Dana Ewachow is too shy to order a pizza over the phone, but has no problem writing on the internet. She keeps herself busy and artistically poor by writing news articles, rants, and fiction for the internet. As you may have noticed, she also writes theatre reviews. She enjoys sketch comedies, dark comedies, light comedies, and burlesque. When she isn’t writing, her odd hobbies include: martial arts, throwing hatchets, and trying to cook food that won’t send her to the hospital. Armed with questionable diplomas and a second degree blackbelt, she will surely take over the world.
Good Girl by barking birds theatre is a one woman show playing at the Annex Pawn. The Fringe performance is small, but it carries a hefty weight. The drama is more powerful than it appears.
Tanya Rintoul plays Layla who wishes to be like her mother said she was: “a good girl.” Layla feels a mixture of emotions about a mysterious incident, which she slowly reveals throughout the sixty minute performance. She allows herself and the audience to wonder if her goodness exists or not.
Charming Monsters is a play presented by Afterglow Theatre at Toronto Fringe 2013. The drama claims it is a “play about the monster in us all”, using six characters to demonstrate the lust, greed, and violence. The drama takes place in a small town where a too-charming man, Henry, stirs up trouble with the surrounding women.
Even after having watched the play, it is hard to understand what Charming Monsters is about. Is it about the seductions and affairs of Henry, who tries to get into the beds of the whole female cast? Is it about magic and mythology, since Catherine finds herself connected with a mysterious beast? Is it about the trials of sisterhood and the troubles of the more neglected Cassandra?
“Birdbath” at Toronto’s Red Sandcastle is a charming production, full of personality.
Still & Moving Theatre is presenting Birdbath by Leonard Melfi at Toronto’s Red Sandcastle Theatre. Melfi, a deceased American playwright, has written many plays but Birdbath, first produced in 1965, is the most well-known of his work.
I attended the opening night on June 19th with my mother, Alice. We walked into the small venue and saw three long rows of chairs. The chairs were facing one side of the room designed as an old fashioned diner. I was handed a pamphlet and saw the description: “…a short, sweet, disturbing night at the theatre”. Having watched the play, I would say the description was very fitting.
