On Sunday evening I went down to the Scotiabank Studio Theatre to check out The Art of Building a Bunker as part of this years SummerWorks Festival. I experienced a contentious and truly satisfying bit of Theatre- a difficult journey “down the river of inclusivity and into the ass of the world”.
Continue reading The Art of Building a Bunker (QuipTake) 2013 SummerWorks Review
It’s great to see a whole range of Theatre at this year’s 2013 SummerWorks, and I was delighted to see a secondary school production included in the festival. The play, Love at the End of the World, playing at the Scotiabank Studio Theatre, is a great example of how the next generation of performers is workshopping innovative ways of storytelling.
Continue reading Love at the End of the World (Fr. John Redmond C.S.S.) 2013 SummerWorks Review
There was something about the phrasing of Birdtown and Swanville’s description of their production Family Story that drew me to it: “the youngest Milkaffer daughter tries to figure out why she’s such a loser.” Hmm. So, armed with my own slight ‘loser-ish daughter complex’ I went down to Gallery 1313 excited about what tale might be told here as part of the 2013 SummerWorks Festival. I just came back and… Guys, oh my God, guys – go see this play! For anyone with a family, hell, even if you’re a test tube baby, this production does not disappoint.
Continue reading Family Story (Birdtown and Swanville) 2013 SummerWorks Review
This is what I love about Toronto: I have been living here for over twenty years and I am still finding out about different arts festivals happening all the time! I hadn’t actually heard of the Lab Cab Festival when I was asked to do a preview of it, and I am glad to have gotten the assignment. I will give you the down low on this vibrant arts festival happening this Saturday and Sunday in the Parkdale neighborhood.
Back in 2001, The Lab Cab Festival started out as a monthly ‘laboratory cabaret’ held at the Factory Studio. Any artist from any discipline could share their experimental work in front of an audience and, besides a ten-minute time limit, there were no formal restrictions. It turned out that Toronto was hungry for more short format performance, and the hit cabaret night turned into the present day festival happening this weekend, now produced by Aviva Armour-Ostroff and Andre du Toit. Continue reading Preview: Lab Cab Festival: Parkdale
I did not expect to be entertained by a 15 minute play in a shed, but, thankfully, life consistently surprises me! Red Bedroom Theatre’s production of Adam in the Alleyplays venue at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, is a sharp exchange between two characters performed by two up-and-coming performers.
I should mention that I particularly enjoy performances that challenge traditional notions of the ‘stage’ and the audience/viewer boundary, and I kind of get off on that feeling of chaos when my brain is asking: what… is happening right now?!
Continue reading Adam (Red Bedroom Theatre) 2013 Fringe Review