Half Girl/Half Face by Surplus Value Theatre, playing as part of the SummerWorks Festival, tackles the issues of internet privacy and internet creepiness from the perspective of a teenager whose picture has gone viral (Arlen Aguayo Stewart). The picture is just of her face, cropped out of a perfectly average two-person photo. The Girl and the picture itself are also perfectly average; she’s pretty but not in a remarkable way and there is nothing inadvertently stuck to her nose. There is no reason the picture should be so amusing as to go viral, which is something she spends a lot of the show wondering about. Continue reading Half Girl/Half Face (Surplus-Value Theatre) 2014 SummerWorks Review
All posts by Dorianne Emmerton
Review: The God That Comes (Tarragon Theatre/2b theatre company)
Gods, Kings, Mothers and Sex in The God That Comes, Playing Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre
Hawksley Workman is a god. And a mother, and a tyrant. He plays all three roles in his new rock opera, The God That Comes, currently on at Tarragon Theatre. In doing so, he proves himself a god of musicianship and showmanship, if not one in the literal, immortal sense.
Created with Christian Barry, The God That Comes tells the fable of a cruel king, the king’s, and Bacchus. The god of sex and wine takes up residence on the mountain above the city where the king rules and welcomes the citizens to worship him in drunken orgies. Dictators are known for being party-poopers, and this king is no exception. He disapproves of the hedonism happening in the hills above him and when he hears his own mother has attended a bacchanal it’s the final straw and he sends his army to capture the deity. What ensues shows us the psychological torment that has turned a little boy into a sadistic, power-hungry monster. Continue reading Review: The God That Comes (Tarragon Theatre/2b theatre company)
Review: Promises To A Divided City (Mammalian Diving Reflex/Theatre Centre)
Teens make their pledge to aid Toronto class divisions in Promises to a Divided City playing at The Theatre Centre
Promises to a Divided City is an interactive experience where teenagers engage the audience in thinking about geographic and class divisions in Toronto. You also get to explore the new Theatre Centre in the former Carnegie Library building at Queen and Lisgar; hear some of the history behind Andrew Carnegie, the American industrialist multimillionaire who gave Toronto the money to build this (and other) libraries; and you even get a free book. Continue reading Review: Promises To A Divided City (Mammalian Diving Reflex/Theatre Centre)
Review: The Speedy (UnSpun Theatre/World Stage)
UnSpun Theatre brings stories of The Speedy, a lesser known part of Canadian history, to Toronto’s World Stage
I remember Canadian history back in grade school and high school being very boring. It was all coureur des bois and maple syrup and the Family Compact. Even the wars seemed bloodless and tame. Maybe the curriculum was censored to prevent young brains from contemplating violence (as if young brains don’t do that all the time on their own) but it may have also been because telling an honest history of is mostly an account of how terrible white people are. The perfect antidote to my leftover school-days Canadian history malaise is inspired, beautiful theatre with integrity, such as The Speedy from Unspun Theatre, currently playing at World Stage. Continue reading Review: The Speedy (UnSpun Theatre/World Stage)
Review: Cold Comfort (Fly On The Wall Productions)
A man comes to terms with his deceased alcoholic father in Cold Comfort playing at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto
Cold Comfort is a one person show about an Irish man who is drinking alone with his estranged father’s corpse. He knows it’s impossible, but he wants the dead man to speak and answer some questions, primarily why did his mother leave them when he was a child? But Kevin knows the answer already. His father was an alcoholic, and now Kevin is too. He even has his own ex-wife. He is distraught at following in his father’s footsteps but he doesn’t know any other way to live. Fly On The Wall Theatre presents this portrait of a disturbed man at Near Studio on the second floor of Tarragon Theatre. Continue reading Review: Cold Comfort (Fly On The Wall Productions)