Hey guys, April 30th was our 7th birthday here at Mooney on Theatre!
To celebrate we went out and got a new outfit. A sleeker look more befitting of our mature ‘seven-candles on the cake’ status.
We’ll take a couple spins on this make-shift catwalk here so you can check our outfit out properly.
Don’t worry though, we’re good at multitasking, so we’ll keep delivering reviews while we do our little turn on the catwalk.
Photo of the adorable dog by Hubert Figuière – licensed under Creative Commons
The SheDot Comedy Festival is in town for its second year. The only comedy festival in Toronto featuring all-female performers, it is being headlined by none other than Margaret Cho.
Will there be talk of body parts? Relationships? Most likely! Continue reading SheDot. Toronto’s Festival of Funny Women
Aromas, currently onstage at the Alumnae Theatre, tells the life story of Katalin. Traumatized by a brutal beating as an adolescent, she later grows to realize her dream of being a professional skater in the ice dancing version of Swan Lake.
It’s also the story of Katalin’s alter ego Chanel, a sex worker in exotic dance and escorting who finds spirituality in sexuality. Continue reading Review: Aromas (Junes Company)
Andrea Mittler’s set for Creditors at the Coal Mine Theatre suggests you’re about to be taken back to a time long ago. It’s a stuffy, old-fashioned world of antiques, all dark wood and bronze. This quaint illusion is completely shattered the moment the action starts, as the story and its characters are far from antiquated. Although it was written over a century ago, August Strindberg’s tragic comedy is still fresh and provocative.
Adolph is a young man, an artist, who has recently taken ill. He limps around with the help of crutches, sharing some very private thoughts with a much older man, Gustav. Gustav seems to be genuinely worried about this young man and his attachment to his older wife, a fellow artist—a novelist—named Tekla. Gustav tries to convince Adolph that he has been emasculated by her. Continue reading Review: Creditors (Coal Mine Theatre)
The Ale House Theatre’s Othello opens with the cast standing on stage. Slowly, they begin to belt out a wordless tune. The harmony is slightly eerie. It’s reminiscent of church bells, but without any indication whether the bells are sounding for joy or for sorrow. Their voices fade and they return backstage, leaving the audience to wonder about their cryptic song.
The story of Othello, the Moore of Venice, is one of Shakepeare’s famous plays. As with most Shakespearean tragedies, it tells the tale of a successful and revered person who quickly tumbles from grace. Othello’s fall in particular can be blamed on the sharp-tongued Iago, or–depending on your perspective–on his own vile thoughts that were beneath the surface all along. As with Iago’s slippery way with words, the truth is always up for interpretation.
Continue reading Review: The Tragedie of Othello (Ale House Theatre)