Everything to do with the Next Stage Festival which happens in January in Toronto
Awake takes the true stories of Toronto area youth growing up in the grimy inner city and explore the trials and tribulations they face day in and day out. Told through the true testimonials and interviews from their mothers, this production casts an introspective light. Continue reading 2013 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: Awake (Expect Theatre/Spark Collective)
As soon as I entered Factory Theatre for Sudden Death, I knew I was in for something special. The stage is part hockey arena, part motel room and part strip club. The play is based on the tragic life of hockey enforcer John Kordic. At first sight of the set, we’re transported into Kordic’s world, on his last night on earth. Oh Next Stage Theatre Festival, you never fail to delight and surprise!
Kordic won the Stanley Cup in his first year in the NHL. He played for four teams over his seven year career, including Montreal and Toronto. He was addicted to steroids, alcohol and cocaine. He was also deeply troubled by his relationship with his father. He died at the age of 27, alone, after an altercation with nine police officers.
Continue reading 2013 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: Sudden Death (Pyretic Productions)
Liza Live! is conceived, produced and performed by Jennifer Walls in the Factory Theatre Ante-chamber as part of the Next Stage Festival. It is a 30-minute cabaret backed by a two-man band and it includes 5 songs, a trivia contest and some anecdotal history.
Jennifer Walls is stellar as Liza. Her stance and gestures are spot on and she nails Liza’s cadence, lisp and breathing.
Dramaturg Ryan G. Hinds helps to deliver a script rife with self-deprecating jokes for the fans especially, among whom I count myself. Continue reading 2013 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: Liza Live! (Total Betty Productions)
The profound heft of a phrase like “Winter is coming” sort of loses its tenor when there’s frosted white stuff floating around and a chilly bite in the air, but Bad Dog Theatre Company is still bent on luring you into the Next Stage Festival with those very words and one of their latest unscripted romps. Throne of Games takes improvisation to the realm of fantasy with a slightly different portrayal of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones.
Sitting in the nearly-full house of Factory Theatre’s main space, I was trying to rack my memory for as many details from Game of Thrones as I could. I had a feeling that there might be a lot of great comedic tidbits lost if I couldn’t muster any.
Continue reading 2013 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: Throne of Games (Bad Dog Theatre Company)
In Memorial, a play by Steven Gallagher playing as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival, Dylan (Mark Crawford), a terminally ill cancer patient is simultaneously planning both his wedding and his funeral.
Most of us, at one point or another, have morbidly fantasized about our own funeral. You’ve probably pictured your own memorial. Who would be there? What they would say about you? How would the flowers be arranged? Continue reading 2013 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: Memorial (Next Step Productions)