All posts by Dorianne Emmerton

Dorianne is a graduate of the Theatre and Drama Studies joint program between University of Toronto, Erindale campus and Sheridan College. She writes short stories, plays and screenplays and was delighted to be accepted into the 2010 Diaspora Dialogues program and also to have her short story accepted into the 2011 edition of TOK: Writing The New Toronto collection. She is also a regularly contributing writer on http://www.sexlifecanada.ca. You can follow her on twitter @headonist if you like tweets about cats, sex, food, queer stuff and lefty politics.

Review: Backstage In Biscuit Land (World Stage)

BiscuitJess Thom’s “warm and incredibly funny” show takes to the Toronto stage

Most of us only know of Tourette Syndrome as someone shouting inappropriate obscenities as a cheap gag in a TV show or movie. Backstage In Biscuit Land, playing now at World Stage, offers a true view into the condition led by Jess Thom, whose tics include saying “biscuit!” 16,000 times a day. Continue reading Review: Backstage In Biscuit Land (World Stage)

Review: Pitchfork Disney (Precisely Peter Productions)

pitchforkPrecisely Peter Productions debuts the UK play The Pitchfork Disney in Toronto

John Shooter of Precisely Peter Productions has imported The Pitchfork Disney from the UK, staging it in Double Double Land, a tiny upstairs space in Kensington Market. The play is about two siblings who cloister themselves in a filthy apartment, alternating between reliving their childhood memories and apocalyptic fantasizing. Continue reading Review: Pitchfork Disney (Precisely Peter Productions)

Review: The Archivist (Why Not Theatre)

archivistbythelake

Why Not Theatre presents a moving and introspective one-woman show in Toronto

The Archivist is, quite literally, a memory play. Onstage now at the Theatre Centre, and produced by Why Not Theatre, Shaista Latif guides the audience through her memories. She interacts with us and with her past, creating a dialogue with many voices and perspectives. In Latif’s disjointed but always coherent narrative, the only questions worth asking are those that can either be immediately and concretely answered or cannot be answered at all. Continue reading Review: The Archivist (Why Not Theatre)

Review: The Addams Family Musical (Alexander Showcase Theatre)

The Alexander Showcase Theatre presents The Addams Family Musical in Toronto

DSC_9002The Alexander Showcase Theatre is producing The Addams Family Musical at the Fairview Library Theatre.  I loved the Addams family growing up: I watched the original 60’s series in syndication, and the two wonderful movies from the 90’s. Their light-hearted take on the gothic appealed to me, as did the love they had for each other as a family, particularly the bond between Gomez and Morticia. To this day it is not common to see a healthy, loving, communicative romantic partnership on television. Continue reading Review: The Addams Family Musical (Alexander Showcase Theatre)