Always a theatre lover Sam realized in middle age that there's more to Toronto theatre than just mainstream and is now in love with one person shows, adores festivals, and quirky venues make her day.
This was a very intimate production. The seats – one row – were like either side of a sideways parentheses. At each end there was a bed and table. On one side in the middle of the row there were two chairs and a filing cabinet. The middle of the other side was open, serving as a doorway so the cast could access the stage. It was a perfect hospital room. Continue reading Review: The Big Game (Red One Theatre Collective/The Tennessee Project)→
The Tennessee Project – Tennessee Williams One-Act Festival in Toronto
The Tennessee Project brings new meaning to community theatre. Seven nights, seven venues around Toronto – St. Clair West, The Annex, Leslieville, Cabbagetown, North York, The Danforth, Roncesvalles – Nine theatre companies and 11 short plays by Tennessee Williams.
Tonight was the first night of the festival, seven openings across the city. For the next six nights the plays will rotate each night so that each production will be seen in each different venue. The work and coordination involved in a co-production of this size is impressive, so is the commitment.
The Game of Love and Chance by Toronto’s Canadian Stage is still funny and relatable 300 years after it was written
The Canadian Stage production of The Game of Love and Chance is a delight from start to finish. It was funny, fast paced and physical. The play was written 300 years ago by Marivaux in French for an Italian troupe of actors known for their clown-like physical style of performing.
The key to making something written 300 years ago in French work is the translation. The words need to flow in a way that please us and sound familiar. Nicolas Billon has done a masterful job translating and adapting the piece. The language is accessible enough to sound familiar but still theatrical enough that we know the piece has a long history.
Oil and Water pays tribute to shipwreck survivor at Toronto’s Factory Theatre
Oil and Water opened last night at Factory Theatre. It was a celebrity filled audience which made me realize that even though I go to a lot of theatre I’m not a ‘theatre’ person. I recognized Rick Mercer but without Wayne (Mooney on Theatre’s Managing Editor) next to me explaining who people were I would have been completely in the dark.
Oil and Water is the true story of Lanier Phillips, the only African-American survivor of the sinking of the USS Truxton just off the coast of St Lawrence Newfoundland in 1942. The survivors were rescued by the citizens of St Lawrence. Phillips was nursed by Violet Pike who had never seen a black person before.
The acceptance and kindness that he experienced in St Lawrence changed Phillips life.
Week One of the New Ideas Festival opened tonight at Alumnae Theatre. Toronto has a lot of theatre festivals and the New Ideas Festival is one of my favourites. I look forward to it every year. It runs for three weeks. Each week there are 4 new productions and a staged reading. That’s 12 new productions and 3 staged reading in three weeks. 15 world premieres.
Until tonight it hadn’t really occurred to me what an undertaking this is. This year there were 122 scripts submitted. Imagine having to winnow that down to 15. And then producing them.
