All posts by Madeleine Copp

Madeleine Copp saw her first show when she was four years old and it was love at first sight. She pursued a bachelor’s in theatre production and design and English literature, culminating in a love for flexible, innovative, and diverse theatre artists that challenge all our preconceived notions of the stage. Her thesis, Printed Voices: Women, Print, and Performance pushed for new interpretations of closet drama from the early modern to modern period in the hopes of seeing more female playwrights included in the performance canon. Since graduating, Madeleine continues to seek out unexpected, startling, and challenging works that leave her angry, speechless, and wonderfully confused.

Review: Le Dire de Di (Théatre Français and Théatre la Catapulte)

Photo of Marie-Eve Fontaine in Le Dire de DiThéatre Français and Théatre la Catapulte presents Le Dire de Di playing in Toronto

It’s not about what you remember or why you remember, in Théatre Français and Théatre la Catapulte‘s Le Dire de Di playing at the Berkeley Street Theatre, it’s the weight of those memories that make them real.

Taking a poetic journey into nature, society, and science, Le Dire de Di finds itself bogged down by words despite an incredible performance.

Continue reading Review: Le Dire de Di (Théatre Français and Théatre la Catapulte)

Review: Hamlet (Tarragon Theatre)

Photo of Hamlet ensembleTarragon Theatre delivers Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet through a rock n’ roll lens in Toronto

There is something to be said on whether or not the type of music integrated into a show can help reimagine a well-known story. Tarragon Theatre’s Hamlet applies a rock and roll ‘lens’ to a familiar tale.

The results don’t rewrite the book, but when a production’s this good, it’s hard to argue.

Continue reading Review: Hamlet (Tarragon Theatre)

2018 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: The Surprise (Christel Bartelse/DutchGirl Productions)

Photo of Christel BartelseThe problem with a surprise is that you never know whether it’s going to be good or bad. Christel Bartelse/Dutchgirl Productions’s The Surprise playing at the Factory Theatre Ante-chamber as part of the 2018 Next Stage Theatre Festival capitalizes on the unpredictable as the audience tries to help throw a surprise party for Ginger (Christel Bartelse).

 

Continue reading 2018 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: The Surprise (Christel Bartelse/DutchGirl Productions)

2018 Next Stage Festival Review: That “F” Word (SaMel Tanz)

Photo of Melissa Hart and Samantha Schleese

There is an unsurprisingly apt description of feminism in SaMel Tanz’s That “F” Word playing at the Factory Theatre Mainspace as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival. A series of expertly choreographed dances informed by questions of femininity, society, race, body image, and gender roles uses words sparingly, preferring the twist of bodies to try and examine that insurmountable word: feminism.

While hitting the mark technically, with wonderful sequences, it’s the show’s on-the-nose interpretation of the issue it seeks to explore that might be its biggest weakness or biggest strength.

Continue reading 2018 Next Stage Festival Review: That “F” Word (SaMel Tanz)

Review: Unholy (Nightwood Theatre)

Photo of Diane Flacks and Bahareh YaraghiToronto playwright Diane Flacks examines the intersection of women and religion in her play Unholy

I think most people have had that one dinner where they’re told: whatever you do, don’t mention religion. Nightwood Theatre’s Unholy playing at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is that dinner—except imagine that dinner is televised and there are no consequences for letting your opinions fly.

It’s exactly as intense, exciting, and hilarious as it sounds.

Continue reading Review: Unholy (Nightwood Theatre)