Heather studied film at Humber College and English and Theatre at UTSC. She works as a stage manager, usually watching from the booth or lurking backstage. She has written for various websites since 2009. Unofficially, she’s also a total nerd with an obsession with sci fi TV series, fantasy novels, Dungeons and Dragons, and and video games. Follow her on Twitter at @bluealbow4eva.
The Protestant Reformation and a famous painting set the scene for a mystery in A God in Need of Help at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre
The Protestant Reformation was a schism in Western Christianity in the sixteenth century which divided the Holy Roman Empire into two religious factions, the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. Some Protestants were iconoclasts, who believed that any graven images of God (i.e. something painted or sculpted) should be destroyed.
The sixteenth century. The Protestant Reformation. Roman Catholics, Protestants, iconoclasm, and the blessed Mary. Woven together into a single production, you may not expect these subjects to form a detective-style mystery. Yet that’s exactly what you get in A God In Need of Help, and the result is, for the most part, enjoyable theatre.
The cast, set and sound sell this historic tale in Rifles at Toronto’s Next Stage Theatre Festival
The 2014 Next Stage Theatre Festival is now in full swing, and last night I attended the premier of Praxis Theatre’s Rifles. Taking place in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, Rifles is about Señora Teresa Carrar’s (Kate Hennig) refusal to choose sides between the government and the rebellion. Her husband died fighting, and she’s determined to keep her two sons alive and out of the conflict by remaining neutral.
The Next Stage Theatre Festival, or NSTF, is a platform for past Fringe artists (from Toronto or any other CAFF member festivals) to take groundbreaking work to the “next stage”. Some performances are remounts of previous Fringe shows, but most are new works from previously established Fringe artists. This year’s festival runs from January 8 – 19, 2014.
Bundle up for this unique outdoor theatrical experience playing at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works
Weather The Weather or How We Make It Home Together’s title pretty aptly encapsulates the experience of the show. This is night-time outdoor theatre, in Canada, in December, and there is plenty of weathering the weather to be had.
Weather The Weather was “inspired by winter, the Canadian Shield and our indomitable compulsion to get home for the holidays”. Two siblings, Daga (Amy Lee) and Diwrnod (Kawa Ada) are trying to find their way home after being displaced by a storm. Diwrnod is captured by Igora (Lisa Karen Cox), a troll who controls the weather. The sister must save the brother… with some help from a magical prince (Courtenay Stevens) and their house gnome (Colin Doyle).
Just in time for Halloween is George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead Live – a hilarious and well-done take on a classic horror film playing at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille
George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead Live is a humorous theatrical take on the classic horror film Night of the Living Dead. The show examines the movie itself, the time period in which it was produced (the 60s), and the film’s influence on the horror genre.
For those who haven’t seen the film, Night of the Living Dead follows eight people from a variety of backgrounds on a terrifying night where the dead rise to feast on human flesh. The strangers end up fighting for their lives in an abandoned house surrounded by zombies. The situation escalates as tensions rise and fear and prejudice take over. The entire plot of the film is act one of the play.
