Heather studied film at Humber College and English and Theatre at UTSC. She works as a stage manager, usually watching from the booth or lurking backstage. She has written for various websites since 2009. Unofficially, she’s also a total nerd with an obsession with sci fi TV series, fantasy novels, Dungeons and Dragons, and and video games. Follow her on Twitter at @bluealbow4eva.
This story is most certainly not the Tim Burton version. The focus is predominantly on the bride, Gumpcha (Jennifer Balen) who is the only girl for miles. Her future husband Pinkel (Andy Trithardt) has been pre-selected by her overbearing mother (Sarah Orenstein). The bride runs after learning that there are no women being born because any girl who marries is immediately murdered by “the soldiers” – and therefore any women left are too scared to have baby girls. She runs into the woods, as do most of the other characters in the show, and chaos, as well as a murdered bride, ensues.
Russian playwright Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Royal Comedians (Molière) brings the life of famous playright, actor and theatre manager Molière to the stage, famous for his plays Tartuffe, Dom Juan, and The Misanthrope, among others. Molière was a playwright, actor, and theatre manager, who led a tumultuous life. The Royal Comedians (Molière) is making its Canadian premiere at Soulpepper until September 21.
With excellent choreography and staging, Randolph’s Hair offers its viewers a multimedia experience.
In the musical classic Hair, a group of young people take over an abandoned church while protesting the USA’s war with Vietnam in the 1960s. One “tribe” member, Claude, gets drafted. Hippies, flowers, drugs and, of course, hair dominate the show. The Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts is putting on Hair at their newly-named Randolph Theatre until August 4.
The music is great, and you are likely already familiar with a lot of it, even if you aren’t familiar with the musical. Notable examples include Aquarius and Good Morning Starshine. I’ve had The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In) running through my head since I left the theatre last night, which is a good sign.
Shakespeare gets physical at Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre.
The Life and Death of King John is one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known historical plays, and thus one of his least performed. Pure Carbon Collective states that their mandate “is to reignite obscure classical works with an emphasis on physical expression”. While I’d hardly call Shakespeare obscure, the group has certainly focused on the physical with their rendition of the play, King John Redux.
Whether or not this attempt was successful is up for debate. Some of the “physical expression” moments were quite interesting – they formed a throne out of members of the cast, for instance. There were many moments of dance, or exaggerated actions. The attempt to turn The Life and Death of King John into something new was both obvious and, at times, impressive. Continue reading Review: King John Redux (Pure Carbon Collective)→
Tel Aviv’s acclaimed Batsheva Dance Company presents a full-length work at Toronto’s Luminato choreographed by the company’s Artistic Director, Ohad Naharin.
Sadeh21 is rooted in Gaga, a form of ‘movement language’ developed by Naharin, the objective of which is to establish a flow throughout the body that allows complete fluidity. The word “sadeh” means “field” – an indication of the empty stage on which this movement is performed.
