Fear takes hold in the classic The Woman in Black playing at Toronto’s Lower Ossington Theatre

I  have to admit, I was skeptical about seeing The Woman In Black, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt, at the Lower Ossington Theatre. The Woman In Black is an eerie ghost story about a woman who haunts a remote British village. The story is inspired by Susan Hill’s novel, and has been adapted into two films: 1989 and 2012.

I had already seen the new adaptation. The movie really creeped me out, mostly due to the subtle effects. Naturally, not having a film budget or a computer effects team, I assumed the play was going to pale in comparison. I became more confident in my theory as the first act began at a slow pace, with protagonist Mr. Kipps and an actor discussing the importance of showmanship. This play couldn’t scare me. I was sure of it.

Dear God, I was so wrong. Continue reading Review: The Woman In Black (Lower Ossington Theatre) →

After Miss Julie is a visually and intellectually sumptuous production playing at Toronto’s Storefront Theatre

After Miss Julie (Red One Theatre Collective) is, literally, the story of the twelve hours immediately following VE Day, as set in an English servants’ cottage. The end of the war was many things to many people, and three characters–a stern northern cook; an aggressive, proud chauffeur; a young noblewoman–work through these changes in their own ways. They love, they hate, they fuck, they kill, they make a mess on the carpet.

The tricky thing about this show is that, by all rights, it shouldn’t work. The script has a number of clunky lines, the symbolism runs to depths normally associated with Very Very Very Serious High School Plays, and the story turns on developments that contemporary Canadian audiences probably can’t be expected to intuit. (Audience member to her date: “Who’s Clement Atlee? Wait, who was Winston Churchill again?”)

But work it does. These talented, talented actors; this gorgeous, gorgeous set; director David Ferry’s delicate, delicate slow-burn touch.

Continue reading After Miss Julie (Red One Theatre Collective) →

Canadian Stage presents Robert Lepage’s Needles and Opium at Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre

In the past few weeks the issue of drug addiction has been at the fore of the news cycle in Toronto. Indeed, the psychotropic misadventures of Mayor Ford have all the trappings of a Shakespearean tragedy. It’s a fitting backdrop for Canadian Stage to present avant-garde Quebec theatre director Robert Lepage’s revival of his play Needles and Opium; a meditation on addiction and dependency. Continue reading Review: Needles and Opium (Ex Machina/Canadian Stage) →

Aladdin, playing at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre, has a Whizz-Bang Light Show–And A Few Gaping Holes

It’s clear, watching even just the first few minutes of Broadway-bound Aladdin at the Ed Mirvish Theatre that the Disney production team is hoping for another Lion King. The Toronto production is busy shoehorning in extra performances to meet ticket demand, and taking out advertisements all over New York to trumpet the arrival. Unfortunately, unless there are some significant changes made, I cannot with any confidence predict Broadway success.

To be sure, some things about the production are very good. Chief among them is James Monroe Iglehart who is ten kinds of fabulous, each with its own theme song. He plays Genie full-camp and full throttle. Iglehart is so relatable that we’re disappointed and delighted in turn when he is. Adam Jacobs as Aladdin has such a great, classic Broadway voice and does a pretty good job channeling a certain aw-shuckness that lets us like Aladdin. The costumes are great, and they seem endless – you might have thought that no scene on earth could require a single actor to wear four different colours of lamé harem pants, but you would be incorrect. They lend a sense of grandness to the proceedings that, frankly, it needs.

Continue reading Review: Aladdin (Mirvish) →

The evolution of young love is served up in Mature Young Adults playing at Toronto’s Videofag

Walking into Mature Young Adults is, itself, an experience. Videofag has been transformed into an urban forest straight off Portlandia: rough-hewn wooden picnic tables; a cobbled-together, grown-up-sized swing set; functional lamps strewn across the stage; fairy lights in the sky.

It’s exactly what you’d build if you were trying to create a wooden playground for grown-up children. The script is playing a similar game: young love, served up by adults.

But the hinky thing with nostalgia is that, artificial and saccharine as it may be, it still punches you square in the gut.

Or, in the case of Mature Young Adults, hugs you and hugs you and promises to never let go.

Continue reading Review: Mature Young Adults (Aim for the Tangent) →