Reviews of theatre, dance, opera, comedy and festivals. Performances can be in-person or streamed remotely on the web for social-distancing.
Have you ever had one of those days you wish would just end? A day when every passing moment becomes more torturous than the next?
Presented last night at the Aki Studio Theatre, dirty butterfly is a compelling and poignant look at one woman’s torment living with domestic abuse.
Continue reading Review: dirty butterfly (Bound to Create Theatre)
In its 5th anniversary show, Monkeyman Productions takes over the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace with The Nefarious Bed and Breakfast, a play that hearkens back to the kookier days of superhero comics. Where characters were allowed to be a bit zany and the cells were brightly coloured and lacking the grit and darkly tortured souls of today’s heroic universe.
Dr. Nefarious is a retired super villain, recently married, and about to embark on a new business venture as a small-time hotelier. On the weekend of his bed and breakfast’s grand opening, he and the disembodied voice of his wife, Margot, welcome two couples to stay as the properties’ first guests. One of the couples is actually a pair of retired superheroes, who seem to believe that Dr. Nefarious hasn’t quite given up his evil ways. The second couple -a pair of newlyweds- have their own peculiarities and secrets that are revealed throughout the course of the play. Along with Dr. Nefarious’ trusty demi-primate henchman Half-Ape, the ensemble proceeds to have quite the whirlwind adventure.
Continue reading Review: The Nefarious Bed and Breakfast (Monkeyman Productions)
It was a dark and rain-filled pre-Halloween evening, the perfect atmosphere to step into the latest event from the 360 Screenings team. Having been building up the hype for the event, and with a top mention in Buzzfeed’s list of hottest Halloween tickets, it’s not surprising that the limited number of screenings should be sold out. I’d been anticipating attending the event since I’d heard about its Amélie screening earlier in the year, and was especially pleased to be waiting outside the Ontario Heritage Centre to experience the latest incarnation of its Halloween edition.
Coma, a production of the AfriCan Theatre Ensemble, tackles a timely subject given the renewed debate about assisted suicide, euthanasia and death with dignity.
Nana, played by Lorraine Klaasen, has been in a coma in a vegetative state for 15 months. Her daughter Ifueko, played by Bridget Ogundipe, has been taking care of her and paying her hospital bills and has decided that it’s time to take Nana off life support.
When she calls her estranged brother Osasu, played by Wales Ojo, in Canada to tell him, he surprises her by asking her not to do anything until he gets there. Continue reading Review: Coma (AfriCan Theatre Ensemble)
On a cold and rainy night, I make my way down a dark and narrow road to the Sterling Studio Theatre. I take my seat, surrounded on all sides by an audience of ghouls. A musician with a pale white face and ratty clothing plays the blues. The stage is blanketed by fog. Has this play been hijacked by Halloween revelers?
The choice of opening night seemed strange to me… until the play began and I realized how befitting it was. John Patrick Shanley’s Where’s My Money? deals with characters who are haunted. Their past is not dead. Literally. The ghosts of ex-lovers show up to throw a wrench into their oh-so-civilized lives. Continue reading Review: Where’s My Money? (Sterling Studio Theatre)