One of the first scenes in Derailed (playing at the SummerWorks Festival) hit me square between the eyes. Two actors, a man and a woman, board a train. He thinks we’re going somewhere exotic: “I’m so excited to finally see your roots!” She’s more down-to-earth “It’s just Scarborough Town Centre. My roots are on an island.” Continue reading Derailed (The AMY Project) 2012 SummerWorks Review
Editors’ Note: The opinions expressed in featured op-eds are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of Mooney on Theatre. We publish them to create a dialogue and strive to feature a multitude of voices.
SummerWorks is under fire from all sides: the Ministry of Heritage has cancelled (and subsequently re-instated) the festival’s funding, the Toronto SUN is out for blood, and the latest Factory Theatre bust-up* threatens to chip away at the audience. Everyone from Stephen Harper to Fred Phelps has condemned the festival, and at this point the controversies and the festival are essentially indistinguishable.
Is SummerWorks just an exercise in fatuous, pretentious art-wank, full of indulgent plays about diabetic Aboriginal terrorist lesbians in wheelchairs, programmed purely to offend the mainstream? Or is it the best of Canadian performing arts: aggressive, uncensored, original, disquieting and stimulating?
A friend recently captured this debate in a single question: “Can I bring grandma to SummerWorks?”
The answer, of course, is yes. You can. And you should.
A young man is determined to save his hometown, Vic Harbour, from the ghosts, drugs and isolation which are threatening to overwhelm it. He seeks the help of a young woman and the old lighthouse operator to overcome these forces. But will it be enough, or is the town’s decline inevitable?
Playing at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Mainspace under the auspices of the Toronto Fringe Festival, this show has a lot of interesting ideas in play. Is it worth your while?
Continue reading Vic Harbour (The Four Winds Collective) 2012 Toronto Fringe Review
Ten-year-old Tick is going through a crisis: her library is being closed, her zoo is under threat, and none of the adults understands. But rather than blogging about it or moping around the house, Tick gathers her best friends and plots the overthrow of the oppressive grown-up regime. Will she succeed?
Oh, come on. It’s a Fringe show. Of course she does. But I guarantee you’ll want to share her adventure.
Continue reading Tick (Lallygag Theatre) 2012 Toronto Fringe Review
Fíbín Teo, all the way from the west coast of Ireland, have brought us the bilingual The Blind Seal / An Rón Dall: an exercise in storytelling; an opportunity to watch an artist at work; a little taste of Irish folklore and culture; and a unique offering from the Toronto Fringe Festival. All said, it’s a delightful way to spend an afternoon.
As the artist paints and musicians play, two readers (one working in English, the other in Gaeilge) retell the centuries-old legend of the blind seal. All three work in tandem to build the story. The words relate to the art, while the music adds emphasis to both.
Continue reading The Blind Seal / An Rón Dall (Fíbín Teo) 2012 Toronto Fringe Review