Look no further than Toronto’s own backyard for talent, charisma and quality theatre productions.
One week after seeing From Justin to Kelly presented by Angelwalk Theatre and I’m still humming “It’s all Coming Back to Me Now”. Normally, I endeavour to post reviews more promptly, but the combination of this show being one night only and the opportunistic flu that knocked me flat the next afternoon made me a tich tardy. In the theatre universe, excuses of any kind are simply not tolerated, but I’m wearing my writerly hat currently.
Tonight, the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace was a sleek Danish hotel room. It had beautiful, clean lines and a monochromatic colour palette. The accessories were tasteful, the light fixtures divine. Before the lights even fell, I felt transported to a life I’ve always wished I had. And then, in under a minute, the characters of Maria and Jorge entered in black and messed the whole thing up. Pietà, playing at SummerWorks 2012 stained the crisp linens with sadness and regret and I was suddenly thankful to be on the unforgiving wooden banquettes.
Don’t be fooled by the adorable title: Dumbo Squid playing at SummerWorks is far from cute and cuddly. An hour in the dark depths of Aurora Stewart De Peña’s play and my date and I were emotionally-eating banana pudding and gelato.
It’s a play that requires some sweetness afterwards to compensate for the violence (both implied and actual) and the incredible mounting tension throughout.
Funny, shocking, thought-provoking, Big Plans, playing as part of the SummerWorks festivalis not for the weak-stomached. It was easily the craziest theatre experience my guest and I had ever shared. As the lights crashed to black, we, the bewildered audience hesitated to applaud. But once we started, the results were thunderous. And that’s after watching what happens when a man responds to an ad looking to be eaten.
