by Ryan Kerr
Roshni is a charming one-act, two-hander playing at Theatre Passe Muraille until December 11th.
“King Kumar” and “Blindy” are Indian orphans whose invented identities and desperately optimistic hope for the future carry them through the rigors of selling tea and polishing boots in a busy train station to survive. As the story unfolds, the innocence of their deeper motivations make the story surprisingly light and genuinely touching despite its grim conditions.
by Ryan Kerr
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Alison Sealy-Smith rocks! And she is a perfect anchor as matriarch Lena Younger in Soulpepper’s A Raisin in the Sun. Were the rest of the production stripped bare save a lounge chair, a meek potted plant and Lena, I would have been satisfied.
You can imagine my elation when director Weyni Mengesha’s lavish production combined a period set with a collection of heartfelt performances. I’m pretty sure my mouth hung open the entire night.
Continue reading Review: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (Soulpepper)
By Ryan Kerr
I feel like the only person alive who missed the “Closer” phenomenon over 10 years ago when it first took London, then NYC, then the Silver Screen by storm. Scene study students have monologues from this hit in their audition binders, and apparently everyone and their dog have seen it produced multiple times already. I guess I can finally say I’ve seen what all the fuss is about myself!
by Ryan Kerr
Rising Below the Sun is a one-woman, one-act play which explores the relationship between two best friends as they develop from innocent children to angsty teenagers. The story begins with the main character, Leah, slouching and desperate, as she prepares to take her own life. As Leah says, shy to be “caught” – “Sorry. There’s not much else to do around here.”
The audience’s arrival saves her and she embarks on a thorough confessional-style retelling of the competitive friendship she shared with her best friend, Carrol. Continue reading Review: Rising Below the Sun
by Ryan Kerr
Love, Loss and What I Wore is a 5-hander, cabaret-style reading, with a rotating cast of well and not-as-well-known celebrity women. I saw the second cast which features Lauren Collins, Wendy Crewson, Cynthia Dale, Linda Kash, and Margot Kidder until the third cast begins mid-September.
As the play “wears” on (pun intended) we hear stories about bras, breasts, shoes, boots, jackets, and even a conveniently torn sweat suit which proves advantageous for discreet prison rendezvous. Some connections were drawn – some of them quite tenderly – between what we wear and who we are. Certainly, in this context, who we wear is equally as important!
