Tavistock Art’s Tempo is a show full of jaw-dropping performances not to be missed at Toronto’s Storefront Theatre

Ibsen didn’t write Tempo (presently at the Storefront Theatre), so it was necessary for Michael Batistick to do the heavy lifting. And it’s a damn good thing he has.

Tempo is one of those marvellous plays that sneaks up behind you. On the surface, we’re watching a comic tragedy unfold: Jim, an unlovely drug rep, swings wildly from scene to scene, mood to mood, watching his life unravel before his eyes. And the train-wrecky aspect of this show is what draws an audience in.

We don’t feel pity for this guy. He’s quite possibly the most repulsive and atrocious manifestation of psychopathic greed this side of Glengarry Glen Ross, tolerable only because he’s so bad at exploiting others. This is a man so pathetic that he can’t even succeed at being a shitty human being.

Yet he’s the fulcrum over which this entire show flips. And flip, it does.

Continue reading Review: Tempo (Tavistock Arts) →

Rich and enticing voices pair with stunning and complex instrumentals in Canadian Opera Company’s Peter Grimes playing at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre

Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten opens in what appears to be a high school auditorium. The auditorium is being used to conduct an inquest into the death of a young boy. Peter Grimes is the only suspect.  The second production of the Canadian Opera Company‘s (COC) current season was written in 1945, and is based on the “Peter Grimes” section of a collection of poems entitled The Borough by George Crabbe.

Continue reading Review: Peter Grimes (Canadian Opera Company) →

A sexy cat and mouse chase takes the stage in Venus in Fur playing at Toronto’s Bluma Appel Theatre

Auditions can never be looked at the same way again after watching the intense power struggle between actors Rick Miller and Carly Street in the Canadian Stage production, Venus in Fur.

The moment when Vanda (played by Street) stumbled in late for her audition, she commanded the stage with her exotic look and fiery personality. She convinced Thomas the playwright/director (Miller) to give her a shot and let her read. Reluctantly, Thomas eventually agreed to listen to the vibrant yet somewhat frantic woman who stood tall in her sexy black leather lingerie and stilettos. I honestly think it would be hard for anyone to say NO to her.

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The Glass Cage is a family feud filled story playing at Toronto’s Alumnae’s Studio Theatre

The Glass Cage is set in a sitting room in 1906 Toronto and it’s fitting that it is being performed in Alumnae’s Studio Theatre, Edwardian in design. The Glass Cage takes place over an evening when three young siblings of mixed indigenous and Scottish heritage visit their wealthy family’s home to wreak havoc and claim their birthright.

Douglas, Angus and Jean McBane are not initially clear about what they want from their deceased father’s family but a deed and transfer seem to be top priority for everyone.

Family tensions play out. Old slights, past greed and deception come to light. Race and class tensions lurk below the surface. Continue reading Review: The Glass Cage (Snowdrop Productions) →

Strong performances and profound emotion are packed into Canadian Opera Company’s La Boheme playing at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre

Crossing the lobby of the Four Seasons Centre after La Boheme, I saw a couple standing with their young daughter of eight or nine years old. I couldn’t resist taking the opportunity to ask her: “Did you like it?” Her parents smiled tolerantly at me (I may not have been the first person to ask) as she nodded and said, reverently “I loved it.”

I did too. And, I would like to add, with a very similar child-like glee. It’s not that often that I attend something to review it and find myself just happy, with my review-brain noticeably silent for long minutes at a time while the lifetime lover of performance in me sighed with pleasure and reached for my sweetheart’s hand. This production of La Boheme made me so happy.

Continue reading Review: La Boheme (Canadian Opera Company) →