Family drama Therefore Choose Life, currently on stage in Toronto, has “all the makings of a hit”

If you can find your way through the maze that is the Toronto Centre for the Arts these days and locate the newly opened Greenwin Theatre, you’ll find yourself witness to a very special show. Brush past the half dozen people who will remind you that the show runs 90 minutes with no Intermission. Find your seat. Then take a few deep breaths. The world premiere of Therefore Choose Life, presented by Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company, is not a light show. It is deep and important and lovely, and it will make you feel a whole lot of things. Continue reading Review: Therefore Choose Life (Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company) →

Toronto’s Classical Theatre Project combined Shakespeare with beer for a one-night performance

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare {Abridged} played twice on Saturday night, the latest event in The Classical Theatre Project‘s ShakesBeer series.  The name is fairly self-explanatory:  Shakespeare plus beer.  As it turns out, those two things go very well together.  Throw in talented performers, a great script, and some timely pop culture references, and you have a winning combination indeed.  The one-act show was performed at Artscape Wychwood Barns, on a stage with a simple red-curtained backdrop, some simple lights and men in colourful tights.  It was quite the sight to behold.

I wish I could tell you to go see it (because I would) but this particular production was just a one-night deal, so unless you were there laughing and drinking along at either performance, you missed the fun this time. Though fear not, if history is any indication then Shakespeare isn’t going away anytime soon.  Neither, for that matter, is The Classical Theatre Project.  Continue reading Review: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare {Abridged} (The Classical Theatre Project) →

A new Toronto theatre company, Restless Spirit Productions, presents a Triple Bill of disparate works

On Friday night, I made my way down a staircase at 688 Richmond Street West, followed the instructions to remove my outdoor footwear, hung up my coat, padded into a studio on the lower level, and settled in for A Triple Bill.  The evening consisted of an opener by improv troupe “Seinfeld?!?”, a one-woman show by Katie Ford and a production of Edward Allan Baker’s Dolores. I’m still trying to figure out what the connection was between the three, and why new theatre company Restless Spirit Productions decided to showcase them together, but I have a feeling that will remain one of life’s great mysteries. Continue reading Review: A Triple Bill (Restless Spirit Productions) →

Toronto’s NightShift Theatre presents a thoughtful and engaging production of Problem Child

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the closed door of a seedy motel room, you might find an answer or two right now at the Red Sandcastle Theatre. The storefront venue has been completely transformed into a stuck-in-the-past motel room, complete with dated décor and bright blue vinyl chairs, as it plays host to NightShift Theatre‘s production of George F. Walker‘s Problem Child. Continue reading Review: Problem Child (NightShift Theatre) →

Toronto’s Factory Theatre presents Twisted, a play that’s a gritty, raw, intense reimagining of Oliver Twist

Playing now as part of Factory Theatre’s season is Twisted, presented by Factory Theatre & b current.  Factory Theatre promises ‘theatre with grit’, and this show certainly delivers on that promise. Less a retelling of Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist than a complete reimagination of it, the show is undeniably gritty, raw and intense. Continue reading Review: Twisted (Factory Theare/b current) →