Megan loves being in the thick of all things theatre, but her ultimate goal is to promote theatre to the world of non-theatre people. It was the same when she was the theatre writer for blogTO, or the Fringe Correspondent for CBC Radio One‘s Here and Now, as it is as the founder of Mooney on Theatre. Her basic belief is that there is theatre/performance out there for everyone to love, they just need to find it. This is not to be confused with the idea that everyone should love theatre for theatre’s sake, in fact, as obsessed as she is with theatre, even *she* doesn’t love all types of theatre.
Okay, I have to admit, when I first read about a musical love story told by Holocaust survivors, I had my doubts. But that didn’t stop me from setting up a date to see A Glimpse of the Light, being produced by Teatron Toronto Jewish Theatre. I did finally remember that musicals don’t have to be all happy, that a musical about the French Revolution, not a particularly happy theme, is probably one of the most popular musicals of all time. That helped. So, by the time I went to the show I wasn’t really trepidations anymore, I was more curious.
So, apparently the hot topic of the day (um, in the theatre blogging community, which is, admittedly, a pretty small percentage of the population) seems to be musing about what topics should be covered by theatre blogs.
My foray into the discussion came from Theatre is Territory, with the piece Content conundrum. Basically it gives an overview of the discussions that have been happening and asks "Is there not enough content about the actual content of theatre online?"
So, Nicholas Campbell is someone I see on a regular basis, we live in the same neighbourhood. I’ve never spoken to the man. Not for any specific reason, I just never really had occasion to. But the write-up in today’s Globe and Mail intrigues me.
The first thing I learned is that I really do not follow nearly enough gossip as I should in order to be properly effective in this business. I had no idea that he was "the bad boy of Canadian drama"
Just a forewarning… My laptop got stolen and it’s kind of knocked me off kilter (it’ so posting will be a bit more sporadic and may not be quite up to snuff. Hopefully I will be able to get a new laptop shortly. Now, on to the review…
The production of Black Rider at Tarragon Theatre is an incredible, and bizarre, show. And, really, it’s hard to expect anything else from a collaboration between William S. Burrows and Tom Waits. In fact, Scott, my show-partner for this one, described it as “a hilarious nightmare. I think it’s a pretty apt description actually. If I had been in a different headspace, or a kid, I would have been terrified.
If you’re not in the theatre industry then there’s a reasonable chance that you haven’t heard of the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre. Which, really, is kind of a shame, ‘cause it’s a pretty cool prize. They awarded this year’s prize last night.
A quick description from their website:
The Siminovitch Prize in Theatre was introduced in 2001 and dedicated to renowned scientist Lou Siminovitch and his late wife Elinore, a playwright. Sponsored by BMO Financial Group, Canada’s largest annual theatre arts award recognizes direction, playwriting and design in three-year cycles
This year it was playwriting. And the award went to Daniel MacIvor – honestly, I’m not sure I could think of a more perfect person for it to go to.
