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.
Necessary Angel and Canadian Stage present Ibsen’s classic play Hedda Gabler in Toronto
How far are we willing to go to fulfill our fantasies? Can we really shape our own lives in the face of a rigid, reputation-obsessed society? Necessary Angel and Canadian Stage tackle these questions in their good-but-not-great update of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, currently playing at the Berkeley Downstairs Theatre.
Stuck, playing at the Factory Theatre Ante-chamber as a part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival, is a 30-minute improvised play starring Natasha Boomer and a roster of guest comedians and improvisers. Each night will feature a new guest star but every show starts off with the premise of being stuck in a setting suggested by the audience.
The opening night performance I attended featured Boomer and guest star Rob Baker as a couple of dysfunctional but charming parents stuck in a wardrobe (admittedly at my suggestion). As they wait for their son to come home and let them out, Boomer and Baker argue their way through a list of oft-broached middle class, middle age topics including sex, parenting, technology, and the popularity of Drake.
The Road to Paradise, now on stage in Toronto, offers “admirably balanced empathy”
The Road to Paradise (presented by Crow’s Theatre and Human Cargo), currently playing at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, is a harrowing look at the traumatic experiences of those involved with the controversial Canadian military operations in Pakistan and Kandahar. Easily one of the best productions I’ve seen all year, The Road to Paradise smartly refuses to provide any easy answers.
The Caminos Festival gave Toronto audiences five days of theatrical experimentations
In her interview with us last week, Artistic Director Beatriz Pizano talked about the themes of language, communication, and cultural interpretation that ran through this year’s Caminos Festival programming, as presented by Aluna Theatre in partnership with Native Earth Performing Arts at the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas Street East). After attending two nights of the festival, I have to add beautiful music and audience participation to that list. Caminos 2015 is a thoughtfully curated collection of compelling “performance proposals” and theatrical “experimentations” from Panamerican and Indigenous artists that I wish I saw more of in Toronto theatre.
Necessary Angel and Canadian Stage present Ibsen’s classic play Hedda Gabler in Toronto
Stuck
