Toronto Heaven – The Theatre Centre The gasp of breath, the startling slap of flesh on flesh, the stamp of foot to floor—these are the sounds of vulnerability and power that score Heaven. Rooted in the idea of heaven as a site of union, the choreography invites audiences into an intimate encounter with the body—its…
A Fine Balance – Crow’s Theatre Rohinton Mistry’s beloved novel exploring resilience and injustice during India’s 1975 Emergency comes to life in a new stage adaptation. In a cramped Bombay apartment turned illegal garment factory, four unlikely companions are thrown together. As the political crisis deepens and the country reels under authoritarian crackdown, this fragile…
Sasha Ivanochko’s Heaven was first performed 20 years ago. In celebration, she’s bringing it back to The Theatre Centre with a new cast. One of those performers is Jessie Garon, a dancer and choreographer who is not stranger to the Toronto dance scene. I got to talk to Jessie about what it’s like to bring…
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a story artists return to time and time again; whether it’s performed on stage or film, heavily adapted (“The Lion King” is Hamlet and yes, I will die on that particular hill) or more like Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 feature film which has a 4 hour and 2 minute run time, we…
Rachel Cairns as performed her solo play Hypothetical Baby many times, with the titular baby always being quite hypothetical. Until recently! Now a mum, Cairns is doing a limited engagement of Hypothetical Baby at Here For Now Theatre. I get to ask her about that production, how her life has changed, and what’s next for…
Pastoral, noun: a literary work (such as a poem or play) dealing with shepherds or rural life in a usually artificial manner and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life. As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s…
“For us to start over, the universe would have to begin again” Yet that’s how Craig Wright’s The Pavilion begins: with the beginning of the universe. And at the centre of this particular universe are two high school sweethearts who are seeing each other for the first time in twenty years – who knows what…
If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it... Music fills the High Park Amphitheatre, feeding the love story which is to come. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night shows us love in many of its forms, and Gregory Prest’s expertly directed production distills the work down to its very essence and makes…
Every generation has it’s “where were you when?” moment. When JFK was assassinated, when John Lennon was killed, when the twin towers fell. I was in my sixth grade classroom, as my teacher leaned on the blackboard ledge and had to deliver the news to a group of 10 and 11 year olds that their…
And just like that, another year of reviewing the Fringe comes to a close. It’s been a fabulous ten days of theatre, friends, connection, and community. I’d like to thank the Toronto Fringe Festival for having me back to review again this year, it’s always such a marathon but one which leaves me feeling fuller…
A View from the Box 