Like many individuals and sectors at this time, playwright and performer Samson Bonkeabantu Brown and director Tsholo Khalema, on behalf Theatre Passe Muraille, had to convert 11:11 from its intended stage format to a live-stream performance hosted on YouTube Live. As the creative team noted during the Q & A that followed the opening night performance, this apparent disadvantage became an advantage that allowed them to incorporate some of the best elements of live theatre and film in the finished production. Continue reading Review: 11:11 (Theatre Passe Muraille)
Toronto Theatre Reviews
Reviews of productions based in Toronto – theatre includes traditional definitions of theatre, as well as dance, opera, comedy, performance art, spoken word performances, and more. Productions may be in-person, or remote productions streamed online on the Internet.
Review: The Mad Ones (Russo Richardson Productions)
The Mad Ones is a virtual musical about the internal struggle before a Big Life Decision
The Mad Ones, a virtual musical by Russo Richardson Productions, is an emotional story about embracing a big life decision and the internal struggle leading up to that. Filmed remotely and presented as a Zoom call inside Samantha Brown’s mind, this performance managed to successfully utilize the limitations of producing a show during a pandemic to their advantage.
Continue reading Review: The Mad Ones (Russo Richardson Productions)
Review: Bake Your Heart Out (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)
In Morro and Jasp’s new offering, a one-night fundraiser for the virtual 2021 Next Stage Community Booster called Bake Your Heart Out, the two clown sisters are up to their old tricks. The inseparable duo has finally come up against a directive to be separate, and a baby on the way makes their divide even more palpable. However, that’s not going to keep them from sharing their screens – and hearts.
Continue reading Review: Bake Your Heart Out (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)
Review: Blind Confidence (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)
Blind Confidence, written and performed by Graham Isador, is playing as part of the Storytelling series in the Next Stage‘s 2021 virtual festival Community Booster.
Sometimes things happen in our lives where we end up saying, “Well, at least I got a good story out of it.” When Isador was asked to help create a version of ‘edgy morning television’ for a Montreal market, at least he got a good story out of it.
Continue reading Review: Blind Confidence (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)
Review: Fish Water (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)
We all consume things we know that are bad for us, in order to escape, to connect, to feel. That’s one of the messages of Mara Da Costa Reis’s Fish Water, now playing in the Next Stage‘s 2021 virtual festival Community Booster as part of the Storytelling series.
Reis’ story, which begins as an innocuous flirtation between a young woman and her Thai food delivery girl, contains an unexpected gut punch.
Continue reading Review: Fish Water (Next Stage Community Booster 2021)