Next Stage Festival

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

2018 Next Stage Theatre Review: Swordplay (Sex T-Rex)

Photo #2- Julian Frid, Conor Bradbury, Kaitlin MorrowBy this point, I’ve practically made a career of seeing and reviewing Sex T-Rex’s fantasy parody epic Swordplay, which is currently playing at the Factory Theatre as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival. It’s the sort of play I saw initially at Fringe 2015, then took a friend to see, then bought tickets for my mother to see (conveniently with me), etc. Turns out, I’m still finding excuses to see this wild, chaotic, hilarious rush of a play again and again.

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2018 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: Birthday Balloon (Mauzy May Productions)

Photo of Renée Hackett and Craig Pike in Birthday Balloon by Tanja-TizianaIn Birthday Balloon, playing as part of this year’s Next Stage Theatre Festival, David and Millie are at war. Their marriage is at stake and though Millie is desperate to salvage whatever it is they have left, David fears it may be too late. They’ve both already suffered the greatest tragedy that neither of them have been able to recover from.

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2018 Next Stage Festival Review: Leila Live! (Laugh With Leila Productions)

Photo of Leila by Stuart Lowe PhotographyI have forever been meaning to see (yet somehow always managing to miss) a show by Laugh With Leila Productions.  So I was  excited to discover that the self-styled Persian Princess with a cult following is back with a riotous new performance, Leila Live!, playing in the Factory Theatre Antechamber as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival.

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2018 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: The Surprise (Christel Bartelse/DutchGirl Productions)

Photo of Christel BartelseThe problem with a surprise is that you never know whether it’s going to be good or bad. Christel Bartelse/Dutchgirl Productions’s The Surprise playing at the Factory Theatre Ante-chamber as part of the 2018 Next Stage Theatre Festival capitalizes on the unpredictable as the audience tries to help throw a surprise party for Ginger (Christel Bartelse).

 

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