Toronto’s Lower Ossington Theatre’s production of the musical The Last Five Years is engaging

Fact: I’ve seen The Last Five Years about 42 times in various theatres around North America including the movie version starring Anna Kendrick. Also a fact: I absolutely love this little musical two-hander and never get tired of it.

I saw the original production back in NYC while it was still relatively unknown and have followed its evolution ever since. When I had the opportunity to review the Lower Ossington Theatre’s version, I naturally jumped at the chance. How can you go wrong with a beautifully written show (composed and written by Jason Robert Brown) and a talented cast? Continue reading Review: The Last Five Years (Lower Ossington Theatre) →

“Highly acclaimed” production Germinal plays on stage in Toronto

Tonight I caught the opening night performance of Germinal, a unique production from France, as part of Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2016 — and am I ever glad I did!  I had no idea I was in for a theatrical experience of such epic proportions.

I  wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I read the show synopsis, but what I saw was pure magic.  In Germinal, created by Halory Goerger and Antoine Defoort, four adventurers begin to remake the world from the beginning, right before our eyes. I was mesmerized by the section where they begin to discover voice, words, communication and social order.

Continue reading Review: Germinal (Harbourfront Centre-World Stage 2016) →

The latest show at Videofag in Toronto left our reviewer with more questions than answers

Nothing pains me more than seeing a show that I struggle to understand. I felt like I could find the questions in this play but was left without the answers. Love Me Forever Billy H. Tender is a one-man show currently running at Videofag until January 12th and is written and performed by Jesse LaVercombe under the dramaturgy of award winning writer, Guillermo Verdecchia. Continue reading Review: Love Me Forever Billy H. Tender (Videofag) →

Domesticated, on stage at the Berkeley Street Theatre, is full of “stellar female performances”

Domesticated, by Bruce Norris is currently getting its Canadian premiere thanks to The Company Theatre in partnership with Canadian Stage at The Berkeley Street Theatre. It’s a slick, 160 minute play that zips by so smoothly that you barely notice the length. I give all parties involved huge credit for that. Continue reading Review: Domesticated (Company Theatre and Canadian Stage) →

The Messy Kween Collective presents Kyle Capstick’s play then, then in Toronto

In the words of my guest, “The author did not write a play so much as he did a lullaby.” Those are some fitting words for The Messy Kween Collective’s production of then, then by Kyle Capstick at the Majlis Art Garden.

Capstick admits to not “obey the rules of good playwriting”, and unfortunately, I would have to agree with him there. What Capstick writes is poetry and he writes it well. The imagery he manages to luxuriously unravel is clearly the workings of a talented writer. The problem is, it doesn’t work for me in theatrical form. If I was told I was coming to watch some creatively staged poetry, I might have felt less hostile toward the production. Continue reading Review: then, then (The Messy Kween Collective) →