Big laughs at MILF Life Crisis, now playing on the Toronto stage

If I hadn’t committed to reviewing Anne Marie Scheffler’s one -person show MILF Life Crisis at the Red Sandcastle Theatre on Wednesday evening, I wouldn’t have gone out. It was a crummy day and I really didn’t want to do anything. That would have been a shame because I would have missed seeing a very talented woman in a very funny show. Continue reading Review: MILF Life Crisis (Perfectly Norma Productions) →

Powerplays over dinner play out on the Toronto stage

Better, I think, to watch Dinner with Goebbels than to actually have dinner with the Nazi Minister of Propaganda. What about dinner with Karl Rove, the creator of the War on Terror? Or Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, know as the father of public relations? You can see the three of them in an imagined dinner in The Estelle Craig ACT II STUDIO‘s production  at Aki Studio. Continue reading Review: Dinner with Goebbels (The Estelle Craig ACT II STUDIO) →

Soulpepper presents a one-woman show that is “funny”, “moving”, and “sad” on stage in Toronto

Hasn’t everyone, at some time or another, wanted to make that grand gesture? Surprise someone they love with the perfect gift? The thing they think the other person wants most? The thing that will cement their love forever? Soulpepper‘s production of I’m Doing This For You, Haley McGee’s one-person show, which opened Thursday at The Young Centre For the Performing Arts looks at these questions. The basic premise of the show is that a woman wants to give the man she loves an amazing gift for his birthday. He wants to be a stand-up comedian and she’s giving him a theatre and an audience. It’s a surprise. Continue reading Review: I’m Doing This For You (Soulpepper) →

Stupidhead! is “a show about all of us,” now playing on the Toronto stage

When I saw that Stupidhead!–a musical comedy about having dyslexia–was opening at Theatre Passe Muraille on March 22nd, I knew I had to see it. It’s essentially a one person autobiographical show, written and performed by Katherine Cullen; I’m a big fan of one person autobiographical shows. She co-wrote the lyrics with Britta Johnson, who wrote the music. I love musicals, and comedy, and I have dyslexia. It sounded like a perfect theatre match for me. And it was. Continue reading Review: Stupidhead! (Theatre Passe Muraille) →

Soulpepper Theatre presents Of Human Bondage in Toronto that is “beautiful” and “evocative”

Soulpepper’s production of Of Human Bondage opened on Friday evening. It’s a beautiful production. Everything works together; the cast, the direction, the set, the lighting, the sound and music. Vern Thiessen’s adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s complex novel, brilliant direction by Albert Schultz, and exciting set and lighting by Lorenzo Savoini bring the story to life on the stage. Continue reading Review: Of Human Bondage (Soulpepper) →