By Dana Lacey
If you want to fully enjoy Tarragon Theatre‘s production of Molière, be sure to bone up on Paris’ theatrical history first. I thought that a quick stroll through Molière’s Wikipedia page would be enough research to prepare me for a play about his life. I’ve even seen and reviewed and enjoyed Tartuffe, his most famous play.
I have posted a review of Someone to Watch Over Me at blogTO. Head on over and take a gander.
A quick snippet:
Mark, it would seem, hates this kind of play. There is no plot to speak of, and you know it’s not going to end well, and, perhaps, not end at all. He said that it felt like he was sitting through yet another retelling of Waiting for Godot. If he’s going to watch a play about the human soul then he’d like to see it tell him something new, and he didn’t feel like this one did.
Here’s the thing, he’s right on all those points, but they don’t bother me at all. I’m just fine with those things if the production is good, and the introspective exploration is done in an interesting way. I don’t have a need for it to be new information.
I was just fine watching the characters banter, fight and play back and forth while chained to the wall. The set didn’t change through out the piece, and there were limited movement opportunities for the actors, given the (admittedly long) chains attaching them to the walls of their cell. This really is a play about the script. So I can completely understand not particularly enjoying the production if the script was the type of thing you weren’t enamoured with.
It’s only on for a couple more days, if you have time I recommend checking it out (but Mark does not. *grin*)
By Megan Mooney
First, let me tell you that I am a fan of burlesque. I have never not enjoyed myself at a burlesque show (oooh, double negative, wonder if I’ll get in trouble for that). That said, I REALLY like good burlesque (lets be honest, there’s a lot of mediocre out there that you really appreciate for the heart, not for the quality).
With that in mind, let me tell you, watching Les Coquettes was a real treat. The show was funny and sexy and filled with talent, all the things burlesque should be. It’s no wonder all their shows seem to sell out.
Continue reading Boudoir – Les Coquettes (Toronto Burlesque)
by Alex Rayment
Being of the cynical and artistic variety, I was expecting It’s a Wonderful Life by Canstage to be essentially a live action version of a classic film – boring, bland and pointless. I was predicting a night of sitting in a theatre surrounded by retirees and grandparents wondering why I hadn’t just stayed home and watched the movie. What I was not expecting was the sarcastic voice in the back of my head to be told (quite promptly) to “sit down and shut up”.
By Megan Mooney
So, I posted a review of Festen at blogTO, I’m going to repost it here, but then, afterwards I’m going to write more, geek out theatre-wise as it were.
When I went to The Company Theatre’s production of Festen it was one of those rare opportunities for me to go to a show completely blind. I didn’t know what it was about, so I didn’t know what to expect. All I had heard about the show (even though I purposely tried not to read anything about it, there are things that always slip through) was that it was “intense”. And yes, yes it was. Intense is a good word for it. It was also great.