All posts by Angela Sun

Angela Sun is a Toronto-based fat East Asian performer, theatre creator, poet, and writer. She is currently a member of the environmental theatre company, Broadleaf Theatre. In her spare time she enjoys reading and writing about art, feminism, pop culture, identity, body image, mental health, and social justice. Ironically, she fell in love with Canadian theatre after seeing a televised production of Kristen Thomson’s I, Claudia on CBC. (She finally saw the remount on stage 5 years later and was over the moon.) You can follow her exploits on her sporadically-updated Twitter @21sungelas.

Preview: Groundswell: A Festival of Contemporary Women’s Theatre (Nightwood Theatre)

Photo of Nightwood Theatre's Groundswell Festival 2016

Nightwood Theatre will kick off their 37th season next week with the opening of the 31st annual Groundswell Festival: A Festival of Contemporary Women’s Theatre. Held at the Ernest Balmer Studio in The Historic Distillery District, Groundswell will feature a week of readings by emerging playwrights from Nightwood‘s 2015-16 Write from the Hip script development program with participation from their Young Innovators. To celebrate the opening of Groundswell 2016, we had the opportunity to ask program facilitator, dramaturge and director Andrea Donaldson some questions about this year’s festival. Continue reading Preview: Groundswell: A Festival of Contemporary Women’s Theatre (Nightwood Theatre)

Review: Callaghan! and the Wings of the Butterfly, and SwordPlay: A Play of Swords (Sex T-Rex World Tour II Double Bill)

Image from Sex T-Rex World Tour 2.Sex T-Rex launches their World Tour II, a double bill featuring two comedic plays in Toronto

Comedy troupe Sex T-Rex takes their acclaimed scripted comedies Callaghan! And the Wings of the Butterfly and SwordPlay: A Play of Swords on a “World Tour II” to Eastern Canada this weekend. Based on the preview I saw, I can say without a doubt that comedy lovers in Ottawa, Montreal, and Fredericton are in for a real treat!

Continue reading Review: Callaghan! and the Wings of the Butterfly, and SwordPlay: A Play of Swords (Sex T-Rex World Tour II Double Bill)

noyé/e/ and vərˈbādəm (Simon Renaud/ Project: Humanity) 2016 SummerWorks Review

Photo of Noye at the 2016 SummerWorks Performance FestivalPlaying first in a SummerWorks dance double bill with vərˈbadəm, noyé/e/ is a collection of contemporary duets that beautifully explores the feelings of longing, desire, connection, and oneness. Creator Simon Renaud and Performer Joanie Audet test the limits of space and balance with their slow but emotionally-fraught choreography.

Continue reading noyé/e/ and vərˈbādəm (Simon Renaud/ Project: Humanity) 2016 SummerWorks Review

the root of the river flows darker than clouds (lo bil) 2016 SummerWorks Review

Photo of the root of the river flows darker than clouds from the 2016 SummerWorks Performance Festival

the root of the river flows darker than clouds is an experimental SummerWorks live art “performance residency” that explores what it means to be “wild.” Creator lo bil invites her audience to help build a multidisciplinary performance stimulated by her immediate environment.

Continue reading the root of the river flows darker than clouds (lo bil) 2016 SummerWorks Review

Burnish (Erika Batdorf) 2016 SummerWorks Review

BurnishTo put it bluntly, the SummerWorks Live Art presentation of Burnish is what you get when you combine a live art installation with a therapeutic tarot card reading. While I was a bit skeptical at first, I grew to appreciate creator Erika Batdorf’s whimsical attempt at helping me cleanse my soul.

Burnish can be experienced in two ways: you can participate in a one-on-one session with Batdorf for the price of a ticket, and you can observe the installation for free at anytime during her sessions. I had the opportunity to experience both on separate days.

Continue reading Burnish (Erika Batdorf) 2016 SummerWorks Review