All posts by Madeleine Copp

Madeleine Copp saw her first show when she was four years old and it was love at first sight. She pursued a bachelor’s in theatre production and design and English literature, culminating in a love for flexible, innovative, and diverse theatre artists that challenge all our preconceived notions of the stage. Her thesis, Printed Voices: Women, Print, and Performance pushed for new interpretations of closet drama from the early modern to modern period in the hopes of seeing more female playwrights included in the performance canon. Since graduating, Madeleine continues to seek out unexpected, startling, and challenging works that leave her angry, speechless, and wonderfully confused.

Three Men on a Bike (Pea Green Theatre Group) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of David DiFrancesco, Matt Pilipiak, Victor Pokinko in Three Men On a BikePea Green Theatre Group revisits sure ground in Three Men on a Bike, currently playing at the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace as part of the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival. The show is a fast-paced, witty, fourth-wall breaking repartee adapted from the travel writings of Jerome K. Jerome (adapted for the stage by Mark Brownell).

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In Ireland We Rented A Car from Criminals (Write in the Kisser and Dumb Ax Productions) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of Lauren Allen and Nathan Coppens in In Ireland We Rented A Car From CriminalsWho are the criminals in Write in the Kisser/Dumb Ax Productions‘s new show, In Ireland We Rented A Car From Criminals? Playing at the Streetcar Crowsnest Guloien Theatre as part of the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival, we never do get an answer to that question in this hour-long show.

 

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Review: Blood + Soil (Theatre ARTaud)

Photo of Kayla Jo Farris in Blood and SoilA new play by Rouvan Silogix taking on white supremacy in Canada is now on stage in Toronto

I want to say that Blood + Soil by Theatre ARTaud playing at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace is one of my favourite plays I’ve seen this year. The mixture of absurdity, pointed commentary, and stellar performances makes for an unforgettable evening. It also makes for a show with intense imagery, uncomfortable truths, and questions of innocence.

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Review: The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (Mirvish/TheaterWorksUSA)

Photo of The Lightning Thief CastMirvish brings the musical adaptation of the popular children’s book to the Toronto stage

Have you ever sat down to watch a show and suddenly felt your age? Going into The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical playing at the Ed Mirvish Theatre, I only knew it was a young adult book about Greek Gods and their kids.

The Lightning Thief is an ode to its source material, zeroing in on its age-demographic, and its core audience. With an aim to please, I argue it only half-succeeds.

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