Authenticity is dangerous and expensive” is literally what’s wrong with the fashion, entertainment, and journalism world. People should critically speak their truth if they’re so inclined. What’s the point of everyone applauding each others mediocrity???
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Live and in person at the Coal Mine Theatre, Toronto. Produced by Coal Mine Theatre. Playing until March 3, 2024.
Composed by Ted Dykstra
Libretto by Steven Mayoff
Directed by Peter Hinton Davis
Musical director, Bob Foster
Choreographer, Kiera Sangster
Set and costumes by Scott Penner
Lighting by Bonnie Beecher
Sound by Tim Lindsay
Cast: Max Borowski
Saccha Dennis
Kaden Forsberg
Allan Louis
Allister MacDonald
Jacob MacInnis
SATE
Carly Street
Kelsey Verzotti
Band: Piano, Bob Foster
Guitar, Percussion, Haneul Yi
Bass, Kat McLevey
Seductive, provocative and disruptive, with a compelling performance by Jacob MacInnis as Dion.
The Story. The story is based on The Bacchae by Euripides. Dionysus is the God of wine, intoxication, sensual pleasure, you name it. In this case, the name is Dion (they/them), a non-binary, self-proclaimed Demi-God). The god Zeus was their father and the mortal Semele was their mother. She died in childbirth. Dion has come to lead the people (mainly women) of a city-state (Thebes) “somewhere in time,” into the hills to drink intoxicants, dance naked and enjoy a state of ecstasy. They have ulterior motives for all this.
Pentheus, the hot-headed, right-wing leader of this city-state, arrives back from being away to learn of this troubling situation. Pentheus’ mother Agave is one of the runaways, as is his uncle Cadmus. Agave has issues with her father Cadmus because he loved her dead sister Semele more than he loved Agave and that’s left her bitter and angry. Cadmus in the meantime is in deep mourning for his dead daughter.
Pentheus decides to find Dion in the hills and face them with the truth—that Semele was wanton and not a ‘bride’ of Zeus; that Dion is human and not at all God-like. Dion seeks and gets their revenge on Pentheus for such a slander.
The Production and Comment. Composer Ted Dykstra and librettist, Steven Mayoff have created a sung-through rock opera based on Dionysus, or Dion for short. And while it’s based on a Greek myth, DION is a theatrical creation for our modern times.
Scott Penner has created an evocative set. The audience sits on either side of a red strip playing area that runs the length of the space. At either end is a pedestal on which is either a statue of a naked man or a naked woman, draped with a swath of material, looking into a mirror. There are two chairs at either end facing the playing area. Two members of the chorus sit quietly in the chairs at either end, as the audience files in. Again, Scott Penner has designed costumes that are seductive—bare-midriffs, fishnet stockings, boots, pants with wild phrases on them: “EVOE,” “divinity,” “sex,” etc. They are also witty. I note crowns peppered in the material of one member of the chorus that is reminiscent of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s crowns in his artwork. The crowns seem like a witty choice to include for a follower of the equally iconoclastic, Dion.
Tiresias enters, played by the exquisite SATE, and sings “The Word Evoe.” It’s an archaic word that means “the exclamation of Bacchic frenzy.” Ted Dykstra’s music up-ends our expectations of a rousing rock opera opening. The music is intoxicatingly melodic and understated. Steven Mayoff’s lyrics are crisply, expressively sung by SATE as the blind Tiresias. Tiresias sings that Evoe can mean joy or pain and many other things. “The Word Is Evoe” is a perfect song for a world that has gone insane. One can imagine that Evoe is part of the word “devotion” at its most crazed intensity. The song gently brings the audience into the dark world of director Peter Hinton-Davis’s vision for the piece.
Dykstra’s music is melodic and throbbing like a heart-beat or like sexual panting. Steven Mayoff’s libretto is bristling with intelligence, wit and envisions the wild, almost out of control world the characters and we live in.
Dion (a mesmerizing Jacob MacInnis) is a supreme influencer of the hedonistic life, with ulterior motives of revenge. Through manipulation, seductive cajoling and a careful supplying of intoxicants, Jacob MacInnis as Dion ‘gently’ addles the brains of their followers to do their bidding. It’s more than fandom for rock stars. It’s more insidious than that. MacInnis is watchful—their deep-set eyes pierce into the abyss and into the troubled soul of any doubter. Each song is sung in a clear, pure voice. The movement is never rushed—the hold they have on their followers is tight. It’s a mesmerizing performance of an artist with compelling power.
On the other hand, Pentheus, as played by Allister MacDonald, is an explosion of constant rage. Pentheus has the makings of a perfect dictator as energetically portrayed by Allister MacDonald. He has nothing good to say about those who work for him. He is a master of technology and spews lies and invective through his texts and his bombastic speech. He is all threats and swagger. He is easy pray for Dion.
Agave (Carly Street) and Cadmus (Allan Louis) are the wounded souls at the other end of the spectrum. Agave pines to be loved by her father Cadmus. Carly Street plays Agave with a ground-down grace; in this world she is lost and angry at her father. Allan Louis first appears as Cadmus, fastidiously dressed in a tailored suit and gleamingly shined shoes. When they both meet as part of Dion’s followers their decorum has been shed and they are in the throws of the intoxicating revere. It’s then that they are able forget their rage and grief and forge a new respect, that is until Dion has one last trick to play.
Kiera Sangster has choreographed the piece with a lively sexuality involving the Chorus and the various participants. Bonnie Beecher’s lighting is vivid. At times cones of light encase both Dion at one end of the space and Pentheus at the other. For Dion it’s empowering. For Pentheus it seems confining. There is a lot of impressive work done by the Chorus who flip and twirl florescent rods of changing light.
The confining and hedonistic world of DION is beautifully rendered in Peter Hinton-Davis’ vision of this world. Sordid? Intoxicating? Mesmerizing? It’s all of them.
Coal Mine Theatre presents:
Plays until March 3, 2024.
Running time: 70 minutes (no intermission).
NOTE: Respectful comments are accepted on this site as long as they are accompanied by a verifiable name and a verifiable e-mail address. Posts that are slanderous, libelous or personally derogatory will not be approved.
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Live and in person at the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St. Toronto, Ont. Mirvish Productions presents the Crow’s Theatre Production. Plays until Feb. 25, 2024.
Tom Rooney as Uncle Vanya, photo: Dahlia Katz
Written by Anton Chekhov
Adapted by Liisa Repo-Martell
Directed by Chris Abraham
Set and props co-designer, Julie Fox and Josh Quinlan
Costumes by Ming Wong
Lighting by Kimberly Purtell
Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne
Cast: Carolyn Fe
dtaborah johnson
Ali Kazmi
Eric Peterson
Anand Rajaram
Tom Rooney
Shannon Taylor
bahia watson
The search for love, worth, respect and purpose occupy the characters in Chekhov’s play and Liisa Repo-Martell’s heart-squeezing adaptation. Beautiful and illuminating.
The Story. From the Mirvish website: “In the waning days of Czarist Russia, Ivan “Vanya” Voinitsky, and his niece, Sonya, toil ceaselessly to run their family estate. After retiring, Sonya’s father, a celebrated professor, returns to the estate with his young, glamorous wife. When he announces his plans to sell the land and evict them all, passions explode and lives come undone.”
Uncle Vanya is a look into the quietly desperate lives of people stuck in ennui and aching because of lost opportunities, unrequited love, profound unhappiness and crippling boredom. And in Chekhov’s typical way, it’s funny.
Vanya and his niece Sonya run the country estate for Alexandre, a noted scholar and professor, and send him the money the estate makes. Alexandre’s late first wife was Sonya’s mother and Vanya’s sister. When Alexandre’s wife died, he married Yelena, a woman much younger than he was. Because the times are not as prosperous for Alexandre, he’s come to the country estate with Yelena to continue his writing of essays, articles and other scholarly endeavors that occupy his time. In the process he and Yelena disrupt the whole household.
The Production. Note: This is a remount of the 2022 Crow’s Theatre Toronto production but with a restaging. When the production played in Toronto in 2022, the production was performed in the round, with the audience on all sides of the action and surprises in the various nooks and crannies of the space. There was a remount in 2024 at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, Ont. a proscenium theatre, we watch the action straight on. There are still lots of surprises. Now it has moved to the CAA Theatre in Toronto, also a proscenium theatre.
This is the third time I’ve seen this production in its various configurations. It goes from strength to strength. The performances are passionate, fierce, heart-squeezing and so full of the pain of disappointment, regret and humour of Chekhov and his lost, bored, loving characters, that it leaves you breathless.
We are told that there are 26 rooms in this house. It’s so big people get lost in it. Set and props co-designers, Julie Fox and Josh Quinlan, have reconfigured the main room of this manor house so one gets the sense of the size and suggested former grandeur of the estate. The rugs are threadbare and faded. The wood floor is uneven and there are gaps in the wood planks. A long table and benches on either side are upstage center. Presumably this is where the family eats and Vanya (Tom Rooney) and Sonya (bahia watson) work. The little furniture there is is old, musty and broken down, except for Marina the former nanny’s (Carolyn Fe) overstuffed, worn chair and foot rest facing downstage and a small desk stage right. Memorabilia, books and lots of stuff are placed under things or around the room etc. A chandelier hangs down from the flies. Beams are above and they are large and thick. There are double doors leading off to other parts of the house. There is a glass floor to ceiling window looking out to a garden and the glass is filthy with grime. One can imagine dust dancing in the shafts of Kimberley Purtell’s lighting. The lighting gives the sense of a faded photograph of by gone times.
Ming Wong’s costumes—well-worn for those who work the estate, and very stylish for Yelena (Shannon Taylor) and Alexandre (an irascible Eric Peterson) who is always in a suit to give off the impression of success. At times Thomas Ryder Payne provides a subtle hum, ‘buzz’ that underscores a speech. It’s one more aspect of something that closes in on these people as they try and endure.
Director Chris Abraham has beautifully, sensitively realized the subtle bubbling of emotions in the play—that bubbling emotion is more noticeable since I am sitting close to the stage. Chris Abraham’s direction illuminates the ache of yearning, of disappointment and lost love. There are furtive looks of Vanya for Yelena, he is so in love with her. There are lingering looks of Astrov (Ali Kazmi) at Yelena, and she giving him a second look, when she thinks he isn’t looking. Scenes are never rushed. They have time to breathe and be. They linger in the air compelling us to see, feel and be aware of each character’s beating heart. I especially sensed that more than ever with this iteration of the play.
With this proscenium staging one gets a stronger sense of the ennui, boredom and despair these people experience. Performances are fuller, richer, deeper and more nuanced. One is keenly aware that Vanya is always shuffling around aimlessly just to give the sense of being busy. What he is really experiencing is crushing boredom, waiting for Alexandre (Eric Peterson) to appear and the household to snap to attention. Tom Rooney plays Vanya as stooped, defeated by life and disappointment. He’s anxious, angry at Alexandre and in secret love with Yelena. When he rages at Alexandre it’s in a torrent of articulation and linguistic dexterity that is breathtaking. Vanya is ground down by life and the lack of its fullness. Brilliant work.
Characters such as Astrov (a haunted, serious Ali Kazmi) talks of how exhausted he is but can’t seem to sit down and rest (part of Chekhov’s quiet humour). I always wonder what would happen if Astrov sat down. Ali Kazmi as Astrov is compelling, passionate about ecology and the future, haunted by the recent death of a patient, and besotted by Yelena. There is a lot going on in his life and Kazmi, illuminates it with boldness and verve.
If ever there was a character who was pompous, bombastic and a source of hollow pontificating, Alexandre is it and he is played with wonderful arrogance, irritation and much hilarity by Eric Peterson. While Alexandre is revered by many, he’s easily defeated in an argument by Vanya who shows the hollow phony Alexandre is.
Yelena is the most perceptive character in the play. She knows the secret feelings of those in the house and it’s so clear in Shannon Taylor’s playing of her. Shannon Taylor’s Yelena is full of grace. Conversation stops when she enters a room because characters are compelled to look at her. Taylor is watchful at everybody in the room. She listens to what they say and intuits how they feel. She knows her effect on people but is not destructive with it. She beautifully conveys that her boredom is suffocating, but won’t leave or do anything to relieve the boredom.
bahia watson plays Sonya. Sonya is industrious, efficient, an organizer. She finds things to occupy her and she moves with a purpose and a bright optimism, although keeping her emotions secret, but only just. She is the diplomat, the calmer of frayed nerves, the one who takes charge when all else fails. I think because bahia watson’s Sonya seems fragile herself, but still in control, that Sonya can calm others.
As Marina the old nanny/maid, Carolyn Fe quietly and with care, sees that the family is fed, that the samovar is always on, offers motherly affection and drink to Astrov, is always folding blankets and even when she is sitting in her chair, she’s knitting, being useful. Marina is always smiling and reacting to what’s going on around her. She is industrious and uncomplaining while the others avoid doing anything and complain about it all the time. Chekhov is hilarious.
Telegin, nick-named “Waffles” because of his pock-marked skin, is played with expressive expansion by Anand Rajaram. Telegin is always forgotten, not taken seriously. He is desperate to be noticed so he hangs onto every word of Alexandre, eager to interject a thought or opinion. These interjections are broad, loud and in keeping with a forgotten man, who just wants to be noticed. Eric Peterson as Alexandre, tolerates Telegin, but usually ignores him.
Finally, there is Vanya’s mother, Maria, played by dtaborah johnson. She seems in a world of her own—flamboyantly dressed, ignorant of her son’s ennui, devoted to every thought of Alexandre, and fancies herself an intellectual.
Liisa Repo-Martell’s adaptation breathes a freshness into Chekhov’s timeless play, that enhances it without distorting it. For example, at the end, as Sonya is comforting Uncle Vanya, trying to buoy him and give him hope, the frequent translation is that after they dedicate their lives to work, they will find rest (in the afterlife?). In Liisa Repo-Martell’s version, Sonya says they will ‘have peace’ which I think is more profound. More comforting. Repo-Martell’s language is both of Chekhov’s time and timeless. There is an intellectual modernity to it.
Comment. Stunning production, wonderful theatre. Heart-breaking and hilarious. Pure Chekhov.
Mirvish Productions presents a Crow’s Theater Production:
Opened: Feb. 7, 2024
Runs until: Feb. 25, 2024.
Running Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (1 intermission)
www.mirvish.com
NOTE: Respectful comments are accepted on this site as long as they are accompanied by a verifiable name and a verifiable e-mail address. Posts that are slanderous, libelous or personally derogatory will not be approved.
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Live and in person at the Park Theatre, London, England. Adam Blanshay Productions and Park Theatre present the European premiere of Kim’s Convenience. Plays until Feb. 10, 2024.
Written by Ins Choi
Directed by Esther Jun
Set and costumes by Mona Camille
Lighting by Jonathan Chan
Sound and composer, Adrienne Quartly
Cast: Ins Choi
Namju Go
Jennifer Kim
Brian Law
Miles Mitchell
This production is the most moving of all of the productions of it I’ve seen over the 13 years. Perhaps it was because I was seeing it in London and was so happy for its success. Or perhaps it was because the performances just affected me in a deeper way. In any case it’s full of the beating heart of the play. The cast is fine with Ins Choi giving stellar performance as Appa (Mr. Kim).
Background. Kim’s Convenience is Ins Choi’s first play. It’s the little play that could. It started at the Toronto Fringe Festival to great acclaim. It was picked up by Soulpepper and given a real production. It became a tv series and ran for several years. Netflix picked it up. There have been productions across Canada. And now it’s in London, England.
The play is a bittersweet immigrant story; of trying to fit in to a new life but still honouring the traditions of one’s culture; of love and forgiveness.
The Story. Mr. Kim (‘Appa’ in the programme, means ‘Father’ in Korean) has owned and operated his convenience store for 30 years. He is thinking of passing it on to his daughter Janet to run. When she was a kid she helped often in the store, while also going to school to be a photographer. That is where her heart is—to be a photographer. She is now 30 years old, lives at home above the store and is indeed a photographer.
There is a son, Jung but he’s estranged from his father and they haven’t talked in a long time. Jung talks to his mother, (‘Umma’ in Korean), often going to church with her. He regrets the rift with his father and longs to come home.
The Production. The 200 seat Park Theatre, in London, England, is a very intimate space. The audience sits on three sides around the stage. This means that designer Mona Camille has to suggest what a Canadian convenience store looks like because having the aisles of shelves full of snacks, canned goods etc. wouldn’t work. The shelves would have blocked off various areas of the audience depending on where they were sitting.
There is a huge poster of an ice-cream drumstick on the wall. There are posters for LOTO 649. Various kinds of potato chips only sold in Canada are arranged on a shelf on the back wall: Pringles, Lays, Doritos etc. There are tubs of Korean noodle soups also on the back wall. I was told that the Canadian snacks had to be brought over to London for the show. A cash counter is in the center of the space with gums, mints and chocolate bars in the front of it. A cash register is in the center of the counter. There is an aisle stage left and right for entrances of characters. There is no door to the store but when a character enters, at a certain point in the aisle entrance, there is a sound effect indicating a customer has come through the door.
When Mr. Kim-Appa (I’ll refer to him this way since he’s referred to by both names depending on whom he is speaking to) opens the store at 7 am Ins Choi as Mr. Kim-Appa enters from the back where the family apartment is. Ins Choi as Mr. Kim–Appa is grey-haired has a thin beard, walks slowly—he wears sandals, socks, a work shirt and jeans. He sets out the lottery tickets and makes a cup of coffee using more sugar than a human should use for a cup of coffee. Director Esther Jun knows how to set up a visual joke beautifully and Ins Choi as Mr. Kim-Appa knows how to milk it. He opens a pack of sugar and holds it high over the cup and then adds more sugar from a dispenser, held even higher. This scene takes plenty of time to establish who Mr. Kim-Appa is.
I saw Ins Choi play Mr. Kim-Appa at the Grand Theatre in London, Ont. To see him play the part in London, England creates a whole different vibe for some reason. Maybe it’s being with a British audience who have no idea of what this play means to those who have seen it, or perhaps they are familiar with the Netflix series, in any case I was aware of how the audience was reacting. I was also aware that I was moved more often than I have ever been moved by this play before.
Ins Choi as Mr. Kim-Appa gives a beautifully paced, watchful performance. Mr. Kim-Appa seems angry and frustrated. He has a set idea of who will steal from his shop. He is particularly prickly, commanding relationship with his daughter Janet (Jennifer Kim). Janet does not want to be saddled with the store. She wants to be a photographer. Because Mr. Kim’s son Jung is estranged, that could also put a strain on Mr. Kim-Uppa’s relationship with Janet. As Janet, Jennifer Kim is as feisty as her father in various exchanges. She holds her ground, pushes back, lets him know she’s hurt and wants her own life. He wants her to know that he gave her everything she wanted. Most important, he asks “What is my story?” He says that she and her brother are his story, his legacy. And there are moments of heart-squeezing tenderness from Ins Choi.
Mr. Kim-Appa has watchful relationship with his customers. One gentleman, Mr. Lee (Miles Mitchell) who is described as a Black man with an Asian name wants to buy the store for re-development. Miles Mitchell plays all the Black characters in the play and he segues with ease from one to another. As Mr. Lee, the successful real estate agent, Miles Mitchell is suave, confident and prosperous looking in his tailored blue suit. As a Blackman from Jamaica, Miles Mitchell has the patois down and the fluid body language. As Alex, who was a school friend of Jung’s and is now a cop, he is disarming, charming, shy and respectful. Janet always had a crush on him. Alex never noticed her but does now that she’s grown up.
Namju Go as Umma plays the quiet peace-maker in the family. She is burdened with the rift between her husband and her son. She is aware of the prickliness between her daughter and husband. She has to keep the peace for all of them. Both parents speak to each other in Korean. There is no need for a translation—we get the gist when there is reference to “Janet” etc. It’s the quiet banter of long-married husband and wife.
As Jung, Brian Law has a sweetness mixed with the guilt of what he did to cause the rift. He is trying to make amends. In a scene with Umma, Brian Law and Namju Go sit on a ledge with their backs to part of the audience. Namju Go as Umma is still but attentive to her son, Jung. He is comfortable in her presence and that’s in his body language too. Again, director Esther Jun directs a moving scene with the characters’ backs, having faith that the audience will ‘get it.’
When Jung comes home Brian Law is anxious about how his father will accept him. Ins Choi as Mr. Kim-Appa is surprised, guarded but open. When Jung he makes suggestions to his father about the store there is such longing in Brian Law’s performance. He has to win his that back and he does. Suddenly new possibilities arise for Mr. Kim-Appa and the future. And he is forgiving without having to say it.
Comment: This is a very intimate space. The whole cast is focused on each other and not distracted by the ambient sound of a British audience. You can clearly hear all the pops of opening cans of pop, rustling in potato chip bags, clinking of glasses of wine—bottles of wine are allowed in the theatre–and the loud ringing of a phone that probably can be heard in the street. All except for the ringing phone, the ambient noise was kept to a minimum. Such is the power of this wonderful production of Kim’s Convenience.
The Park Theatre Presents:
Opened: Jan. 8, 2024
I saw it: Feb. 2, 2024.
Plays until Feb. 10, 2024.
Running Time: 80 minutes (no intermission)
NOTE: Respectful comments are accepted on this site as long as they are accompanied by a verifiable name and a verifiable e-mail address. Posts that are slanderous, libelous or personally derogatory will not be approved.
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Heads Up for the Week of Feb. 5-11, 2024
Feb. 5-11, 2024
Rockaby
Factory Theatre.
Written by Joanna Murray-Smith
Directed by Rob Kempson
Sidney can feel her career slipping down the drain. No one loves a pop star when she’s past forty. Unless she wants to join the ranks of the has-beens on the casino circuit, she needs to reinvent herself – and quick. But what if she regains her former glory and still feels that something is missing?
In its Canadian premiere, ROCKABYE offers a satirical and dark portrait of our self-involved, celebrity-obsessed culture.
Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst St in Toronto.
Feb. 5-23, 2024.
TRUTH
Young People’s Theatre.
By Kanika Ambrose
Based on the novel “The Gospel Truth” by Caroline Pignat
Directed by Sabryn Rock
RECOMMENDED FOR AGES 10+ | GRADES 5+
BUY NOW (Public)
It’s 1858 on a Virginian tobacco plantation. Deep in a forest, a young Black girl named Phoebe sits in the hollow of a tree, a notebook in her pocket and a harrowing choice ahead. Truth is adapted from the Governor General’s Award-winning novel “The Gospel Truth”, and tells the story of a courageous 16-year-old, the arrival of a stranger from the north, and a trail of secrets that could change everything. From the American South to St. Catharines, Ontario, Truth chronicles the fierce strength and resilience of a community as it struggles to find freedom.
Feb. 5-25, 2024
Uncle Vanya
Written by Anton Chekhov
Adapted by Liisa Repo-Martell
Directed by Chris Abraham
At the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St. Toronto.
ADVISORY
Gunfire and use of haze. Recommended for ages 12+.
In the waning days of Czarist Russia, Ivan “Vanya” Voinitsky, and his niece, Sonya, toil ceaselessly to run their family estate. After retiring, Sonya’s father, a celebrated professor, returns to the estate with his young, glamorous wife. When he announces his plans to sell the land and evict them all, passions explode and lives come undone.
A remounting of the 2022 production originally presented in the round at Crow’s Theatre, this time presented in the CAA proscenium theatre.
Feb. 6-18, 2024.
De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail
At The Young Centre for the Performing Arts
Adapted by Gregory Prest
Original music and lyrics by Mike Ross and Sarah Wilson
De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail is a musical fantasy based on the letter Oscar Wilde wrote while incarcerated for two years at Reading Gaol, to his love Lord Alfred Douglas. The letter was written a page a day over a period of three months, collected at the end of each day, and handed over to Wilde on his release from prison.
Feb. 6 -March 3, 2024
DION
At Coal Mine Theatre
By Ted Dykstra and Steven Mayoff
Dion: A Rock Opera is a fully sung rock opera based on Euripedes’ The Bacchae.
Pentheus, the conservative right-wing leader of a city-state “somewhere in time” on this earth, arrives home from a trip to learn that all the disenfranchised people in his kingdom have taken to the hills, following a non-binary and self-proclaimed Demi-God named Dion. The runaways from society, rumour has it, are drinking a strange brew, and are often seen running through the hills naked in states of ecstasy. The runaways include almost all of society’s women, including his own mother Agave and his uncle Cadmus.
Feb. 7- 25, 2024.
The Other Side of the Sea
At the Theatre Centre
| Two strangers meet on a lonely beach, not knowing that their futures depend on this encounter. A fisherman with no name and a civil servant at her office desk oscillate between loneliness, memory, and reality on a journey towards human connection and renewal. This powerful, minimalist drama celebrates courage, conviction, and life itself. |
| Book Your Tickets Now! |
Feb. 8-10, 2024
Deciphers
At Harbourfront Centre, as part of the Torque 2023-24 dance series.
Deciphers, performed and choreographed by independent dancemakers Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu, on stage February 8–10, 2024 at 7:30pm at Harbourfront Centre Theatre, as part of its 2023/24 international contemporary dance series, Torque. This contemporary duet is an intensely physical cultural exchange between dancers, investigating post-colonial histories, the migrant experience and the transcendent nature of human identity.
To purchase tickets and for more information about Deciphers and the complete Torque 2023/24 season, please visit HarbourfrontCentre.com
February 8th – 24th, 2024
At the Haunted Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen St. E.
By William Shakespeare
Conceived & performed by Eric Woolfe
Directed by Dylan Trowbridge
“MacBeth is a weird, and involuntary soothsayer. The Weird Sisters inevitably await him, knowing that he is, in part, their kin.” – Harold Bloom
Shakespeare’s blood-soaked king, weird witches, viscera-sopped murders, nightmares of madness, and terrifying occult prophecies crash head on with our ghoulishly giddy bag of timorous trickery! Performed by a solo actor using a diverse range of multi-sized puppets, masks, and parlour magic, cosmic horror, and lowbrow pop, this Mad Mackers is a production like no other! Coinciding with the 400th Anniversary of the play’s premiere, and bound to amaze, horrify and delight you.
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Live and in person at the Theatre Centre, Toronto, Ont. Produced by Shakespeare BASH’d. Plays until Feb. 4, 2024.
Written by William Shakespear and John Fletcher
Directed by James Wallis
Fight director, Jennifer Dzialoszynski
Choreographer, Breanne Tice
Sound by Matt Nish-Lapidus
Lighting by Sruthi Suresan
Cast: Daniel Briere
Joshua Browne
Tristan Claxton
Jennifer Dzialoszynski
Steven Hao
Madelaine Hodges
Melanie Leon
Michael Man
Kate Martin
Julia Nish-Lapidus
Breanne Tice
Le Truong
Emilio Vieira
Jeff Yung
Bold, brisk, energetic, beautifully spoken and rigorous in telling the story clearly, as one expects of Shakespeare BASH’d.
NOTE: So, is The Tempest the last play that Shakespeare wrote or is it The Two Noble Kinsmen by Shakespeare and John Fletcher? Or is The Two Noble Kinsmen the last play of Shakespeare’s that was produced? Questions, questions. For those of us who love our Shakespeare plays and productions, it doesn’t matter in the long run.
The Story. The story is about the power of love and how it can challenge a close friendship. We are in ancient Greece. Theseus and Hippolyta are the rulers of Athens. Three queens plead with them to avenge the deaths of their husbands by Creon, king of Thebes, who refuses to give the kings a proper burial. Theseus agrees to wage war with Creon as a result.
Palamon and Arcite are Thebans. They are also cousins and very close friends. They fight the good fight against the Greeks but are taken prisoner when the Greeks win. From their prison cell, Palamon sees Princess Emilia, Hippolyta’s sister, and falls in love with her. Then Arcite sees her and falls in love with her too. This causes a rift in the friendship and the two men become bitter rivals.
Through various means both are released separately, Arcite is banished and Palamon goes into hiding. But they somehow meet again and have a sword-fight over who will win Emilia. They are discovered again by Theseus who orders they be arrested and executed. Again, good fortune intervenes with Theseus planning a final test. Arcite, Palamon and Emilia pray to the gods for different things and it all ends as it should, which does not necessarily mean a complete happy ending.
The Production. The performance starts in the lobby with director James Wallis reciting background of the play from Chaucer. Wallis is confident, accommodating and brisk in his discourse. We are then invited to go into the theatre and settle.
The actors arrive in a swirl of elegant movement, forming patterns of relationships. The costumes for the characters are mostly black pants and tops, or rehearsal skirts for some women. There are few props. All the attention has been put into the exploration of the text regarding love, heterosexual between Palamon (Emilio Vieira), Arcite (Michael Man) and Emilia (Kate Martin), and the love of Palamon and Arcite for each other. Is it gay love? It’s a question Director James Wallis and his cast explore in this production.
The play and production also explore power, ruling and the moral dilemmas when tyrants (Creon) decide not to give proper burial to defeated kings. How does Theseus (Jeff Yung) deal with this?
If anything is truly clear in this vibrant production it’s that rigor rules. One gets the sense of the attention to the text and the language from this accomplished cast. There’s nary a slurred word here. It’s all enunciated, crisply. Clarity and comprehension are the result.
And then there are the deeper issues. The women look to the men to do right in a thorny situation. Creon will not give a proper burial to the three kings. The three queens come to Theseus and Hippolyta (Melanie Leon) for action. They are determined. One can sense the unease of Theseus by Jeff Yung’s thoughtful, measured performance. He is not rash, but when he makes the decision, it is with firmness and determination.
As for the two noble kinsmen, Palamon and Arcite are loyal soldiers to Creon even though they think him a tyrant. When they are captured and imprisoned, they imagine idyllic surroundings together, until they both see Emilia and fall in love with her. The two men become rivals.
As Palamon, Emilio Vieira gleams with an energetic macho vitality. He almost bristles with the urge to enter any contest, fight or surrender to love. Matching him, but in a different way, is Michael Man as Arcite. Arcite is more of an intellectual when solving problems other than physically, although he never shies away from a fight. They are equally matched but in different ways. The sword fight between them created by fight director Jennifer Dzialoszynski, is breath taking. When those swords meet, they clang with force. This is a fight to the death until it’s broken up by Theseus. At the end of the play one sees the intensity of true love and it’s heartbreaking.
The Two Noble Kinsmen is a play that is rarely done. Don’t miss your chance to see this terrific production.
Comment. Just before the production began in the theatre, Jennifer Dzialoszynski lets us know the rules of turning off cellphones etc. And there is a replacement for the evening. In this time of COVID or flu or plague or whatever, people get sick and stalwarts step in the help out. One expects that an actor is off and this announces the replacement. Nope. It’s the stage manager who is not there for some reason. So James Wallis, the director of this production, the co-artistic director of Shakespeare BASH’d will be ‘calling’ the show. That means he calls the cues, makes lights do magic, primes the actors to get ready for their entrances etc. and generally keeps the production going smoothly. And he was brilliant at that too.
From the programme: “Shakespeare BASH’d is an actor-driven initiative that seeks to make classical theatre welcoming, inviting and social.
Shakespeare BASH’d seeks to synthesize the classical with the modern, to look at the plays from a place of curiosity, joy, investigation, truth, and love.”I so love this company and the rigor and passion for Shakespeare they instill in every single production.
Shakespeare BASH’d presents:
Runs until Feb 4, 2024.
Running time: 3 hours (1 intermission)
www.theatrecentre.org
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Live and in person at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto, Ont. Produced by Theatre Rusticle. Playing until Jan. 28, 2024
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Allyson McMackon
Costumes designed by Lindsay Anne Black (hats), Monica Viani (milliner), Brandon Kleiman, (costumes)
Lighting by Michelle Ramsay
Music composed by Jill Goranson and Kelsi James
Cast: Brefny Caribou
Jill Goranson
Beck Lloyd
Trinity Lloyd
Annie Tuma
A fascinating, wild-ride of a show, as one expects from Theatre Rusticle.
The Story. The programme offers a succinct outline of the story, which I will pare down even further. The Tempest is Shakespeare’s last play. It takes place on an island inhabited by Prospero (the Duke of Milan) and his daughter Miranda who landed there when Prospero was banished by his jealous brother Antonio. Also on the island are two servants, native to the island, Ariel and Caliban.
Prospero has magic powers and conjured a tempest that wrecked a ship carrying: Alonso, the King of Naples and his brother Sebastian, Prospero’s brother Antonio, a councillor named Gonzalo, Ferdinand, the King’s son and Adrian, Francisco, Stephano and Trinculo.
“The actors will tell you what happens to everyone.” (as per the programme).
There is also a paragraph that says: “The Tempest is also a play that happens here, now, in Buddies on this night, told by five actors traversing all these parts.”
In a sense this paragraph and the one that follows that quote is the exploration the actors and director took in exploring the play. That exploration is for the sacred space known as the ‘rehearsal hall,’ where only actors and creators should be. The audience gets the benefit of the results.
The Production and comment. The stage is bare except for a pattered circle of illumination (bravo Michelle Ramsay for the effective, evocative lighting) in the center of which are coloured objects. The five actors enter and pick up one of the objects—they are ruffs that they will wear around their necks when they change characters.
The five actors come to the front of the stage. They all wear a long dress fitted on top, that flares out for easy movement, sinched at the waist by a wide leather binding. They each introduce themselves and list the many characters they will play. They will all have a chance at playing Prospero, Miranda and Ariel. For example, Brefny Caribou is a commanding and at times, impish Prospero; Annie Tuma is a vivid, energetic Miranda; Beck Lloyd is a more serious Prospero.
When an actor is not on stage, they sit in chairs at the side of the playing space. Other props are at the sides and back as well for easy access.
Director Allyson McMackon has envisioned a spare but lively production, full of movement, provocative costumes, head gear and simple additions to establish characters: (bravo Lindsay Anne Black for the hats, Monica Viani for the millinery and Brandon Kleiman for the costumes).
Prospero always wears a flowing cape; Ariel wears a blue ‘fascinator’ with a ship affixed to the top of it; Caliban has a chain linked around the waist—that’s inspired since Caliban is treated as a captive slave. But sometimes a character also had a chain around the waist (Ferdinand), and that clouds the clarity of what character we are looking at. The other courtiers wear ruffs around their necks; the King of Naples wears a crown. Characters are always changing head-gear or other signifiers for a character. And often an actor will put the Prospero cape on another actor who is playing him. Another actor will put the chain around the waist of the actor playing Caliban. This communal activity adds cohesion to the production.
At times four actors stand upstage wearing the blue head-gear for Ariel and give the lines at the same time. It works if all four actors are in unison, but it gets fuzzy if they are not and that happens more often than not.
Shakespeare of course is open to all sorts of interpretations and ways of performing his plays. That’s one of the many reasons they have been done regularly for more than 400 years. The language is particular (and subject to change) and the poetry-meter of it is specific. Some actors have a facility with the language/meter others less so. All the actors in this production of The Tempest have the opportunity to try and flex their acting muscles on this challenging playwright.
I’m glad of the chance to see Allyson McMackon’s latest production and ponder all sorts of questions about language, poetry, meter, interpretation and a whole lot of other stuff that will pop up when I least expect it.
Theatre Rusticle presents:
Opened: Jan. 19, 2024
I saw it: Jan. 24, 2024.
Closes: Jan. 28.
Running time: 2 hours. 45 minutes (1 intermission)
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Live and in person at the Grand Theatre, London, Ont. Playing until Feb. 3, 2024. Produced by Catalyst Theatre.
Written, composed and directed by Jonathan Christenson
Set, lighting, costumes and projection designed by Bretta Gerecke
Choreography by Courtney Arsenault
Sound and additional music by Matthew Skopyk
Music direction (vocals) by Ruth Alexander
Cast: Kristie Hansen
Kaylee Harwood
Melissa MacPherson
Sarah Nairne
Amanda Trapp
Justine Westby
Tahirih Vejdani
A chilling war story of how resourceful and fearless women could be. While the performances are vivid, the production is ponderously directed and choreographed. The music is melodic but the lyrics are simplistic. And on the whole the piece needs ruthless editing.
The Story. This is a fascinating story of heroism, bravery, tenacity and grit. It’s 1941 in London, England and the war effort needs help in Europe. Because men were off fighting in the war. women had been recruited to do the men’s job at home—tending farms, working in factories making munitions, taking the place of the fighting men—they were not used directly as spies, as men were. The men in charge of British forces didn’t think women were up to the job. This changed when Evelyn Ash, who did work in administration for the British war effort, convinced her superior to let her create and train a group of women to be spies. Their job would involve going to France, working undercover to blow-up strategic places to stop the invading German army.
All the women spoke French; took jobs in France to be innocuous, invisible. They operated outside regular British channels and were called “Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” They completed several important missions. Then they were recruited to be involved with a complex, very dangerous mission and this is where they truly shone.
The Production and comment. Bretta Gerecke’s set is impressive in its spareness. A huge wall is at the back with many wood chairs affixed to the top of the wall. There are several wood chairs on the stage, some along the stage left and right wall, facing each other. There are a few chairs upstage. These are the only props. Gerecke’s stark lighting and projections establish location and mood.
The production starts in Romania a long time ago. A young woman is engaged to a dashing man who is visiting her at her home. She is there with her sisters. One day she goes to visit him at his huge manor house. He’s not there. The door is unlocked. She goes in to the gloomy house and sees a closed door up a hallway. She opens the door and goes into the room and see it’s filled with skeletons. I can’t remember if they were chained to the wall or not, but obviously something nasty happened there. The woman goes home. She plans a ruse to see if her fiancé will tell her what happened.
When the fiancé comes over to her house again, she tells him of a dream she had, and relates visiting the house and the skeletons etc. The fiancé is alerted in the telling that his fiancée has discovered something he didn’t want her to discover. I won’t reveal how this is resolved but the scene ends with the women singing “Be Bold”, a song of resilience and tenacity.
After a blackout we are now in London, England 1941. Evelyn Ash (Melissa MacPherson) crisp English accent, in military pants and shirt, tells us the details of how she formed her crack spy group of six brave women to become “The Invisible, Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” (I then spend the rest of this two hour and forty minute show trying to figure out what the first Romanian scene from long ago, has to do with the British war effort in 1941?)
We are told in quick succession of each of the women who are of various ethnicities and strengths. For example, Jacquline (Jack) Kovacs (an understated but impressive Kaylee Harwood) is a crack shot with any kind of firearm; Dorothy (Dot) Kristi Hansen is a meticulous planner; Anna Sidiqui (a wonderful Tahirih Vejdani) is an expert in code although a worry if she is interrogated. In the training trials Anna always succumbed to interrogation. So foreshadowing is established rather obviously.
The cast to a person is very strong, with Melissa MacPherson as Evelyn Ash a strong, determined leader. She had to stand her ground in a man’s world and yet play the game of diplomacy to get what she wanted for her group. As Madeline (Maddy) Barré—a chanteuse from Senegal, Sarah Nairne brought out all of Maddy’s charm, insouciance, flirtatious boldness and fearlessness.
The cast of seven actresses play all the parts, including those of the few men. Kristi Hansen, for example, plays Dot Ward and the head of the department, a stuffy, imperious man. All seven women are strong singers and perform with passion and conviction.
The story is terrific. It’s full of potential intrigue, tension, drama and possible grip-the-arm-rest-scenes. So, I’m heartsick that the production did not live up to its potential and make The Invisible, Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare a great piece of theatre. In spite of the strong cast, the production is ponderous. The direction by Jonathan Christenson is pedestrian and seems like so much traffic control. The pace of the dialogue is labored in an unnecessary effort to put weight on every important issue. The audience is smart. They can get it without everything being underscored.
Courtney Arsenault’s choreography looks like a deliberate attempt to recreate semaphore movements in formation on stage. Scene after scene has the cast jerk out their arms, raise them, flip them to the sides and bend their knees in the same kind of jerky movement. It’s deliberate, I just don’t know why.
Jonathan Christenson is a quadruple threat creator. He has written the book, the music, the lyrics and he directs this. The music is melodic and tuneful. But who tells him that he has overdone it with one of the other three areas? Who tells him that the book needs ruthless editing to tighten flabby areas, starting with the first scene in Romania because it’s extraneous. Evelyn tells us in the last scene the meaning of the Romanian folk tale. Again, meaning laid on by a trowel. The entire show after that first scene, proves the thesis of the folk tale. Trust your audience to get it without spoon feeding. Who tells him that his direction is less about establishing relationships and depth of story and more about moving people around, often for no reason, and the pace is glacial, certainly in scenes that should go like the wind? Who tells him that the lyrics are simplistic (“We are Victorious, We are Glorious, We are Warriors”)?
Besides being frustrated by The Invisible, Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare, I was just disappointed that it did not live up to such huge potential, strong cast notwithstanding.
Catalyst Theatre Presents:
Running until Feb. 3, 2024.
Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.
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Heads Up for the week of Jan. 22-28 2024
January 22-28, 2023.
The Tempest
by William Shakespeare
At Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Theatre Rusticle is presenting The Tempest a subversive, joyful, physically robust framing of Shakespeare’s final play about the exiled magician who embarks on a complex journey of forgiveness through art. The company mixes movement, dance and subversion to tell their story. It’s about power, love and how we make theatre.
The work of Theatre Rusticle is always fascinating.
There are only 10 performances so book tickets (416) 975-8555
Jan. 24-Feb. 4, 2024.
Two Noble Kinsmen
By William Shakepeare.
The Theatre Centre.
This rarely performed play is a collaboration between Shakespeare and John Fletcher. Michael Man and Emilio Vieira play the titular kinsmen. It’s a play of war, animosity, two friends who turn to enemies when they fall in love with the same woman.
It’s directed by James Wallis.
January 19-Feb. 3, 2024.
Better Living
By George F. Walker
At Alumnae Theatre.
| Better Living is a black comedy that revolves around a family of women and the father who deserted them after trying to burn down their house. Seeing any play by George F. Walker in Toronto is rare, except for a production of Orphans for the Czar that played at Crow’s Theatre in 2022. Here is your chance to see why George F. Walker is one of this country’s finest playwrights. www.alumnaetheatre.com |
The Laundry List
Al Green Theatre
The Laundry List tells the story of sisters Ruby and Zelda Benoit, who embark on a wild adventure to save their family’s bootlegging business. The sisters go incognito and infiltrate the world of Frankie’s Suds and Bubbles—a speakeasy cleverly disguised as a laundry. Shimmying their way into the chorus, they two-step their way through a madcap mix of jazz singers, rum runners, and a whole lot of dirty laundry.
DATES & TIMES:Saturday, January 27th, 2024 @7:30PM
Sunday, January 28th, 2024 @3:00PM
Sunday, January 28th, 2024 @7:30PM
LOCATION: AL GREEN THEATRE
750 Spadina Ave, Toronto
*Al Green is an accessible theatre, located inside the
Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.
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Live and in person at the Marilyn & Charles Baillie Theatre, a Back to Back Theatre Production presented by Canadian Stage. Playing until Jan. 28, 2024.
Written by: Michael Chan
Mark Deans
Bruce Gladwin
Simon Laherty
Sarah Mainwaring
Scott Price
Sonia Teuben
Directed by Bruce Gladwin
Composition by: Luke Howard Trio
(Daniel Farrugia, Luke Howard, Jonathan Zion)
Sound designer, Lachlan Carrick
Lighting designer, Andrew Livingston, bluebottle
Screen designer, Rhian Hinkley, lowercase
Costume designer, Shio Otani
AI Voice Over Artist, Belinda McClory
Cast: Simon Laherty
Sarah Mainwaring
Scott Price.
Provocative, challenging and brilliant.
From the production material: “Weaving a narrative through human rights, sexual politics, and the rise of artificial intelligence, THE SHADOW WHOSE PREY THE HUNTER BECOMES is a sly theatrical revelation reminding us that none of us are self-sufficient and all of us are responsible for the future. At the center of this exploration lies a fundamental question: If artificial intelligence took over the world, would human beings all end up living with an intellectual disability?
Written and performed by neuro-divergent actors interrogating the parameters of traditional theater and their own perceived disabilities, the three performers from Back to Back Theatre challenge contemporary presumptions about artificial intelligence and the human mind.”
This explanation from the production material provides a hint of the provocative work. It also brings me face to face with my assumptions and presumptions.
Scott Price is explaining to Sarah Mainwaring about touching. No one has the right to touch another human being without permission. He is telling her this not just as information but also for her protection. (interestingly, he does gently touch Sarah’s shoulder later in the show, without asking permission or without it being noted at all.) Scott notes private parts that are out of bounds. He speaks quickly. Sarah speaks very slowly. Surtitles of what they are saying are projected above the stage, although, with careful listening the audience will get it.
Scott is explaining this as they appear from the wings. His walk is an easy gate. Sarah Mainwaring walks with her arms flailing, her body slightly bent and her legs move in an exaggerated manner. I worry that she will become unbalanced and fall. I think a cane might help. This is my first erroneous assumption. Sarah Mainwaring gets to where she needs to go quickly, upright and without balancing aides. In other words, how she does it is none of my presumptive business.
There is a dolly of five stacked chairs which Scott unloads. He carefully places the chairs side by side across the stage. Joining them is Simon Laherty who enters quickly from the wings. The chairs are for a meeting. Scott, Sarah and Simon are the only ones attending. Scott begins the land acknowledgement for the meeting (not the show—that was done earlier by Jordan Laffrenier, the Associate Artistic Director). Scott carefully notes on whose land they are on. He tries to say “Wadawurrung” (are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne), … but stumbles on the pronunciation. Scott corrects him. Simon tries again and stumbles again. Scott wonders if Simon even knows who the Wadawurrung are. And so in a compact, simple scene this Back to Back Theatre Company subtly skewers the whole notion of land acknowledgements—it has more to do with being politically correct and less to do with respecting the actual people on whose land they are residing. Another preconception dashed, nicely.
In the space of one hour Simon Laherty, Sarah Mainwaring and Scott Price had us re-examining our ideas of intelligence, neurodiversity, ability, failure, acceptance, consideration, care, being different, success, self-worth, societal responsibility and respect. The cast does it with wit, subtlety, impish humour, deep thinking, philosophical musings and by challenging everything we ever thought of being abled or ‘disabled.’
The show poses the fascinating question: If artificial intelligence took over the world, would human beings all end up living with an intellectual disability? Artificial intelligence has taken over the world—one of the names is Siri—and the answer is obvious.
THE SHADOW WHOSE PREY THE HUNTER BECOMES is a brilliant piece of theatre that will make you rethink everything. I have no idea what the title means and I won’t ask Siri.
A Back to Back Theatre Production presented by Canadian Stage:
Plays until Jan. 28, 2024.
Running time: 60 minutes (no intermission)
www.canadianstage.com
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