All posts by Lin Young

Lin Young is a PhD candidate in the English Department at Queen’s University by day, an insatiable theatre-goer by night. She truly loves seeing innovative indie theatre, the strange sort of hole-in-the-wall shows that big companies would never take a risk on. She’s seen plays in basements, gardens, bars, and in old dilapidated houses, to name a few. She’s always on the lookout for the next theatrical experiment in the city, and loves seeing shows that have some quality of fantasy, historicity, or strangeness to them – especially if they involve puppets! She tweets about theatre, comics and the 19th century at @linkeepsitreal.

Cheap Theatre in Toronto the Week of December 21st

Five Shows Under $25 in Toronto this Week

This week it’s all about the young’uns: between fairy tales and some more inventive holiday fare, it’s a pretty good week to be a kid in Toronto (aside from, y’know, Christmas, should you celebrate). Four shows out of the five are kid-friendly this time around, with a little something for the parents alone thrown into that final slot. Check ’em out under the cut: Continue reading Cheap Theatre in Toronto the Week of December 21st →

Review: Kim’s Convenience (Soulpepper)

Photo of Chantelle Han and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee in Kim's Convenience by Bruce Monk

The Toronto Fringe breakout hit plays at the Bluma Appel Theatre through the holidays

When you walk into the Bluma Appel Theatre for Soulpepper‘s production of Kim’s Convenience, you almost expect to hear a bell ring. That sense of authenticity — in both Ken MacKenzie’s set and several generous performances by a strong cast — pervades every element of this fun and engaging play about a Korean-Canadian family running a convenience store in Toronto’s soon-to-be-gentrified Regent Park.

Continue reading Review: Kim’s Convenience (Soulpepper) →

Review: Parfumerie (Soulpepper)

Photo from Parfumerie by Cylla von Tiedemann

Toronto’s “toasty, feel-good Christmas tradition” takes the stage at the Bluma Appel

Soulpepper‘s Parfumerie is by now a holiday staple in Toronto, with Mooney on Theatre having visited three times previous. Despite its reputation, this was my first time seeing what all the fuss was about. Moreover, although I once sat through the first ten minutes of You’ve Got Mail (which was inspired by the original play upon which Soulpepper’s adaptation is based) I was pretty ignorant as to the details going in.

Sitting down at the Bluma Appel Theatre and admiring the pale pink set with rich chocolate accents, I had the early sense that I was in for a pleasant confection of a play; it turns out my early prediction wasn’t too far off the mark.
Continue reading Review: Parfumerie (Soulpepper) →