TheatreRUN’s remarkable adaptation of Dostoëvsky’s The Double is on stage at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre

The Double, now onstage at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre Extraspace, is an entirely engaging journey. It is based on Dostoëvsky’s novella of the same name, and is the story of one man’s descent into self-doubt and stark, raving madness.

A stroganoff of comedy, slapstick, mime, music humour and terror, The Double is a delicious play that you’ll find yourself immersed in. It’s comprised of two different acts. During intermission you’ll likely be tweeting great things about it and inviting friends while the second course is being prepared.

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dirty butterfly to take the stage in Toronto again

One of the fantastic things about fringe festivals is that you get to see amazing stuff before it becomes the ‘next big thing’. The idea of following something from its beginnings on the fringe stage as it continues to moves through the various stages of its artistic life is certainly exciting.

In 2012 Bound To Create presented a critically-acclaimed and nearly sold-out version of dirty butterfly. If you had the chance to see it then it means you are now in the position of being able to do that exciting following of a life cycle. Bound To Create will be opening dirty butterfly at Daniel’s Spectrum this Friday, November 1 (previews start Wednesday) as part of the Obsidian Theatre Company’s Presentation Series.

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Vampires, goths and Jews in Kat Sandler’s Halloween-themed play Sucker at Toronto’s Storefront Theatre

Sucker (at the Storefront) is presented as a Halloween entertainment–and coming away from it afterwards, this is an extremely apt description.

There’s blood. Lots and lots of blood. People die excruciating, humiliating deaths. There are vampires and occultists and murderers and attorneys. The story is warped and twisted, and–as with all good haunted houses–there’s a damned good scare right at the very end.

But, eventually, the party has to wind down. The lights come on, and suddenly, things crystallize. The creatures are constructed of makeup and papier maché; the blood comes from a gallon jug bought at a party store. Underneath all these gruesome masks are five very ordinary people pretending to be monsters.

At least, we hope they’re pretending.

Continue reading Review: Sucker (Blood, Sweat & Blood Collective) →

Birth of Frankenstein leaves the stage behind and invites the audience to play in a Toronto church parlour

As soon as I heard that Litmus Theatre was staging their production of Birth of Frankenstein in a 19th century church I knew that I had to see it. Matchbox Macbeth, which they performed in a garage in 2011, was wonderful. Litmus is an inventive, imaginative theatre company and I expected that Birth of Frankenstein would be special.

It was. From the minute that I walked through the doors into the church it felt like an adventure.

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Bob Kills Theatre’s Savage in Limbo is a heartbreaking story set in a Cheers-esque bar playing at Toronto’s The Downstage

The opening night of Savage in Limbo at The Downstage began without announcement. The audience was still tittering with quiet conversation when a head slowly rose from behind the stage bar. The bartender (Murk) stared straight ahead with wild eyes. I was right in his line of vision and began to wonder if I was lost in a very twisted episode of Cheers.

And in a way, Savage in Limbo is an odd version of the beloved bar-based sitcom. All the patrons know or know of each other. They confess personal stories and exchange banter. There is even the constant presence of laughter, without the painful requirement of a laugh-track. Even the tagline is reminiscent of a joke: “A virgin, a failed nun and an over-ripe Italian walk into a bar…”.

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