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.
Toronto play tackles the right to die, but could use more character development
A Better Place, onstage now at Factory Theatre and produced by Lily Rose Productions, looks at the issue of end-of-life decision-making under a terminal condition. The protagonist of the play is a 55 year old widow named Stella (Kris Langille) who is active in her bowling and Catholic communities, and just beginning to date a new man (Edward Heeley). Everything is looking up for Stella – until she is diagnosed with ALS. Continue reading Review: A Better Place (Lily Rose Productions)→
Swan is a “captivating horror story” on stage at the Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto
Aaron Jan’s Swan, produced by Little Black Afro Theatre and onstage now at Theatre Passe Muraille, is a captivating horror story set in Hamilton. The plot centres on an environmental activism group comprised of queer teenage girls, and their belated attempt to solve the gruesome murder of a swan ten years later. Featuring six women of colour who never even mention a man, Swan demonstrates that diversity should not be a buzzword but instead an indispensable aspect of telling compelling contemporary tales. Continue reading Review: Swan (Little Black Afro Theatre)→
Indigenous-focused Spirit Horse is essential and educational, and on Toronto stages now
Young People’s Theatre has opened their mainstage season with Spirit Horse, a Native American adaptation by Drew Hayden Taylor of the Irish play Tir Na N’og by Greg Banks, who also directed this production. Taylor is a First Nations writer I love for his humour and poignancy, and this offering is no exception.
Theatre Passe Muraille brings Aldous Huxley’s dystopian classic to the Toronto stage
Aldous Huxley‘s Brave New World is one of the most well known dystopian science fiction novels, often mentioned in the same breath as Orwell’s 1984. I had never heard of it being staged before, so I was eager to see Litmus Theatre’s production at Theatre Passe Muraille. Matthew Thomas Walker’s adaptation is innovative and earnest; it feels exactly like a fearful vision of a commercialized, soulless future from the perspective of 1931.
Toronto play tackles the right to die, but could use more character development
Swan is a “captivating horror story” on stage at the Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto
Theatre Passe Muraille brings Aldous Huxley’s dystopian classic to the Toronto stage