I spent an hour on a lovely Sunday afternoon watching myself (and fellow audience members) on a semi-blurry screen while listening to instructions and observations delivered by a variety of robotic voices with charming British accents. SummerWorks Special Presentation, Offending the Audience, might not be for everyone but it definitely contained many interesting ideas about what is theatre and our identity as theatre-goers.
The Hum (A Theatre Gargantua SideStream Cycle with the GzAp Collective), playing at SummerWorks 2015, is a sweet family show about the magic inherent in the natural environment around us. It’s presented by venerable Toronto company Theatre Gargantua, created by and starring Julia Aplin, John Gzowski, and their ten-year-old daughter, Jenny Aplin.
The show was inspired by Jenny’s paintings, and tries to tap into the hum of the Earth. Much like a ten-year-old kid, though, it’s a show that has high aspirations (and a promising opening monologue) but doesn’t quite know what it wants to be yet.
Beyond anything, MacArthur Park Suite: A Disco Ballet is 100% fun. The colored lights production, playing at the Factory Theatre Mainspace as part of the 2015 SummerWorks Festival, is the brain child of lauded writer and performer Ryan G. Hinds and while it is also a love letter to Donna Summer, it is so much more.
Mexe (pronounced mesh, Portuguese for ‘move’) is part of the Live Art series at this year’s SummerWorks Festival and it may be one of the more exciting and immersive shows you’re likely to see at the festival.
That’s a tall-order statement, which is proper for a tall-order performance. Mexe, created by Maziar Ghaderi, blends capoeira — the Afro-Brazilian martial art and dance — with music, dance, song, and live sound. Bring your headphones (preferably ones with a longer cord or you can rent one for $2) to experience the ‘3D sound’.
Beyond anything, 