Pearle Harbour’s Agit-Pop! is playing as part of the 2020 Next Stage Theatre Festival. The show features a cabaret-style evening of music and storytelling with a political and often dark edge. She aptly describes it as “musical meditations on the pre-post-apocalypse.”
Underneath a warm and glamourous persona, Pearle Harbour delivers social commentary that is incisive, biting, and a little melancholy.
Continue reading Pearle Harbour’s Agit-Pop! (Justin Miller) 2020 Next Stage Review
Morro and Jasp: Save the Date is being presented by U.N.I.T Productions as part of the 2020 Next Stage Theatre Festival. The show was originally performed as part of the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival. It’s the latest installment in the on-going adventures of two clown sisters. I had never seen any of their previous shows, and I was glad to finally be able to catch one. I found it gentle and charming – a perfect antidote to all the bad news out there.
Continue reading Morro and Jasp: Save the Date (U.N.I.T. Productions) 2020 Next Stage Review
Portia’s Julius Caesar gives Shakespeare’s women a voicePortia’s Julius Caesar, written by Kaitlyn Riordan and presented by Hart House Theatre, takes a familiar story from Shakespeare and looks at in a new light. Many recent productions of Shakespeare’s plays have cast women in men’s roles. And a few have done the opposite. This production goes beyond non-traditional gender casting and instead tells the story of Julius Caesar from the perspective of those who are rarely seen and even more rarely heard from – the women. While remaining faithful to the political narrative, Riordan puts the wives, mothers, lovers and even the female slaves at the center and gives them voice. Continue reading Review: Portia’s Julius Caesar (Hart House Theatre)
Opera Atelier presents the classic Don Giovanni at the Ed Mirvish TheatreOpera Atelier’s fall production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Ed Mirvish Theatre is a well-known opera by perhaps the most well-known classical composer. So, I thought it would be a good one for me to see, since I know almost nothing about the art form. I was hoping it would be an accessible introduction for a relative novice like me and I’m happy to say it was. Don Giovanni has something for everyone – lovely music, energetic dance, beautiful costumes and sets, and a variety of dramatic styles. My guest and I had a great time. Continue reading Review: Don Giovanni (Opera Atelier)
Multidisciplinary performance festival opens with engaging dance and movementCaminos 2019 is a multidisciplinary performance festival jointly produced by Aluna Theatre and Native Earth Performing Arts at Aki Studio, which highlights Latinx, Indigenous, and diverse communities. The works presented are often new experiments which later go on to full production elsewhere. I attended the opening night of the festival and saw Mura Buai (Everyone Everyone), an improvisational dance performance featuring three Indigenous performers and four Torres Strait Islander performers in collaboration. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but I ended up really enjoying myself. Continue reading Review: Caminos 2019 (Aluna Theatre/Native Earth Performing Arts