Dorianne is a graduate of the Theatre and Drama Studies joint program between University of Toronto, Erindale campus and Sheridan College. She writes short stories, plays and screenplays and was delighted to be accepted into the 2010 Diaspora Dialogues program and also to have her short story accepted into the 2011 edition of TOK: Writing The New Toronto collection. She is also a regularly contributing writer on http://www.sexlifecanada.ca. You can follow her on twitter @headonist if you like tweets about cats, sex, food, queer stuff and lefty politics.
I’m not necessarily a fan of period pieces but I am a fan of sex-positivity and sexual health so I was interested in In The Next Room or, the vibrator play, the opening show for Tarragon Theatre’s 2011-2012 season. I knew there was a good chance I would end up offended, as topics of a carnal nature are so often done poorly, but thankfully I was delighted by the production. The play centres on the Victorian medical practice of using electrical vibrating devices to induce “paroxysms” in women – and sometimes men – in order to relieve “hysteria.”
We now understand hysteria as a disease, to be a completely mythical, and misogynist, disease and we also now understand that orgasms are good for one’s mental and physical well-being. This is one of those shows where the hilarity relies much upon looking back at the ignorance of the past. However it is not a play without depth. Continue reading Review: In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Tarragon Theatre)→
When I first walked into The Maids I didn’t remember what had compelled me to request it back when Buddies released their 2011-2012 season, but I often enjoy walking into theatre blind. In this case it would have helped to remind myself. The context of this play is crucial: it was written by Jean Genet, a prominent figure in queer history who wrote highly stylized plays dealing with class/race/sexual oppression. The Maidswas written in 1947, loosely based on a true story of two maids murdering their -allegedly- abusive mistress in 1933.
The servitude depicted in the play is one we cannot identify with in modern times – one expects even Donald Trump removes his own shoes – and there is no attempt to update the play to be relevant to class oppression as it currently exists. There is some commentary embedded in casting a male, Ron Kennell, as one of the maids. However the press release claims this cross-gender casting is true to Genet’s original intent, and this seems absolutely credible and appropriate given Genet’s reputation for gender-fucking. Continue reading Review: The Maids (Buddies In Bad Times)→
Two men enter, one man leaves – this is Thunderdome! Cage Match presented at Toronto’s Comedy Bar is kind of like that, except that teams of both men and women battle with their wit and spontaneity instead of weapons.
The format is simple, like any Battle of The Bands you may have been to: two improv troupes are pitted against each other in a set and the winner goes on to the next round. Each night has four different sets, but I only stayed for the first three, being a working girl who has to get up in the morning. The first set is at 7:30pm, the second at 8:30pm, the third at 9:30pm and the fourth at 10:30pm. Each team has exactly 22 minutes to perform, so there is time in between to grab a smoke, a beer or some food. The Comedy Bar is fully licensed and serves food. Continue reading Review: Cage Match (Impatient Theatre)→
Three men are stuck on a raft in the middle of the ocean. They are out of provisions and are considering cannibalism. But how will they decide which one of them will be eaten? Because they are humans and not animals, issues of such importance must go through a fair and transparent process… through the microcosm of the raft, Out At Sea is Theatre of the Absurd which shows just how unfair and untransparent our social systems can be. The processes of democracy and justice are played out in a fashion that show their inherent weaknesses – the way they can be manipulated by those who are more selfish, and more avaricious and controlling than others. Continue reading Out At Sea (Actors Repertory Company) 2011 SummerWorks Review→
