Live and in person at Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton, Ont. A co-production with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Playing until March 8, 2025.

www.theatreaquarius.org

Written by Nick Green

Directed by Andrew Kushnir

Set and costumes designed by Joshua Quinlan

Sound design and composition by Ashley Au

Lighting design by Logan Raju Cracknell

Cast: Sharon Bajer

Noah Beemer

Alicia Johnston

Gloria Mampuya

Gregory Prest

Catherine Wreford

A deeply moving, cathartic play about living and hoping with AIDS. As the patients in a hospice wait impatiently for a visit from Princess Diana, in seven days.

The Story.  The play takes place in Casey House, a specialty hospice in Toronto caring for people with Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV AIDS). This was before the cocktail of drugs was discovered that could control AIDS and prologue the life of those infected with AIDS. At that point there was nothing to be done but make the patient feel comfortable until they inevitably died.

One such patient is Thomas. He has been at Casey House for five months and he is nearing the end. But the patients have been told of an upcoming event that changes their lives—a royal visit from Princess Diana. Thomas is buoyed by the prospect of the visit. He is ready to meet her.  

The Production. We are told at the end of the production there is a comfort room/quiet room should a person need it.

Joshua Quinlan has designed a comfortable looking room with two beds. There is a vibrant coloured bed covering (quilt?) on each bed. There is a window up center that can be opened or closed behind one of the beds. This is Thomas’s (Gregory Prest) bed.

The other bed is by the stage right wall, perpendicular to it. There are two chairs in the room.

At the top of the production, Thomas (Gregory Prest) is lying in bed. There is a lesion on the side of his head. A woman in a pink suit (skirt and jacket) stands downstage, her back to us, looking up stage at Thomas. The tilt of the head conveys unmistakably that it’s Princess Diana (Catherine Wreford).  She is formally introduced to Thomas by a nurse, Vera (Gloria Mampuya).

As Thomas, Gregory Prest sits up in his bed, delighted to see this icon he has revered since she came on the scene to marry into the royal family. He puts out his hand but it’s not clear if he means to shake her hand, from the position of it, or if he wants to touch her.  He realizes this might be too forward. He says with a hint of hope, “I heard you touch people.” The point is of course that people hesitated to touch a person with HIV AIDS. Diana goes towards him without hesitation and shakes his hand firmly and holds it. She bends down at the knees, beside his bed.  It’s a moment of stunning kindness and humanity. She then sits on the bed, beside him, not facing him—the audience won’t see her face, otherwise.

Thomas breathlessly tells her about her wedding day, in great detail. It’s a speech filled with the joy of the event and the recall of the details of the dress, the crowds, her poise. It’s a speech that goes on and on, to the point that I wonder if she will get a word in edgewise. But of course, patience is needed for playwright Nick Green to lay out the play; to recollect memories; to wonder if this is real or imagined. While Gregory Prest conveys Thomas’ joy at meeting Diana, the prevailing sense of this performance is anger and intensity that this is happening. The proximity of Thomas’ sister Pauline is reason enough, but add to that, that he is sick and not getting better.

For the recollection, Catherine Wreford as Diana, calmly listens to Thomas’ memory. She says little but when she does, it’s with a gentle English accent, total concentration of what he is saying and tremendous care.

The play moves back and forth during that time when the news that Diana is set to visit Casey House. I love the subtle use of language here. Someone says that Diana will be there in a week and will visit the rooms of each patient. Vera corrects the person and says she will be there in seven days. The distinction is subtle but profound.  The number of days gives the patients something to hold on to; to tick off on a calendar as the days go by; to note they lived one more day until they could meet her. The impending visit had a great effect on the patients of Casey House. They rallied; took care to shave and be clean; to move; to hope. Stunning.

Sharing Thomas’ room is Andre (Noah Beemer) an angry, unsettled young man who has just arrived and is fearful his mother will find out. Noah Beemer gives a nuanced, multi-layered performance as Andre.   Vera is a matter-of-fact nurse and is beautifully played by Gloria Mampuya. She is all business but is compassionate. She has been at this job for a long time and knows how fragile emotionally the patients are. We know about a character by what they say, what they do, and by what people say about them. We see how controlled and caring Vera is. Later Thomas says that Vera is the best nurse there. We have to see that in Gloria Mampuya’s performance, and we do.

Contrasting her is Marjorie (Sharon Bajer) a cheerful volunteer who blurs the lines between being helpful and breaking the rules to be compassionate. One gets the sense that Marjorie is also needy to be wanted. Rounding out the cast is Alicia Johnston as Pauline, Thomas’ estranged sister. She said hateful things to him as a gay man. For much of the play she won’t touch him. She asks the questions one might ask today: why is her brother still in Casey House five months after moving in? Why can’t he come and live with her and have her take care of him? (a horrible thought). What Pauline doesn’t understand is that at the time there was no cocktail of drugs to prolong an HIV patient’s life. If one went into Casey House they generally were not coming out. As Pauline, Alicia Johnston frustrated and angry in her own right. She is being shunned by her brother and doesn’t quite get it. Alicia Johnston creates a sense that Pauline is wounded in her own right. She is blinkered, often homophobic and clueless about what her brother is going through.

In a moving scene the personas of the compassionate Princess Diana and Pauline who finds her own compassion, meld and comfort Thomas, holding his hand.  

Director Andrew Kushnir has used the space of this small stage beautifully. He has ensured that every person in that audience sees every moment without obstruction. There are chairs located in the room, but they are rarely used, because the visitors sit on the bed or stand close to it, indicating that the visitors care deeply for these patients.

Comment.  When I first saw another production of Casey and Diana at the Stratford festival two years ago, I wondered why the play was written 33 years after this event. I recall the sound of sobbing during that production. The play gives those who were touched by that event (and we all were to some extent), closure. Thirty-three years after this event playwright Nick Green has written a play that celebrates the patients who just wanted a little dignity as they came to the end of their lives; the nurses who tended them as best they could and the volunteers who brought their own reasons for being there to help. It’s cathartic for people who lost loved ones.

I heard sniffling on the opening night at Theatre Aquarius as well. Be prepared and bring Kleenex.

Theatre Aquarius in a co-production with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre present:

Plays until March 8, 2025

Running time: 2 hours, approx. (1 intermission)

www.theatreaquarius.org

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Live and in person at the Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst St., Toronto, Ont. A Nightwood Theatre Production in association with The Howland Company.  Playing until March 8, 2025.

www.factorytheate.ca

Written and performed by Rachel Cairns

Directed by Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster

Production, Lighting and Projection Design by Julia Howman

Sound and composition by Cossette “Ettie” Pin

A deeply personal one-person show,  with a minutely rigorous exploration of the many issues surrounding the choice of actor Rachel Cairns to have an abortion, when she finds she’s pregnant, and is not emotionally or financially ready to be a parent.  

NOTE: I first saw this production at the Tarragon Theatre Extra-Space in 2023 when The Howland Company produced it. At the time when I reviewed it, I was struck by all the prodigious research writer-performer, Rachel Cairns did for the show. She had a sense of humour and what I thought was a disarming quality to draw the audience in. I thought positively about the production and considered the deep-thinking Rachel Cairns invested in the show.

Now, in 2025, the show is being remounted with Nightwood Theatre Company in association with The Howland Company. And in the second viewing, my observations and assessment of the show are not as accommodating. What changed? Well, the world for one. And so did I.

The Story. In 2019, just before Christmas, actor Rachel Cairns learned she was pregnant. She was careful but the IUD device she wore slipped and that compromised her protection. She wanted a baby eventually but not now. Her reasons were many: not the right time; she didn’t make enough money as an actor to bring a child into the world; what kind of a world would that be; what about the issues of climate change, etc. Her boyfriend of five years did not voice a strong opinion. It was her choice. Cairns was in Toronto when she got the news. She was going to Vancouver to see her mother over Christmas and needed to arrange the abortion to be done immediately in Vancouver.

The Production. The set (no credit-no programme to check) is a raised platform with a screen hanging down at the back, onto which will be projections (no credit there either) of facts, figures, graphs etc.  What follows is Cairns doing copious Google searches about the various questions about giving birth, abortions, etc. that bothered her. At times the bombardment of facts, figures, graphs and computer screen information projected on the screen, felt like information overload. The statistics of the number of women who have abortions; how some women can’t afford to raise a child; how some ethnicities do not have the choice.  Is that the point of Cairns and Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster, her director, to put the audience right in the middle of Cairns’ fact-laden experience? Rather than forcing the audience to deal with all this information, perhaps a re-think on why they need to know all this information at all? It was important to Cairns, but being bombarded with all this information, alienates an audience.

In Vancouver, Cairns went to the doctor’s office with her mother as support. Cairns wondered why the room had to be so small and claustrophobic. She wondered why the pills she was given that would start the abortion process were so expensive. She wondered why she had to answer so many questions. She was upset that not once did her boyfriend call to see how she was or how the process was going.

I note in this second viewing how judgmental Cairns was about so many things and how so many things were questioned. Cairns was given some pills that would begin the abortion process. Cairns’ mother said that in fact she, Cairns, would go into labour because of the pills. We learn later in the show why her mother would know such details. True to the information Cairns doubles over in pain at the cramps (her word). Cramps are one thing—labour pains are something else. I wonder why Cairns doesn’t use the more accurate descriptor?

While Cairns began her solo show by focusing on the personal, she then broadened the scope of her observations by noting how lucky she was to have health-care and the means to make the decision while others: Indigenous women, disadvantaged women; women from other countries not as prosperous as Canada, do not have that advantage.

That said, Cairns notes an evening she and her boyfriend had when they went out with a Pakistani couple who were friends of her boyfriend. Cairns didn’t seem to check her privilege at the door. The couple had children. Cairns, taking on the voice of the Pakistani wife, calmly yet pointedly explained how culture and societal dictates present an entirely different situation for women. They don’t have a choice about having children; are under the thumb of their husbands, or might be abused. The speech was chilling because Cairns wasn’t aware of this inequity in this case.

Cairns explored the question of when life begins by having a kind of imagined debate with an on-line guru on abortion. It was extended, thought-provoking and even had the guru question Cairns about why she gave this person so much credence. The opening-night audience was roaring with laughter. I was aware of how stony-faced I was this time.

Again, what’s changed from the first viewing to this one? We have a huge neighbour to the south of us in which it’s illegal for any woman, it seems, to have an abortion. If a doctor in the States gives a woman an abortion, the doctor can go to jail if found out.

I saw a play in London, Eng. in August called The Years by Annie Ernaux. She is one of Frances’s most celebrated writers and won the Nobel Prize in 2022. The Years is a chronicle of a woman’s life (Ernaux) through the years, as played by five actresses of different ages; from her sexual awakening as a teenager, to marrying, having children, divorce etc. In one of those years she has an abortion. She is given pills and three days later she is crippled with labour pains. She is writhing and there is blood. The actress playing the one with the abortion stands up at the end of the scene, covered in blood, and the other actresses wash dry her off, almost like a ceremony. The scene is stunning. People faint.

I’m not comparing The Years and Hypothetical Baby, but The Years and any other play I’ve seen is at the back of my memory, hauled up for consideration. That’s the nature of experience and memory. This second viewing of Hypothetical Baby,  more than a year after I saw it the first time, left me underwhelmed. I can appreciate that Rachel Cairns and her director Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster chose to have Cairns race through the facts, figures and personal musings. I just don’t know why you would do that, unless to overwhelm the audience. This leaves few chances to let the play, the performer and the audience to breathe.

And Hypothetical Baby also made me think of Universal Child Care also produced a year or so ago by Nightwood Theatre Company, a show of facts, figures and statistics on child care around the globe. While both shows have a personal aspect to them, both shows seem more like lectures, perhaps even hectoring lectures, than theatrical endeavors.

Rachel Cairns is an accomplished Indie actress. Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster is also a gifted director who have done good work before. Rachel Cairns’s abortion has obviously been a huge point in her life. She has been working on Hypothetical Baby for five years….she keeps on adding statistics etc. it seems. What she doesn’t seem to have worked on is a viable ending to her show. Time to find that ending and move on.

Comment: There was no program. We could take a picture of the QR Code and that would get us to a digital program. I don’t bring my cell phone because we have to turn it off, so why bring it. I would like the company (who ever is producing) to provide a program. It can be one sheet of paper with the pertinent information. It can be a link somewhere on the website to the digital program (nothing was available like that). I was told by the theatre “we’re saving the planet.” HUH? Not providing a program saves the planet? Have you seen the state of the world lately? Providing a program will not doom us. It will inform your audience. Get a donor to underwrite the cost of the program. Thank you.

A Nightwood Theatre production in association with The Howland Company

Playing until March 8, 2025

Running Time: 90 minutes (no intermission)

www.factorytheate.ca

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Live and in person at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Playing until March 8, 2025.

www.royalmtc.ca

Written by Paula Vogel

Directed by Kelly Thornton

Choreographer, Rachel Cooper

Set by Scott Penner

Costumes by Joseph Abetria

Lighting by Hugh Conacher

Sound by Justyn Stadnyk

Score and original music by Lisa Gutkin and Aaron Halva

Cast: Josh Bellan

Mariam Bernstein

Andrew Cecan

Amy Lee

Katherine Matlashewski

Dov Mickelson

Alex Poch-Goldin

Musicians: Shiloh Hiebert

Myron Schultz

Orit Shimoni

A beautiful, sensitive production of a bold play about art, resilience and passionate love.

The Story.  Indecent by Paula Vogel was first produced in 2015, opened Off-Broadway in 2016 followed by a Broadway run in 2017. It’s a play within a play.

Indecent is about Polish-Jewish writer, Sholem Asch’s 1906 play, God of Vengeance.  Sholem Asch wrote the play in Yiddish when he was 21. Paula Vogel focuses on the trials and tribulations God of Vengeance had from its first reading to productions in Europe, finally a production in New York, first Off-Broadway and then on Broadway, and the scandal from a charge of obscenity brought against the cast and the producer.

Asch wanted to write a play about Jews that did not put them on a pedestal or make them all seem like heroes. He wanted to depict them as flawed but also human. 

The story of God of Vengeance was challenging to the attitudes of the times.  A pious Jewish man lives with his wife and daughter, but he runs a brothel in the basement. He needs money to buy a Torah and he gets the money from the brothel.

He forbids his daughter Rivkele from having anything to do with the brothel or the women who work there. But Rivkele is fascinated with what goes on there and in particular a prostitute named Manke. Over time Rivkele and Manke fall in love and have a passionate relationship.

As for the play within a play–playwright Paula Vogel imagines Sholem Asch’s first reading of the play at a local literary Jewish salon and the reaction is almost all negative. The participants are appalled by the lesbian story-line; or think this perpetuates antisemitic stereotypes. Asch is told to burn his manuscript by the irate participants. Only Lemml a tailor, likes the play. He says the play changed his life. Lemml then becomes the stage manager, he is so connected to the play.

What follows is that Asch does not burn his manuscript. The play (in Yiddish) is produced all over Europe to great acclaim with Lemml being the stage manager. And then they take the play, in Yiddish, to New York, first Off-Broadway, then in an English translation to Broadway where the problems began.

The Production. Kelly Thornton has directed the production with sensitivity, care and detail.  The production of Indecent is simply designed by Scott Penner, with a few chairs and some tables across the stage.

The cast of 10–seven actors and three musicians—stand across the stage dressed in heavy coats, dig their hands in their pockets and then on cue, take the hands out of the pockets and drop sand/ash onto the floor. The cast sway slightly in unison as the sand/ash drops from their hands. It is such a subtle, elegant bit of business.   

The sand/ash could be representative of so many things for the audience, but the main reference line is ”from ashes they rise.” A beautiful metaphor for the resilience of the Jewish people through the first half of the 20^th century.

Projections help clarify and simplify the story.  Projections in English translate Yiddish lyrics to songs sung in the show.

When characters are performing in the play, God of Vengeance, the acting style is broad and over expressed, as might have been the style in 1906 etc. When characters are not performing in God of Vengeance, but are characters in Paula Vogel’s play, Indecent,  the acting is detailed, layered, subtle and nuanced. I love how director Kelly Thornton made that distinction of acting styles between God of Vengeance and Indecent which is referencing it. Also impressive is how Kelly Thornton’s melding of the three wonderful musicians and cast of actors in her staging, so that musician and actor are woven together, each serving the other. The music enhances the dialogue and the dialogue follows naturally from the music.

The Jewish New York producer for God of Vengeance was afraid of reactions to some scenes, specifically the scene when Rivkele (Katherine Matlashewski) and Manke (Amy Lee) are joyfully, lovingly dancing in the rain. The scene was cut because of its sexual nature. This outraged the two actresses who were playing those characters. Both Katherine Matlashewski as Rivkele and Amy Lee as Manke bring so much variation to their roles. Katherine Matlashewski as Rivkele is pious to her father but curious and shy to the women in the basement. But Rivkele is smitten by Manke, and here Katherine Matlashewski becomes bolder, yielding to the more sexually experienced and alluring Manke, beautifully played by Amy Lee.

The police arrested the cast and producer anyway on the charge of obscenity because of the play’s content. They were found guilty and the play closed. Sholem Asch (Josh Bellan) was asked to testify on behalf of his play and cast but refused. He had been to Europe and saw the results of pogroms and that sent him into a deep depression and he could not rouse himself to defend his cast and play. Perhaps most important, is that Sholem Asch was embarrassed by his lack of fluency in English. His abilities were halting at best.

As Sholem Asch, Josh Bellan was buoyant when showing his play God of Vengeance to his wife. He was also confident in his resolve to keep the faith about the play, and not to put Jews on a pedestal. He stared down the men who first heard the play who wanted him to forget the play. Later, Josh Bellan as Sholem Asch, was bent by the weight of the mean world he was living in. Explaining why he did not defend the cast because of his halting English, was heartbreaking.

As Lemml, Alex Poch-Goldin, was a simple tailor who discovered the joys of theatre when he heard God of Vengeance being read. When Alex Poch-Goldin as Lemml says his life was changed by that play, the declaration was earnest and compelling. The joy and exuberance of Alex Poch-Goldin as Lemml pulsed all through the performance. And when Lemml announced he was going home to Poland because he was sick of having people in America make fun of his accent, it was full of disappointment and was heartfelt.   

The cast is a cohesive, strong unit. Individually each actor is committed, nuanced, full of fierce conviction and brought the emotion of this bracing play to every second of the production.

Comment. Indecent certainly brings up all manner of questions regarding anti-semitism. I love the play and the ‘landmines’ all through it. These are tricky times, with the obvious rise of anti-semitism. Paula Vogel certainly addresses that when she has a character challenge Sholem Asch when he says he does not want to put the Jewish people on a pedestal and depict them as heroes. The character says that anti-semites will have another reason to pillory the Jews because of the play. Vogel makes one look cold-eyed at such a suggestion. How does one stare down anti-semitism? Does one try not to make waves, as Sholem Asch was told not to do?

Does one stir the waters as Sholem Asch did in God of Vengeance in which he wrote about a Jew as a brothel owner, lesbianism and love in many guises? How can anyone even begin to analyze and consider racism in any form? I love that Paula Vogel gets us to think about these thorny, challenging, difficult questions. At its heart, Indecent is a bracing, thoughtful multi-layered play so worth our attention.

(In a further note, on the world coming full circle. American actor, Morris Carnovsky was in the New York production of God of Vengeance playing a rabbi. Carnovsky would also be one of the founding actors of the Group Theatre, a hugely influential acting company in New York. In his later life Morris Carnovsky gave master classes in acting in Connecticut. One young actor who took classes with Carnovsky was Alex Poch-Goldin, who is now playing in Indecent, which references God of Vengeance.)

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre

Playing until March 8, 2025.

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (no intermission)

www.rmtc.ca

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I’m interviewing Rena Polley, the Artistic Director of The Chekhov Collective and director of the reading of A Doctor’s Visit, by Chekhov, on Sat. March 1 at 9 am CRITICS CIRCLE, CIUT.fm 89.5

The show is playing at Video Cabaret on 10 Busy Street until March 2, www.videocab.com

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Live and in person at the Theatre Center, Toronto, Ont. Produced by Shakespeare BASH’d. Playing until February 23, 2025.

www.shakespearebashd.com

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Julia Nish-Lapidus

Sound by Matt Nish-Labidus

Lighting by Sruthi Suresan

Cast: Ori Black

Sofia Contal

Brittany Kay

Alon Nashman

Jesse Nerenberg

Adriano Reis

Asher Rose

Cameron Scott

Hallie Selin

Carson Somanlall

James Wallis

Arielle Zamora

A smart production with some interesting discoveries. I do have a few quibbles, but still a worthy production, and a wonderful performance from Alon Nashman as Shylock.

The Production. Director Julia Nish-Lapidus carries on the Shakespeare BASHd tradition of producing, smart, bracing, unfussy productions that put all their energies into producing Shakespeare’s plays in a clear way that reflects our modern world.

Initially this production of The Merchant of Venice is centered around the Shabbat ceremony. Various Jews gather around the table, kibbitzing. The ceremonial challah is in the center of the table. One person puts a thick, opened tome on the table.  The assembled await the arrival of the head of the table—Shylock. He arrives and is welcoming to all. He wears a head covering and a shirt with the tzitzit hanging down from the shirt. The candles are lit for Shabbat.  Prayers are said with care and respect. Someone misquotes the line from The Merchant of Venice: “All that glitters is not gold.” The correct quote is found in the tome and read: “All that glisters is not gold.” This is very telling since money factors so heavily in the play for so many people.

After that, the table is cleared except for the challah and the production of Shakespeare’s play begins.

Director Julia Nish-Lapidus directs with care and imagination. In the mask scene, when Lorenzo and his buddies went marauding through the streets of Venice wearing masks so they would not be recognized, the group grabbed at the challah on the table, tearing off pieces of it. Brilliant. It gave a sense of desecration—grabbing at a symbol of a holy Jewish ceremony, Shabbat.

When Shylock is decreed to live his life as a Christian, there is a gasp, as if the person didn’t know the play or what happens to Shylock. Love that gasp. A character knocks Shylock’s head covering off. Shylock is on his knees and then covers his head with his hand as a small gesture. He tries to assume some dignity.

Many actors in the production are accomplished and leading them is Alon Nashman as Shylock. He’s splendid. Shylock has to be careful in his dealing with Antonio, the merchant. So Shylock calmly weighs the conditions of what is being asked of him, initially by Bassanio, and then Antonio. When Antonio gets impatient with Shylock’s reviewing of the conditions, Shylock then reminds Antonio, calmly, of his bad treatment of him, because he is a Jew. Alon Nashman does not yell or lose his temper. He carefully reminds Antonio of his antisemitic behaviour. This is a refreshing change from other productions—Nashman is tempered, thoughtful and pointed.

Jesse Nerenberg as Antonio is confident, arrogant and composed. He brings Antonio’s arrogance to the role in clear sight. His desperation in the court when it looks like he has to forfeit his life, is gripping. As Bassanio, Cameron Laurie is stylish, courtly and charming. It’s easy to see why Portia would remember him.  

Hallie Seline as Portia also has the arrogance of a rich, pampered woman. And she is racist towards all the suitors. She is judgmental as well. While Seline is a fine actress, I found that she raced through her disparaging remarks towards all her suitors, except Bassanio, as if she (Portia) had practiced the speech. Hallie Seline would have been more successful in the speeches if she had paced their delivery with more purpose and nuance. The audience has to hear these speeches as well as get a sense of Portia’s sarcasm. When Portia was playing the young lawyer, Portia held the folded bond in her hand and didn’t peruse it frantically looking for the loophole in the bond (….”Not one drop of Christian blood”). I think this was a wasted opportunity. The audience has to see the quiet desperation of the searching and then see her find the loophole—Shylock actually gave her the clue.

I found Sofia Contal as Launcelot Gobbo so quick in the delivery and so full of over-played business and inflection, that the humour just dribbled away. Trust the words, don’t play the humour.    

Comment. Julia Nish-Lapidus’ production reveals so much about the play:

The Merchant of Venice is not antisemitic. It’s about antisemitism.

The play is about hatred and racism toward anybody who looks and acts different from the Venetians. Note Portia’s description of some of her suitors.

Shylock has few jobs open to him at the time of the play, money-lender being one. (tinker and tailor being the other two). Money is not the thing that drives him. Money drives Bassanio because he’s squandered so much of it. He doesn’t work for it. He borrows it from friends and then can’t pay it back. When describing Portia to Antonio, Bassanio mentions Portia’s money first (‘….she is richly left’) and then  mentions….”and she is fair.” )

When Jessica runs off with Lorenzo and takes Shylock’s money and jewels, Shylock says, “My daughter. My ducats.” His daughter is more important than the money. Quite a contrast from the greedy Bassanio.

Everybody loses in the play, but they don’t know it yet.  Jessica knows she’s made a mistake that only gets reinforced, by the way she is directed: being ostracized immediately, not being welcome readily by Portia, Antonio etc. and realizing what had to have happened to Shylock to make him give Lorenzo and her his money. Bassanio will blow through Portia’s money very quickly. Antonio will loose Bassanio, the love of his life. Shylock is the biggest loser, obviously.

It’s a play about antisemitism, racism, greed and meanness. It should be done somewhere in the world, every single day.

Shakespeare BASH’d presents:

Plays until Feb. 23, 2025.

Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes (1 Intermission)

www.shakespearebashd.com

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Heads up for the week of Feb. 24, 2025.

Wed. Feb. 26- March 2, 2025.

Fly Me to The Moon

Presented by Shillelagh Theatre Company

The RED Sandcastle Theatre • 922 Queen Street East • Toronto, ON

Doors Open: 7:00PM | Show Starts: 7:30PM | 

Featuring: Melee Hutton, Sarah Evans, Wayne War

General Admission

$35.00 +Fees

 

$35 + Fees

Two community carers are faced with a dilemma when their 84-year-old charge dies on pension day. Francis and Loretta find that things get out of control when they keep the pensioner’s death secret. Come see Marie Jones’ dark comedy about two working class Belfast women faced with a rare temptation.

Sarah Evans Loretta Mackie

Melee Hutton Francis Shields

Director Wayne Ward

Stage Manager Emma Jo Conlin

Assitant Stage Manager Alex Brown

Set Design Leslie Wright

Lighting Design Mike Slater

Sound Design Joe Taylor

At Eldritch Theatre Theatre’s Red Sandcastle
922 Queen Street East

Toronto, ON

Feb 19 – Mar 2, 2025

Event Link: More Info 

A Doctor’s Visit

The Chekhov Collective,

Playing at VideoCabaret, 10 Busy Street.

From Page to Stage    Theatrical Readings     David Storch, Brenda Robins, Rena Polley, Susan Coyne Video Cabaret Theatre 10 Busy St.  ___________________________ A Doctor’s Visit Written by: Anton Chekhov Directed by: Rena Polley Cast: Susan Coyne, Rena Polley, Brenda Robins, David Storch __________________________ TICKETS:  Wed Feb 26 – Sat March 1 @ 8pm Sat March1 + Sunday March 2  @ 2:00pm Tickets $28  Rush Seats Cash $25 at the door. *This is a Canadian Actors’ Equity Association production under the Artists’ Collective Policy. For more information visit www.thechekhovcollective.com     BUY TICKETS   ” … but we, our generation, sleep badly, are restless, talk a great deal, and are always trying to decide if we are right or not.”  Wed. Feb. 26-March 2, 2025. MONKS The Theatre Centre, Queen St. W.

By Veronica Hortigüela & Annie Luján Presented by The Theatre Centre Are you there God? It’s us, MONKS. The monks who reside in the hilltop monastery have always lived in total isolation. When the Abbot ventures into town, two medieval Brothers take the opportunity to invite a wagon full of strangers to their austere abode. Trying to complete their tasks of counting lentils, caring for their donkey, and keeping the monastery standing becomes the quest of a lifetime. Accept the invitation and join the monks on a journey for a good time in this shockingly dumb interactive clown show featuring magical realism, live music, unbridled chaos, and every interpretation of the word ‘ass’.  MONKS has SOLD OUT! But fret not, brothers! A waitlist will be started in person only at The Theatre Centre one-hour before each performance. Tickets often become available at the last minute and we’d love to have you join us, so please come to the door, hang out in the awesome @theatrecentrecafe, and get on that waitlist!       Credits Veronica Hortigüela as Brother Annie Luján as Brother Co-Directors: Veronica Hortigüela and Annie Luján  Production Manager: Dylan Tate-Howarth Sound, Costume, Set Design and Props: Veronica Hortigüela and Annie Luján Tickets   Tickets are SOLD OUT This performance is 75 Minutes Venue BMO Incubator Performance Dates Wednesday, February 26 – 7:30pm Thursday, February 27 – 7:30pm Friday, February 28 – 7:30pm & 9:30pm Saturday, March 1 – 2:30pm & 7:30pm Sunday, March 2 – 2:30pm & 5pm 18+ Age Recommendation

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Live and in person at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Ont. A Soulpepper and Obsidian Theatre Company Co-Production. Playing until March 2, 2025.

www.soulpepper.ca

Written and starring Akosua Amo-Adem

Directed by Djanet Sears

Set and Costumes designed by Astrid Janson

Lighting designer, Nick Blais

Sound designer, Maddie Bautista

Cast: Ryan Allen

Akosua Amo-Adem

Bola Aiyeola

Meghan Swaby

A gift of a play and a production.

The Story. Abby has no luck with men. Almost all of them disappoint her by being bad dates. “Mr. Right” comes with complications. Abby’s mother is pressuring her to find a good Ghanaian man, carry on the cultural traditions and give her grandbabies. Abby is not getting any           younger and the pressure of finding the right man is making her anxious, especially since her friends and siblings are either finding partners or having children.

The Production. The production begins in darkness as we hear sounds of panting, grunting and gasping. Is this someone in the throes of sex? No, it’s Abby (Akosua Amo-Adem) trying to put on her SPANX. Playwright/actor Akosua Amo-Adem and her director Djanet Sears, know how to begin a production with a bang. The audience is roaring. Playwright and director set us up for the well-earned, hard laughs to come. They also set us up to be caught off guard for the more serious moments, and there are plenty.

Playwright Akosua Amo-Adem has written Abby with an irreverent sense of humour, a hopeful anticipation with each new ‘date’ that this will lead to a lasting relationship and a sense of pride that will not allow her to sell herself short.

Amo-Adem’s dialogue pops with perceptive observations on the dating game in the modern world. Through Abby’s Mom (a wonderful Bola Aiyeola) we get a rich cultural reference of what is expected of a Ghanaian woman regarding family and all that follows. Abby’s Mom quotes the Bible for her go-to wisdom of how to live a proper life. Abby refutes that with her own wit.

The relationship between Abby and her Mom is complicated. Abby is a modern woman, educated with two degrees and eager to meet a man to be a partner. Perceived societal pressures weigh on her to find a man. Abby’s Mom is a traditional Ghanaian woman who believes it is the daughter’s responsibility to meet a man, ideally Ghanaian, marry and have children.

As Abby, Akosua Amo-Adem is superlative. She has a keen sense of humour and the subtlety to carry off the humour with understatement. Amo-Adem gets the audience roaring with just a sidelong look out to them, after a particularly ‘loaded’ speech. That ‘look’ says everything about irony, sarcasm, disbelief—pick one or all. And Amo-Adem also conveys the disappointment and heartache of Abby with the same kind of economy. A sigh, a look of despondence says everything.

As Mom, Bola Aiyeola, walks with a heaviness of a mother who worries about her daughter, as well as of a woman who has her own disappointments in life and in marriage. Bola Aiyeola as Mom, is dour, stingy with her compliments to her daughter, demanding in her expectations, and yet, funny in all that seriousness. The quoting of the bible is full of conviction. Abby’s eye-rolls put it all in perspective. Both performances are splendid.

Also splendid is the work of Ryan Allen as all the men mentioned in the play (Reggie, Patrick, Terrance and Marcus007). Ryan Allen is detailed in his variation of each man. Each character is distinct in his body language and acting.

Meghan Swaby plays Janelle and a Server (named Kevin) in a restaurant. Abby notes that the Server is a woman with a man’s name and refers to the Server that way when dealing with her (the Server). Even in uncomfortable situations, Abby protects herself with humour.

Meghan Swaby is also varied in her various roles. As Janelle, Abby’s friend, Meghan Swaby is lively, compassion, attentive and up-beat. As the Server she is efficient but concerned that whomever Abby is waiting for hasn’t shown up and they need the table. There is a cool exchange here—Abby is anxious about her date being late; the Server needs to know when he will be there.  This was beautifully conveyed in director Djanet Sears sensitive direction and the chemistry between Akosua Amo-Adem and Meghan Swaby.

Designer Astrid Janson has created a simple set with a few set pieces that are easy to maneuver. Janson’s costumes for Abby as sexy, seductive and in their way empowering. The costumes for the other characters are fine for establishing the world of the male character, and for Mom, Abby’s mother.

Djanet Sears has directed Table for Two with insight and a delicate touch for both the humour and serious moments of the work. Djanet Sears knows how close humour and heartache are. The production ends with a twist/trick. Abby is faced with a dilemma. What will she do to solve it. The audience and Abby know there are two ways to go. We wait for a resolution, perhaps sitting forward in our seats, in anticipation. It’s a tease. It’s delicious.

A quibble/question….. At one point Abby does meet a person on line. They exchange e-mails. Then they have phone calls and long conversations. Abby and the man finally plan a date at a restaurant. Abby is the first to arrive. Her phone is on the table in case there is a problem. And she waits and waits. She wonders if perhaps he’s had an accident. And she waits. Here’s my question: why doesn’t she call him to find out where and how he is? She knows his number. The question is obvious and the fact she doesn’t call appears deliberate. My question is why? There is that dilemma later which seems a bit disingenuous and contrived. Perhaps a rethink, although I do love the trick and tease.

Comment.  Quibble aside, Table for Two is a luminous gift of a play and so is the production. Akosua Amo-Adem is not only a fine actor in her own right, she is also a fine emerging playwright with a clear, bracing voice with something important to say, and an ability to say it with humour and compassion. Cause for celebration.  

Soulpepper Theatre Company presents:

Runs until March 2, 225.

Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. (no intermission)

www.soulpepper.ca

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Live and in person at the Coal Mine Theatre, 2076 Danforth Ave., Toronto, Ont. Playing to March 7, 2025.

www.coalminetheatre.com

Written by Duncan Macmillan

Directed by Diana Bentley

Movement director, Alyssa Martin

Set by Steve Lucas

Costumes by Laura Delchiaro

Co-lighting designers, Bonnie Beecher and Jeff Pybus

Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne

Cast: Oliver Dennis

Nickeshia Garrick

Farhang Ghajar

Matthew Gouveia

Sam Grist

Sarah Murphy-Dyson

Louise Lambert

Kwaku Okyere

Fiona Reid

Kaleb Tekeste

A bold and busy production that does not always serve the story because the technical ‘stuff’ gets in the way.  

The Story. Emma is an actress who is losing her grip on reality and her ability to tell the truth. She’s an alcoholic and drug addict that is wreaking havoc on her sense of reality. She blends her character’s lives with her own until she blacks out. She goes into rehab that requires absolute honesty and commitment. Emma resists both. 

The Production. Duncan MacMillan’s play is set in England. The language is often raw with frequent use of the “c-word”. For the Toronto production, many uses of the ‘c’ word have been cut. Director Diana Bentley has wisely relocated the play to Canada with subtle differences in the language, especially the swearing. Jarring language might tend to take the audience out of the play, which would be unfortunate since it has so many important things to say about addiction, truth, family, reality and the reason for the addiction,  in the first place.

The audience sits on three sides of a square playing area. A black gauze curtain hangs down in front of some of the space. Ornate chairs and perhaps a desk is on the set. A scene from Chekhov’s The Seagull is enacted between Nina and Konstantin, two characters who once loved each other. Nina is speaking to Konstantin about how she has spiraled down in her life. Konstantin loved her but she went off with another man who destroyed her life “for want of something better to do”.  Konstantin is a writer who has found some success but still pines for Nina.

The actress playing Nina has momentary memory lapses. She is lost and confused on the stage. The actor playing Konstantin is concerned. Finally, the actress collapses in distress. The gauzy curtain is ripped down. Thomas Ryder Payne’s cacophonous soundtrack blares and we are transported to a rehab hospital where the actress is brought for treatment. She is Emma (Louise Lambert), or at least that’s the name she gives after she initially says her name is Nina.  

Over the course of the play Emma will protest going to group discussion; confess she just wants to get the toxins out of her body and then get on with her life; go to group and resent it; keep people wondering if she’s telling the truth or not.

Over the course of the play playwright Duncan MacMillan goes into the minutiae of addiction, the steps to recovery, the excuses for not engaging and slowly reveals the many layers to Emma.

Stage directions regarding the increase in noise, flickering lights, Emma’s hallucinations and the maneuvering of characters around the space are spare but effective in putting the audience in Emma’s incoherent, unsettled world. 

Director, Diana Bentley made an impressive debut as a director with Yerma. Her vision there was clear, bold and inventive. With People, Places and Things, Bentley again brings that clear vision to the play and then some. While Duncan Macmillan’s stage-directed moments of chaos are clear, they are not as pervasive as Diana Bentley has directed them. Her production is packed with throbbing noise, wild gyrating bodies (kudos to Alyssa Martin, the movement director), and considerable effort to submerge the audience into Emma’s addled brain. The result is that all the ‘directed business’ overpowers the play. Sometimes the dialogue is drowned out or overwhelmed by all the wild gyrations. Instead of submerging the audience, the business alienates them.

That said, Diana Bentley’s general staging, especially of the last scene with Emma’s parents, was particularly revelatory. It spoke volumes about the relationship, and perhaps that Duncan MacMillan might have stacked the deck in that last scene.

As Emma, Louise Lambert is effective, especially in her more crazed scenes, sick with withdrawal, desperate for relief of the effects. She presents an attitude that is combative, controlling and still desperate. One wishes she was more nuanced in her performance to indicate Emma is slowly recovering. If the audience isn’t sure she is recovering, then one questions the point of the play.

Both Farhang Ghajar as Mark and Matthew Gouveia as Foster, both in recovery and both working at the rehab center give vibrant performances of people who know every trick of the addict and how to overcome them. Both Ghajar and Gouveia give compassionate, strong performances.

Oliver Dennis as Paul, is crazed, demanding and dangerous. As Dad, he is distant and cold. It said plenty about Emma’s family life.

Fiona Reid plays various characters from the Doctor, Lydia the Therapist and Mum—each distinct, each knowing, each has been down that path before. The Mum is particularly vivid.

I appreciate director Diana Bentley’s fierce attack in her direction of this complex play. I just wish the play came through more than the often busy direction of it.

Comment.  Playwright Duncan Macmillan’s plays are weighty, vibrant works that deal with the issues of the world we live in. People, Places and Things deals with addiction and various ways of re-hab; Lungs deals with a young couple grappling with the decision to have children or not; Every Brilliant Thing is a young boy’s efforts to deal with his mother’s attempted suicide by making a list of every brilliant thing in the world that would cheer her up and show her the beauty of living.

Coal Mine Theatre does the same by programming plays that reflect the world we live in. The productions are bracing, well-intentioned and leave the audience with lots to ponder and consider. The audience puts themselves into every play with their own ideas of how each play affects them. The beauty of theatre.

Coal Mine Theatre presents:

Plays until March 7, 2025.

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (1 intermission)

www.coalminetheate.com

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Live and in person at Tarragon Extra Space. Toronto, Ont. A Tarragon Theatre Production in association with Nightswimming. Running until Feb. 26, 2025.

www.tarragontheatre.com

Co-creators and co-directors, Martin Julien and Brian Quirt

Associate Artist, Thom Allison

Set and Lighting by Rebecca Picherack

Cast: Neema Bickersteth

Jane Miller

Taurian Teelucksingh

The Tarragon program is clear in explaining the initially odd title and point of the show: The Wolf in the Voice. “The term ‘wolf in the voice’ was “discovered by Brian Quirt (a co-creator and co-director of the piece with Martin Julien) in an Icelandic crime novel, as a vivid description for that vocal ‘break’ between the chest voice and the head voice, most notable in men, but existing in every vocal instrument. This infamous, mysterious, and contested in-between territory is a place of vulnerability and transition. A trio is the smallest possible ensemble, a vulnerable assemblage of individuals prone to constant social transition and negotiation, demonstrating a constant jockeying of this in-between territory. That is the ‘wolf’ we have been investigating with joy and curiosity and a lot of singing…..The Wolf in the Voice is part of a long-term commitment Nightswimming has made to exploring our relationship to singing and the human voice. ….our process mined scientific research, the physical mechanics of singing, and stories about navigating our vocal insecurities. The Wolf in the Voice has also explored a wide range of music repertoire as we sought ways to invite audiences into the hidden world of singers’ anxieties and in doing so consider their own vulnerable places.”

From the Tarragon website: “From Nightswimming (These Are The Songs I Sing When I’m Sad, Tarragon Greenhouse Festival) comes a trio about trios. Join Neema Bickersteth, Jane Miller and Taurian Teelucksingh for an intimate and uplifting evening as they swap stories and songs about their struggles and triumphs as singers, and the mystery of The Wolf in the Voice.”

NOTE: Nightswimming is a theatre company that does intense dramaturgical work with various artists as they create their shows.

As the audience files into the Tarragon Extra Space, three singers are: Neema Bickersteth, Jane Miller and Taurian Teelucksingh are grouped around a keyboard on stage as they harmonize in variations. There are three round tables upstage full of stuff the singers will need to get through a session; nasal aids, honey, oil of oregano, Lays potato chips etc. There is a formation of uniform shapes painted on the stage floor.

When the houselights dim and the show begins, there is more beautiful vocalizing; a perky rendition of “Three Little Maids” and some personal information about all three singers. Interestingly the singer didn’t tell us their story; the others told the story. I didn’t know why the initial information came from the other singers and not the one being talked about, since later in the show each singer did talk about their disappointments, hardships and joyful discovery.

There is a very detailed description of how the vocal folds (not chords, now it’s vocal folds) work. The audience is invited to feel their throat and experience the vibration of the vocal folds and even participate in some singing. There is a demonstration of the ‘head’ voice, the ‘chest’ voice and the ‘bridge’ between them. Sometimes the bridge is clear and sometimes not.

There is a clever bit when each singer steps on one of the uniform shapes on the floor, and sings a note. Ah, the shapes are piano keys and the group has fun and takes turns stepping on the keys, singing the note of the key and the combination forms a tune. It’s always clever—even though I’ve seen this bit of business before.

The three singers are accomplished in their own right. Neema Bickersteth (Treemonisha)  was steered into opera but didn’t have the high notes, but found them eventually. Jane Miller has done shows that are quirky and inventive, These Are The Songs I Sing When I’m Sad. Taurian Teelucksingh has performed at the Shaw Festival, especially playing a wonderful Freddie Einsford-Hill in My Fair Lady.   

The most moving aspects of the show are when each singer expresses their inner thoughts on the gift of the voice and singing; or the horror when the voice changed and let them down.  The most successful aspects of the show is when they all sang together—no gimmicks, not description of the innerworkings of whatever, just pure singing with heartfelt interpretation.

We are told that the co-creators, Martin Julien and Brian Quirt guided the trio to go into ‘uncomfortable’ territory to sing, into an area that is challenging. Ok, but the result is beautiful. The minutiae of how they got there, somehow seems irrelevant in the face of the result, at least from the audience. It was interesting to have each singer explain what items they need to get them through. Jane Miller swears by Oil of Oregano to keep her cold-free. Neena Bickersteth always has among other things:  honey and salt (I think salt needs an explanation). Taurian Teelucksingh has many and various items including something he uses but didn’t explain, and Lays Potato Chips—they are Canadian.

The Wolf In The Voice is a well-intentioned show that wants to show the audience the innerworkings-mysteries of how the voice works, the details of the various voices and the esoterica of singing. More than once during the show I asked myself: “Why?” “Why are we in the room watching this very insider information? This will be interesting to other singers and their vocal teachers, but the rest of the audience? Hmmmm.

The show explores the insecurities and anxieties of singers to create their art. The Programme says the show invites the audience to also consider “their own vulnerable places.” Truth to tell you can’t dictate that wish. Audiences will recognize their own insecurities or not from a show. Each person regards a show in their own way, personal or otherwise. I was glad of the beautiful harmonic singing.  
 

A Tarragon Theatre Production in association with Nightswimming present:

Plays until Feb. 26, 2025.

Running time: 80 minutes (no intermission)

www.tarragontheatre.com

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