I was not familiar with the concept of a documentary play before seeing Towards Youth: A Play on Radical Hope by Project: Humanity and Crow’s Theatre. Of course we are all familiar with a documentary movie, where the idea is to film real life events to entertain, inform, and educate. It turns out that a documentary play involves actors dramatizing real life events – in this case a theatre research project wherein youth in high school classes around the world collaborate on creating a show about their own lives under the guidance of a professor of theatre. Continue reading Review: Towards Youth: A Play on Radical Hope (Project: Humanity/Crow’s Theatre) →

Opera Atelier is continuing its recent trend of pushing the boundaries of historically-informed early music performance practice by uniting staid, Baroque song and dance with sinuous contemporary ballet and music commissions in The Angel Speaks. The venue for this show was experimental as well, taking place in the Samuel Hall Currelly Gallery in the Royal Ontario Museum. Continue reading Review: The Angel Speaks (Opera Atelier) →

I was excited to see Christine Goerke, Brünnhilde of Canadian Opera Company’s most recent mount of the Ring Cycle operas, return to the COC stage as Richard Strauss’ Elektra in the 2019 production on stage until February 22. Directed by James Robinson, the production is a stylistically updated remount of a production developed by the late Richard Bradshaw in 1997.   Continue reading Review: Elektra (Canadian Opera Company) →

Hook Up, a world premiere opera commissioned by Tapestry Opera was like taking a walk down the memory lane of about 20 years, the good, the bad and the ugly. Three high school friends are excited to embark on the journey towards adulthood that is first year University. They soon realize that being away from home for the first time is a lot more complicated than parties and sexual exploration. Continue reading Review: Hook Up (Tapestry Opera) →

The ’60s musical Hair takes the stage at Toronto’s Hart House Theatre

Hart House Theatre’s choice to produce Hair, one of the most controversial and infamous musicals in the rep could not be more timely or delightful. The musical’s relevance as a pop culture influencer is undeniable. I was born more than 10 years after the premiere performance and I am very familiar with many of the anthems and the key themes. It is now 50 years on from the 1968 premiere and we are in the era of #metoo rather than free love. Suffice it to say, I was curious to see this show through an early 21^st century filter. Continue reading Review: Hair (Hart House Theatre) →