This week, we’ve got a bit of everything, from massive Disney musicals to tributes to ABBA, generational tales and storytelling festivals! Check out Editor Samantha’s picks in red under the cut.
Boeing Boeing at Hart House Theatre is one heck of a non-stop , roller coaster of a farce. Written originally in French by Marc Camoletti, it was translated into English by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans. The version presented tonight was more current to the time, according to director Cory Doran, with a more palatable male/female dynamic then the original script would have had.
I absolutely love a good farce and this play definitely has all the elements that set it up for a great evening of hijinks. Bernard, “a swinging bachelor”, is engaged to three different stewardesses who never find out about each other thanks to the help of his faithful maid, Berthe. But when Bernard’s friend Robert arrives in town, things get out of whack and that’s when all the juicy stuff happens. Bernard’s once perfectly orchestrated timetable to keep each fiancée away from each other begins to falter, and they all end up in the same place at the same time. Continue reading Review: Boeing Boeing (Hart House Theatre)
The Space Between is impressive effort from Simeon Taole, now playing on the Toronto stageThe Space Between by talented emerging playwright and filmmaker Simeon Taole is a coming-of-age love story. Produced by Cinematoscape, this autobiographical tale is told against the backdrop of the collapse of apartheid South Africa. Mr. Taole is clear about the fact that this is a love story, not a piece about politics. Continue reading Review: The Space Between (Cinematoscape & North York Arts)
Well-Born tackles the anxieties of pregnancy, now playing in TorontoEven those of us who have never had children are acutely aware that pregnancy is difficult. It’s never all Facebook “likes” and warm, familial love; it’s hard work, fear, and even despair at times. This is particularly true in the face of the unknown: before everything is okay, all manner of things might happen. The more unknowns, the worse the fear, particularly with a missing family health history and inconclusive but worrying test results. It’s no wonder there’s a tendency to Google oneself into oblivion.
This is the premise behind Well-Born, a new play by Celeste Percy-Beauregard, presented by SoCo Theatre in association with Truth’n’Lies Theatre at Artscape Youngplace. The play is raw and frantic, sometimes very funny and sometimes deeply unsettling, much like the process of pregnancy itself.
In Espoir/Espwa, produced for Black History Month by Théâtre français de Toronto, three women explore their different connections to Haiti along the spectrum of diaspora: Nadège was born in Canada but feels the loss of the land she’s never known, treasuring a jar of earth from Haiti given to her by her grandmother; Céleste has been away for 20 years and now returned, her Canadianization interfering with her ability to re-integrate to the culture; and Man Sara gives advice, tells stories, and otherwise administers to her community from her “boutique” shop in a Haitian village, having never left her country.
The story was created by the three performers, Edwige Jean-Pierre, Djennie Laguerre and Carline Zamar, and it’s a cheerful show that includes live music and dancing. The title is the word for “Hope” in both French and Creole, and positivity is embedded throughout.
Continue reading Review: Espoir/Espwa (Théâtre français de Toronto)