Canadian Stage presents the latest work by Akram Khan in Toronto
The harmonious sounds of the tabla (Indian drums) greeted audience members as they walked into the Canadian Stage‘s Berkeley Street Theatre to watch one of Akram Khan’s newest dance works – XENOS. I’ve been a fan of Khan’s work as an artist since I watched his show DESH in 2013. His uncanny ability to draw the audience in through story-telling, alluring sounds, fascinating imagery, intricate movements in Kathak (Indian dance) and contemporary dance have left audiences from around the world standing on their feet after all of his creations – including the one I just experienced – XENOS.
Toronto dance company Sore for Punching You presents Exhale
Allison Cummings’ Exhale presented at DanceMakers Centre for Creation shows the beautiful complexities of communication through breath – reminding us of its vital and universal nature, the rhythm that it holds and the intense emotional effects it presents to others.
The beautiful sound design by Dora Award winner, Lyon Smith, brings in the audience before the show begins. The required silence of the audience, generally communicated by the universal sign of dimming the lights is forgotten, the entire audience is mute long before show time, captivated by the sound of live raindrops surrounding the stage. I could feel an added underlying rumbling sound through my whole body. Smith is present on stage, completely focused on the performers and his soundboard, amplifying the beautiful sounds of their breath with a simple yet effective soundscape.
A pre-Broadway run of the new musical about The Temptations is playing in Toronto
The latest show to play Toronto before transferring to Broadway, Ain’t Too Proud at the Princess of Wales Theatre is the story of The Temptations, one of the first and best known “crossover” groups in American music. The appetite for jukebox musicals is apparently never going to diminish, and though the writing is workmanlike, Ain’t Too Proud as a musical does what The Temptations themselves did: make bright, easy to enjoy, reasonably talented music on schedule.
Sarah DeLappe’s stunning debut play takes the stage … er … soccer pitch in Toronto
The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, shortlisted for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, features a demographic who has a very hard time being taken seriously while facing ultra-serious pressures: teenage girls. This teen girl squad is a highly-competitive soccer team, vying for the eye of university scouts while navigating their complicated interpersonal relationships and their place in the world. DeLappe’s adept hand with this complex world makes it hard to believe this is her first play, and its critical reception is justified. This production, by The Howland Company and Crow’s Theatre, brims with vitality, humour, and heart; it’s one of the best shows I’ve seen in some time.
Canadian Stage presents the latest work by Akram Khan in Toronto
Toronto dance company Sore for Punching You presents Exhale
A pre-Broadway run of the new musical about The Temptations is playing in Toronto
Alexander Williams’ adaptation of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is now playing in Toronto
Sarah DeLappe’s stunning debut play takes the stage … er … soccer pitch in Toronto