There are two rules to theatre: “The show must go on” and “Shit happens.” Playing Shylock, written by Mark Leiren-Young and directed by Martin Kinch, exemplifies these rules with its own unique twists and turns. Starring legend of stage and screen Saul Rubinek, Playing Shylock is an intensely personal look at Rubinek’s life and his…
Oscar Wilde’s biting, yet truthful, quote “A true friends stabs you in the front” lies at the heart of Rosa Laborde’s world premiere play Interior Design. A deeply funny and deeply moving play about adult friendships, Interior Design is refreshing and compelling. Directed by the inimitable Kat Sandler and featuring four exceptionally talented actors, Interior…
“You only have one story” and Lucy Barton is ready to tell hers. My Name is Lucy Barton, written by Elizabeth Strout and adapted for the stage by Rona Munro, is a harrowing tale of Lucy’s fight for her life, both as a child and as an adult spending nine weeks in the hospital. Maev…
My second day at Next Stage Festival was just as thrilling and eventful as the first. I saw the other two shows being offered in the Chamber at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, which are This Feels Like The End and The Noose. Two remarkably different stories, both told in their own unique styles; this…
The Toronto Fringe Festival’s Next Stage Festival is back for its 17th year, and once again this year they have 6 exciting shows on offer. All 6 shows take place at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, with four of them in the main Chamber space, and the other two in the Cabaret space. On its…
Ronnie Burkett is pulling on our heartstrings, as well as his puppets’ strings, with his latest creation Wonderful Joe. Burkett brings his unique blend of comedy and compassion to this awe-inspiring production, taking us on a journey with Joe Pickle and his colourful cast of neighbours. As side-splitting as it is tear-jerking, Wonderful Joe lives…
Did you hear that? Was it just a twig snapping beneath your foot? Or has Samca found you in Hoia Baicu late at night? Based on the Romanian folktale, Spindle Collective and Riot King’s production of SAMCA tells the story of a pair of sisters who must learn to navigate the world with as much…
Once upon a time...those four words have taken each of us on countless adventures into the land of fairy tales and imagination. Toronto’s CORPUS company and Japan’s KIO company are here to take us on another journey, one which blends the two cultures in an examination of two animals frequently found in their respective fairy…
“A friend is one soul abiding in two bodies.” Diogenes’ musings about friendship are aptly discussed in Aaron Posner Chaim Potok’s play The Chosen, based off of Potok’s novel by the same name. Two young men become friends through very unlikely circumstances, and while their upbringings are very different, they connect in so many ways.…
The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996; I started first grade that September, with no clue at all that these schools existed. Like most young Canadians, I didn’t learn about the full extent of the atrocities perpetrated against Indigenous peoples until well into my adult life, and plays like Jani Lauzon and Kaitlin…
A View from the Box 