BWW Review: STAND! Movie MusicalDecember 6, 2019Although STAND! is full of romance, it is boldly honest in its historical depictions. Xenophobia and racism take centre stage in the story. Canada gets at best an ambivalent treatment, as a place where the lucky are lucky but the unlucky struggle just to avoid harm. One of the central questions of the film is the conflict between individual and institution - a defining issue in North America going into 2020 as well.
BWW Review: SOLDIER ON at Berkeley Street TheatreNovember 29, 2019SOLDIER ON comes to us from the UK, where a variety of audiences, military and non-military alike, have had the chance to enjoy its easy humour and satisfying plot. It tells the story of a group of servicepeople and their families who have come together to talk through their issues and put on a show. If the play within a play sounds pretentious, it's not - SOLDIER ON is effortlessly accessible and universally charming, even to those of us with no connection to the subject matter.
BWW Review: BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY says what needs to be goddamn said at COAL MINE THEATRENovember 29, 2019In life, we all get dealt a hand the moment we're born. The choice is whether to play it or try for better cards. Walter Washington never knew his own father, but he kept trading in his cards, refusing to become a wanderer, a deadbeat. He got a job on the force, an apartment, a family, a spoon collection. Still, the world kept dealing him 3's and deuces. Getting shot forced Walter into early retirement so he could watch his wife, Dolores, turn terminally ill and die before his eyes.
BWW Review: BETWEEN BREATHS Leaps Joyously Out of Sadness at Factory TheatreNovember 23, 2019Dr Jon Lien, the whale man of Memorial University, earned his nickname over a lifetime of rescuing trapped whales off the coast of Newfoundland. His brilliant career, as well as the painful circumstances surrounding his death, inspired Newfoundland's own Robert Chafe to write BETWEEN BREATHS, a short, music-infused drama that traces Jon's life from his last moments backwards through his career, uncovering his boundless capacity for compassion and respect for the joy of other creatures.
BWW Review: BUFFOON Laughs Through Bared Teeth at Tarragon TheatreNovember 21, 2019In the world premiere of Anosh Irani's BUFFOON, at Tarragon Theatre, Anand Rajaram plays Felix the clown, a child of the thrilling, vicious world of the circus. On a bare gray stage with nothing but a chair for company, Felix tells his life's story, beginning with his frightening birth, through the first book he read (Moby Dick), his first kiss (a?oeThat's the tree trunk, Felixa??) and many, many moments of loss.
BWW Interview: Matt Lacas and Chelsea Johnson talk SONGS FOR A NEW WORLDNovember 19, 2019Later this month, We Are Here Productions, in collaboration with Cue to Cue Productions, will present SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, a song cycle to benefit the Canadian Women's Foundation, at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Broadwayworld caught up with co-directors Matt Lacas and Chelsea Johnson to talk collaboration, the casting process, and what it's like directing for a good cause.
BWW Review: TROUT STANLEY Dupes and Shines at Factory TheatreOctober 25, 2019TROUT STANLEY brims with confusion and delight, like a birthday cake when it's nobody's birthday. Set somewhere in rural BC, it follows a pair of lugubrious but charming sisters, Grace and Sugar, as they cross paths with a mysterious man, Mr Trout Stanely, who's wandered in off the street. Neither they nor we really know what anyone's intentions are, only that, if patterns repeat themselves, somebody is going to die.
BWW Review: THE PARTICULARS burns slow at The Theatre CentreOctober 20, 2019If we're going by technical categorisation, THE PARTICULARS, on now at the Theatre Centre, is an experimental piece of drama that incorporates elements of dance and movement; if we're going by my own personal descriptor, THE PARTICULARS is a Fringe show with wings.
BWW Review: See Toronto up close in THE JUNGLE at Tarragon TheatreOctober 12, 2019THE JUNGLE is a boldly political new play, argumentative and direct and a bit radical. It is also a touchingly honest drama, brimming with humor and pathos. And it is also another category: a Toronto play, a play that is both of and for our beautiful, challenging city.
BWW Review: Lush Orchestration and Raunchy Humour Makes for Smooth Sailing in SOMETHING FOR THE BUOYSOctober 14, 2019Imagine On the Town with a bunch of dick jokes and you'll sort of get a picture of SOMETHING FOR THE BUOYS, a new Canadian musical by Eli Pasic. The show is equal measures charming and raunchy, with a good deal of humour and an excellent - actually, surprisingly, really good - score. Inspired by musical comedies of the 30s and 40s, SOMETHING FOR THE BUOYS follows the adventures of a group of sailors (seamen!) and burlesque dancers as they look for love in the big city.
Review: Positive Thinking and Difficult Choices in Canadian Stage's THE BOOK OF LIFESeptember 20, 2019Odile Gakire (Kiki) Katese, the Rwandan humanitarian and artist, has brought her voice and wisdom to the Canadian Stage Company this autumn in THE BOOK OF LIFE. Brimming with insight and charm, THE BOOK OF LIFE is also a difficult and provocative piece of political theatre that test the limits of idealism in the face a crushing need for pragmatic thinking.
BWW Review: THREE SISTERS, Vaudeville TheatreJune 21, 2019Somewhere in the Russian countryside, three sisters - Olga, Masha, and Irina - are waiting for their youth to end. They are deeply, tragically over-cultured and over-qualified for their surroundings; fluent in foreign languages and proficient in philosophy, yet hundreds of miles from the nearest city. With nothing to do but chat to the locally-stationed soldiers, the girls dream of life in Moscow. "Soon," they promise each other, they'll get there.
BWW Review: AFTERGLOW, Southwark PlayhouseJune 12, 2019Afterglow opens with a blaze of strobe lights, the throbbing pulse of dance music, and three naked lads writhing on a bed. Some groping and kissing later, they come up for air and a chat. Josh (Sean Hart) and Alex (Danny Mahoney) are married, but their relationship is open. Darius (Jesse Fox) is single but smitten with his hosts, and their arrangement, and makes a date with Josh the following day.