Next Stage Festival

Everything to do with the Next Stage Festival which happens in January in Toronto

Mini-Reviews: Audio Offerings at Next Stage Community Booster 2021

image of a rainbow coloured soundwave on a black background

As the pandemic continues to keep us from gathering in person, audience and artists alike continue to explore different ways performing arts can work. The Next Stage Festival has moved to a digital offering this year called Community Booster, which includes performing arts in three streams. These are Theatre Shorts, Story Telling, and Audio Offerings.

You can file audio offerings under “everything old is new again.” I remember growing up listening to radio plays on CBC radio. And the pandemic isn’t the only thing that has brought audio plays to prominence; podcasting has been a significant contributor there. But what are the audio offerings from Community Booster?

Continue reading Mini-Reviews: Audio Offerings at Next Stage Community Booster 2021 →

Review: Lacuna (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)

Photo of Juliet Jones-Rodney, Chantal Forde, and Trina Moyan in Lacuna

Lacuna, now playing as part of the virtual 2021 Next Stage Community Booster, asks us, “Is theatre even theatre without the exchange of energy?”

Writer Chantal Forde is joined by Mandy Roveda, Juliet Jones-Rodney, and Trina Moyan, in an on-stage representation of a Zoom call, each actress holding a frame around her face as they try to create together.

This attempt at creation is halted by general pandemic malaise and technical difficulties, and their private anxieties. These include the desire for connection vs. the reality of latency, the wearying need to constantly combat white supremacy, the challenge of finding individuality rather than representing a larger community, and the frustrating lack of space for women’s bodies.

Continue reading Review: Lacuna (Next Stage Community Booster 2021) →

Review: Begin Again (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)

1 Comment

Photo of Cat and the Queen and Sasha Singer-Wilson in Begin Again

Begin Again – a combination of song and spoken word now playing as part of the 2021 virtual Next Stage Community Booster – is about the act of prayer.

Loud or quiet, large or small, desperate or calm, these pleas to a higher power are what creators Cat and the Queen and Sasha Singer-Wilson believe we all turn to in moments of need.

Continue reading Review: Begin Again (Next Stage Community Booster 2021) →

Review: Thou Shalt Not COVID Thy Neighbour’s Wife (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)

1 Comment

Photo of Christine Estima

Thou Shalt Not COVID Thy Neighbour’s Wife, written and performed by Christine Estima, is one of the stories presented as part of the Next Stage Community Booster.

Storytelling is hard. Everyone in the audience probably has different expectations; some want a ‘performance’ with lots of movement and vocal and facial expressions. Others may want intimacy, a gentle voice, accompanied by a seated body leaning towards the audience. Estima is more towards the performance end of the scale, without being over the top.

Continue reading Review: Thou Shalt Not COVID Thy Neighbour’s Wife (Next Stage Community Booster 2021) →

Winter of 88 (Nowadays Theatre) 2020 Next Stage Review

1 Comment

Photo of actor in Winter of 88

Timely. Tragic. Powerful.

With the Iranian plane crash in the headlines and tense US-Iran relations in the news, I knew it was going to be a tough night with a timely work.

Winter of 88, presented by Nowadays Theatre and part of the Next Stage 2020 festival, follows the faces and families behind the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq from 1980 to 1988.

Continue reading Winter of 88 (Nowadays Theatre) 2020 Next Stage Review →