Interactive site-specific theatre at the Bata Shoe Museum – Is this the face of Bartholomew S?

I can’t tell you. I saw The Last Seven Steps of Bartholomew S. at the Bata Shoe Museum on Friday evening and I still don’t know. And it doesn’t matter.

It isn’t really accurate to say that I saw the show. I was part of it, along with seven others. Eight if you count the person who led us through the story.

Although The Last Seven Steps of Bartholomew S. is billed as a play it isn’t a play in the traditional sense with the audience sitting and watching the actors. The audience is an integral part of the play. And it’s a very small audience. It’s audience participation to the nth degree, almost participating in a mini adventure, and it was lovely.

Continue reading Review: The Last Seven Steps of Bartholomew S. (Bata Shoe Museum) →

Idiot’s Delight is a comedic anti-war drama playing at Toronto’s Young Centre for the Performing Arts

Soulpepper opened their 2014 season last night with Idiot’s Delight,  Robert E. Sherwood’s Pulitzer Prize winning play written in 1936.  Theatre was different then, casts were big. It’s not often anymore that you have an opportunity to see a play with a cast of 20 talented actors.

Idiot’s Delight is set at a resort in the Italian Alps. Initially, aside from the staff, the multicultural hotel has only one occupant: a phlegmatic German scientist who wishes nothing more than to leave. But as one would expect in Europe in 1936, tensions escalate rapidly between world powers, borders are closed, and when a train is unexpectedly stopped, guests begin streaming in the doors: a couple of English honeymooners; a whole troupe of song-and-dance blondes from America; a harried showman-cum-manager; a French communist and rabble-rouser; a notorious and well-connected arms dealer; and a dangerous Russian woman who has never, in her life, told anyone the complete truth–about herself, about the world, about anything.

Continue reading Review: Idiot’s Delight (Soulpepper) →

Heartbeat of Home is a global celebration of dance playing at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre

This afternoon my new friend Ryan and I saw the North American premier of Heartbeat of Home at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. It was a lovely way to spend a snowy Sunday afternoon. For more than two hours I forgot about winter.

From the moment that the show opened with a bright white spotlight on the feet of a dancer until it ended with the entire company on stage I was entranced. Heartbeat of Home is an exuberant, sexy tribute to the diversity of dance. Continue reading Review: Heartbeat of Home (Mirvish) →

Enjoy a trip to Ecuador in the 30’s in Pith playing at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille

Last night I saw a preview performance  of The Theatre Department’s production of Pith by Stewart Lemoine. It opens tonight at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace.

Normally theatre companies prefer that we don’t review preview shows but it was the only night I could go. Thanks to director Ron Jenkins and the cast for being understanding and letting me join them on a trip to the Ecuadorian jungle. I had a lovely time. Continue reading Review: Pith (The Theatre Department) →