All posts by Megan Mooney

Megan loves being in the thick of all things theatre, but her ultimate goal is to promote theatre to the world of non-theatre people. It was the same when she was the theatre writer for blogTO, or the Fringe Correspondent for CBC Radio One‘s Here and Now, as it is as the founder of Mooney on Theatre. Her basic belief is that there is theatre/performance out there for everyone to love, they just need to find it. This is not to be confused with the idea that everyone should love theatre for theatre’s sake, in fact, as obsessed as she is with theatre, even *she* doesn’t love all types of theatre.

Preview: The Panel Show Pilot (Presented by CBC Radio)

Illustration of Ned Petrie by Jeff Blackburn for The Panel ShowYou know that exciting feeling of getting in on something on the ground floor? Well, this Monday night (March 23, 2014) you can have that by attending a live taping of the pilot of The Panel Show for CBC Radio Comedy at Bad Dog Theatre.

Now, just because it’s the pilot for radio doesn’t mean it’s a new show, just new to radio. In fact, Mooney on Theatre covered the very first The Panel Show back in 2011. That means they’ve been doing this now for four and a half years and it’s a well-oiled machine.

Continue reading Preview: The Panel Show Pilot (Presented by CBC Radio) →

Review: Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Red One Theatre Collective / Storefront Theatre)

Les Liaison Dangereuses on stage in Toronto feels more thought-provoking than libido-provoking

Photo of Caroline Toal and Daniel Briere in Dangerous Liaisons

When I heard that Red One Theatre Collective / Storefront Theatre was producing Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaison Dangereuses I knew I had to see it.

First, who can resist sexy plays? And Les Liaison Dangereuses? Such a sexy, sexy play. Second, the film Dangerous Liaisons, which is also an adaptation by Christopher Hampton, is actually one of my favourite films ever, and again, so very sexy.

There was a lot to really like about this production, and overall I enjoyed it, but for different reasons than I expected to.

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Review: Queens Calling (Dance Immersion)

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Eight award-winning choreographers’ work takes the stage for Toronto’s Black History Month celebrations

Image of Brandon Burton and Jessica G Thomas in The Third Side

Queens Calling, presented by Dance Immersion at Harbourfront Centre Theatre, features the work of eight female choreographers from across Canada, the US and the UK and is part of the TD Then and Now series for Black History Month.

When I read that it was dedicated to the 219 girls abducted from a boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was bracing myself for something very bleak. I won’t lie, I was pretty thankful that it wasn’t two hours of doom and gloom.

Each choreographer presented a 10 minute piece, which was great because it meant that if there was a piece you didn’t like, you knew you’d be onto a new one soon enough.

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A podcast and a survey for Disappearing Act? A Public Forum on Canadian Theatre & Toronto Audiences

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If you are in the Toronto theatre industry you may have heard about the impromptu forum that happened on Sunday January 11, 2015 spurred to life from a status on Facebook posted by Derrick Chua on December 3, 2014 where he said “At some point, I’d really love to have an open and frank discussion / forum to hear people’s thoughts and opinions on how to attract a larger audience / how to convince the general public to attend more original Canadian theatre!”

Then, he did it, as Derrick is wont to do. He didn’t do it alone, he also enlisted the help of Sue Edworthy and Sheila Sky. Between them, by eight days later they had announced Disappearing Act? A Public Forum on Canadian Theatre & Toronto Audiences with time and location. Location eventually had to be changed because the interest in the event was so high that the original venue wasn’t big enough.

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Review: Venus in Fur (Canadian Stage)

Image of Rick Miller and Carly Street in Venus in Fur

Venus in Fur returns to the Toronto Stage for its final remount at Canadian Stage

When I heard that Canadian Stage was doing another remount of David Ives’s Venus In Fur, I was giddy. The last two times this production was in Toronto, something had always managed to get in the way of me seeing it. When I read that this was the final remount and the last time I’d get to see Rick Miller and Carly Street reprise these roles under the direction of Jennifer Tarver, I knew I had to see it.

In this play-within-a-play, Thomas, played by Rick Miller, has adapted the 1870 novella Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (a bit of trivia: the term ‘masochist’ is derived from his name) for the stage. Vanda, played by Carly Street, has come to audition for one of the lead roles. As Thomas reads lines with Vanda the piece does far more than explore the translation of a classic work, it explores timeless power struggles, feelings of desire, and, of course, the feelings of guilt and regret that go along with them.

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