questions about the upcoming show:
