Toronto sketch troupes Falcon Powder and Vest of Friends deliver laughs at the Theatre Centre
Taking over Toronto’s Theatre Centre, the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival attracted a lively audience during last night’s line-up. On the playbill were two local sketch comedy groups, Falcon Powder and Vest of Friends, each veteran acts that boast their share of accolades in the world of Canadian comedy.
Pyaasa is a “stunningly real theatrical experience” on the Toronto stage
Pyaasa, playing now at Theatre Passe Muraille, opens on a shadow-covered stage, which contains only a rusted metal bucket. For the next 50 minutes, the only other entity, prop or otherwise, to grace the stage is Anusree Roy, the playwright and sole actor. As exemplified by these first moments, Pyaasa goes on to tell a complex story with striking simplicity, creating rich characters and a world that is supremely real.
You Will Remember Me is not to be forgotten, now on stage in Toronto
There are a lot of metaphors woven into You Will Remember Me, a beautiful play about early-onset Alzheimer’s by Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Francois Archambault (translated by Bobby Theodore), now playing at Tarragon Theatre in a co-production with Studio 180.
This makes a lot of sense. Dementia, particularly in a family member, is hard to face or explain head-on; the gradual loss of everything that makes up a person we know is difficult to bear. The play is richly written, thematically resonant, and well-constructed. It’s also funny, emotionally stunning, and deeply moving. Continue reading Review: You Will Remember Me (Tarragon/Studio 180)→
This Is That pokes fun at Canadian radio with fun and familiarity, now playing in Toronto
What do you think of when you think about Canada? Does your mind conjure up images of pick-up trucks and Quebec? What do you think of when you hear the words “CBC Radio One?” A hard-hitting interview about the latest updates to the Canadian Food Guide? All this and more is ridiculed in Pat Kelly and Peter Oldring’s This Is That (a part of the Headliner Series at this year’s Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival), a staged version of the famed satirical CBC radio show that pokes fun at our particular brand of CBC-approved Canadian culture.
What do three women mountain climbers at the top of their game, a dysfunctional parent council, three curious housemaids, a group of at-risk kids in a rehab yoga class, a street canvasser, a South American cardinal with a shady past, and Irish poet W.B. Yeats have in common? If your instinct was to say “nothing at all,” then you might want to check out the fascinating lineup in store for you at the New Ideas Festival, running March 9 – 27 at Alumnae Theatre.
Toronto sketch troupes Falcon Powder and Vest of Friends deliver laughs at the Theatre Centre
Pyaasa is a “stunningly real theatrical experience” on the Toronto stage
You Will Remember Me is not to be forgotten, now on stage in Toronto
This Is That pokes fun at Canadian radio with fun and familiarity, now playing in Toronto