Memorials surround us every day, depicting tragedy, triumph, famous people, and famous events that are no longer around, asking us to remember and learn. But does the act of Memorial actually achieve the things we claim? With These Violent Delights, Guilty By Association from British Columbia take a hard look at this seemingly benign act and demands we ask ourselves why we really do it.
Continue reading These Violent Delights (Guilty By Association) 2017 Summerworks Review
Back in the late 90’s early 2000’s there was a rising boom of what we now know as Augmented Reality Games. This was before smart phones and other “direct” ways to play, so these games were built on email, phone calls and the need to travel to specific locations to continue the story. With The Invisible City, DopoLavoro Teatrale has brought this style of immersive play to SummerWorks, providing a 24 hour immersive experience to its five member audience.
Continue reading The Invisible City (DopoLavoro Teatrale) 2017 SummerWorks Review
Theatre PANIK presents an eye-opening immersive, artistic think piece on stage in TorontoTheatre PANIK has brought Scottish playwright Linda McLean’s Strangers, Babies to Toronto in a production that blends Installation style staging with raw emotional performances as it explores some pretty heavy subject matter.
Hard Core Logo is “a great night of music and theatre” on the Toronto stageHard Core Logo has always held a special place in my cultural history; not only was the film by Bruce McDonald my introduction to Canadian film, it was also my introduction to the world of Punk. The names Joe Dick and Billy Tallent are icons in my cultural pantheon and songs like “Who the Hell Do You Think You Are” and “Something’s Gonna Die Tonight” fed my teenaged rebellion, something my previous musical interests (namely Celtic Folk and George Thorogood) didn’t exactly support.
It wasn’t the easiest revelation for me when I realized Hard Core Logo was a fictional band, specifically because it meant I would never get to see them live and scream those songs right back at the band while slam dancing. Thankfully BFL Theatre, working within their mandate to produce socially aware theatre, have brought a close approximation of my childhood dream to reality with their staging of Hard Core Logo: Live to the Dance Cave.
BFL Theatre has brought Hard Core Logo to life with a staging of Hard Core Logo Live, a blending of stage performance and live music that showcases both the trials and tribulations of a fictional punk band’s reunion tour and their music. Running at the Dance Cave until March 26th, the show aims to blend the original 1993 book and Bruce McDonald’s 1996 mockumentary film into a cohesive, definitive production.