Billed as a contemporary reimagining of the ballet Swan Lake, Swan Song for Maria on as part of this year's Toronto Next Stage Theatre Festival is more enjoyable if one does not strain to decipher the parallels between the two works. This two-hander from playwright Carol Cece Anderson is, more overtly, a wistful tale of love and aging played out by Joe (John Blackwood), a rebellious writer of French-Canadian origin, and Jillian (Lili Francks), his actor/dancer wife. The couple, both creeping along in years are prompted to reflect upon their pasts and confront their future when it becomes increasingly...
Few would dispute the fact that Robert Lepage is Canada’s most celebrated stage director, and a global brand unto himself. Lepage is such a powerhouse that it is quite surprising to see him take on a far less dominant and much more vulnerable role in the multidisciplinary spectacle that is Eonnagata. This is not to say that Lepage is unaccustomed to a collaborative creative process, in fact he is the first to admit that his company, Ex Machina, is littered with artistic minds in whose instincts he trusts. Eonnagata is nevertheless a departure for Lepage - although given the...
Justin: This has got to be one of my favourite festivals of the year. It may not be as gargantuan as Luminato, nor as circus-like as the Fringe, nor as heady as SummerWorks, but for sheer entertainment value it is hard to beat. Just for Laughs makes for an obvious comparison, but their focus is primarily on standup. Although standup and sketch share the common goal of laughter, the two are entirely different creatures and I love the fact that sketch and its dedicated practitioners have their own week to shine.
I had a great time this year, what about...
Deadpan Powerpoint part of this year's Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival
The Canadian Opera Company’s production of Death in Venice tiptoes so near perfection, it’s like a prayer of gratitude to the muses. In this case, inspiration came from life. Both the novella’s author, Thomas Mann, and the opera’s composer, Benjamin Britten, had life experiences that fed into the story of an artist’s demise. With world-renowned actor and director Yoshi Oida at the helm of this production, the story is at its most poignant, a masterpiece of beauty and destruction.
Death in Venice reveals the winding journey of novelist Gustav von Aschenbach from prominent success to humiliation, despair and a...
Alan Oke, front, in the Canadian Opera Company production of Death in Venice
JH: The difficult thing about writing reviews of operatic productions mounted by a world-class company like the Canadian Opera Company is that when it comes to the 'technical' aspects such as vocal and musical performances, there is often much to praise and little to complain about. Or in other words, a lack of stinkers can sometimes make for a dull and frothy article - which is not necessarily a negative, as the purpose of a review by no means to be 'interesting' or pithy but rather informative and hopefully insightful.
Thankfully, the COC has also proven to be a...
Rosario La Spina (back) and Sondra Radvanovsky (front) in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Aida. Photo by Michael Cooper
Roger Waters is no lion in winter. The creative powerhouse behind legendary English rock band Pink Floyd has recently returned to the road, not to rehash old chestnuts for greying fans, but rather to present packed stadiums with a brilliant redux version of The Wall. Waters launched his tour at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, and will hit Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, as well as many other major cities over the coming months.
If Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd's rock symphony, then The Wall is without question their opera. Originally inspired by Waters' increasing sense of alienation between...
Capsule is fifteen minute short about two astronauts lost in space. They have been out in space for some time (orbiting Jupiter) and have not had any communication from Earth for quite some time. The two astronauts eventually meet up and chat, one providing the other with more information about the fate of our planet. As the story progresses, we learn that zombies or “face rapers” have taken over the world and most (if not all) of the world’s population is gone. As the hope of rescue evaporates, this leads to some discussion about how the characters will take control...
From the first words uttered onstage, I was elated. The rhythm and timbre of the dialogue suggested a lost Michel Tremblay play, with gorgeous repetitions, layered character conversations. However, things quickly become absurd, and then macabre, and then they fell apart.
With Aftershock (on as part of this year's SummerWorks), playwright Evan Tsitsias offers meditations on beauty, possession, belonging and home. Anna has just returned home from an Extreme Makeover show. Her physical beauty is utterly shocking and in some cases overbearing to her trailer park family and boyfriend. But no sooner does she return home, then she becomes...
This multimedia spectacle from writer/director Jordan Tannahill and presented by Suburban Beast (part of the SummerWorks festival) is an engagingly cinematic take on suburban angst - a topic which has been thoroughly exhausted by popular film and television but is refreshed in Tannahill's capable hands.
Vivid story telling, tangible characters, and dual synchronized video projectors add many a layer to a subtle and gently delivered story about a broken marriage, a platonic teenage romance, and a dead dog with a restless soul.
Tannahill’s script is sparse but never lacking and pitch perfect performances by Sascha Cole and David...
Vancouver’s MachineFair make their Toronto debut with Biographies of the Dead and Dying, a story that’s as much about writing and creativity as it is about death and mortality. Andrew Templeton’s script tiptoes coyly along the gothic genre line to explore the beauty and agony of the creative process, while Amiel Gladstone’s direction coaxes the perfect atmospheric tone from the would-be ghost story.
Aviva Armour-Ostroff plays Alice, a one-hit chick lit author who’s rented an allegedly haunted house on the coast of Vancouver Island in the hopes of finding inspiration for her next novel. Alice is tormented by her...
