What if the CN tower was obliterated in a sudden attack? What if an unknown force laid siege to Toronto and advanced neighbourhood by neighbourhood to root out its citizens? Toronto’s Theatre Lab explores this apocalyptic scenario with their Toronto Fringe Festival production Centre of the Universe. Continue reading Centre of the Universe (Theatre Lab) 2014 Toronto Fringe Review
Hear-ye, hear-ye musical theatre geeks of Toronto. Local artist-led musical theatre collective Theatre20 has revived Company, one of the great classic Sondheim musicals. Like any self-respecting musical theatre geek, I’ve listened to cast recordings of Company and have seen various artists performing renditions of its songs in revues and cabarets but I hadn’t seen a fully-staged production of the show until now.
Originally opened on Broadway in 1970, Company is a non-linear series of scenes that centre on the character of Bobby, a chronically single 35-year-old professional living in Manhattan and his coupled friends who implore him to settle down and get married. Now, I’m also a single guy in my mid-30s who moved to the big city, I’m very much like Bobby in so many ways so I should find him relatable… except I couldn’t relate to Bobby at all. Bobby sure doesn’t sound like any 35-year-old I know.
The Dora Mavor Moore Awards are held annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). The Doras honour excellence in Toronto’s performing arts industry and it’s an evening for the Toronto theatre community to honour its own and celebrate the year that was. This year’s Doras were handed out at a ceremony last night hosted in a spectacular new outdoor venue; the WestJet stage at Harbourfront Centre overlooking Lake Ontario.
Our hosts for the evening, Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus, co-Artistic Directors of The National Theatre of the World, interjected some moments of humour as the award statuettes were handed out at a brisk pace. Continue reading Announcement: 35th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners
The presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt is the backbone of our criminal justice system. It’s also the basis of Reginald Rose’s classic legal procedural drama Twelve Angry Men. Written in the 1950s, the play is still incredibly relevant today in the digital age when the pervasiveness of digital and social media often allows the mob to swiftly act as judge, jury and executioner in the court of public opinion. Continue reading Review: Twelve Angry Men (Soulpepper)
Life in a big city like Toronto is by its nature a bit of a dehumanizing experience. When an ambulance barrels down the street with its sirens wailing it usually just fades into the background soundtrack of the city and we never stop to think about the people whose lives are affected by the emergency at hand. Outside the March shines a spotlight on the lives of EMS workers and invites audiences on an amazingly immersive, site-specific journey in its newest production Vitals.
Continue reading Review: Vitals (Outside the March/Theatre Passe Muraille)