Nightwood Theatre’s production of HER2, currently playing at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, is the second play about cancer I’ve seen this week; it is also the least satisfying. Despite the astounding ensemble cast, this show just doesn’t pack the emotional punch I was expecting.

HER2 is the name given to a protein that promotes the growth of cancer cells. Maja Ardal’s play explores the relationships between seven women—a diverse array—who have tested positive for this protein and have been selected to undergo a clinical trial for a new drug treatment. While these women bond over their shared experience, the lead researcher and her assistant have that age-old argument about science versus sociology. Each woman’s unique personal journey is framed by this question: can hard science be strengthened by unquantifiable human factors like a sense of community? Continue reading Review: HER2 (Nightwood Theatre) →

Toronto Dance Theatre’s Christopher House performs I’ll Crane for You, a piece created with Deborah Hay

Back in the early nineties, a famous American choreographer named Deborah Hay developed a revolutionary new process for creating solo dance performances. In her technique, she coaches dancers to shed all their habits and cherished ideas, and instead to move perpetually and fearlessly into the unknown. The dance that results is an unfiltered and uninterpreted flow of personal discovery.

This weekend, the celebrated Toronto choreographer Christopher House, Artistic Director of Toronto Dance Theatre since 1994, performs I’ll Crane for You, one of three works that he’s created in collaboration with Hay since he began studying with her almost a decade ago. The performances run until Sunday at the Winchester Street Theatre.

Continue reading Review: I’ll Crane for You (Christopher House/Toronto Dance Theatre) →

Piece by Piece (playing in the Next Stage Festival) examines the stories of three women who find themselves hanging out, for one reason or another, in a hospital ICU. Jessie has had a string of miscarriages, and is grappling with a marriage that may not be able to hold this burden; Barb lost her husband to Alzheimer’s years ago, but is still obligated to bring this now-unfamiliar man to his medical appointments; Steffie’s mother died a few weeks ago, but she keeps returning to the waiting area, finding comfort in the familiar sights, smells, people and energy of critical care.

Together, they form a sort of support group, providing community and structure to one another’s lives: Barb gets to make friends and see people for the first time in years; Jessie gets to escape from her own funk and see different perspectives; Steffie meets some adults who take the high-school student seriously and take an interest in her well-being. Playwright Alison Lawrence connects them together and examines parallels and contrasts between their experiences in the awful, fluorescent twilight of this medical ward.

Continue reading 2015 Next Stage Review: Piece By Piece (the mcguffin company) →

Lots of laughs to be had a Troubadour, a musical improv competition at Toronto’s Comedy Bar

Listen my friends to a marvelous tale

Of hilarious ballads and improv fails

Of skilled performers who melodically spar

To become champion of the troubadours at Comedy Bar!

Continue reading Review: Troubadour (Darryl Pring) →