Intermission Magazine Home
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
In 1939, Indigenous students bring their living culture to one of the Bard’s problem plays
“There’s no monolithic experience of residential school,” says co-playwright and director Jani Lauzon. “There are some really extraordinary plays already written about residential schools that deal with that [more tragic] lens. We set out to write a different kind of play, with a different gaze.”
iPhoto caption: Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh.
Roberto Zucco marks a new era in Buddies’ history of queer theatre
Toronto theatre can be a bit risk-averse. Artistic directors, constrained by limited funding, program obvious crowd-pleasers over boundary-pushing experiments. Playwrights, afraid to ruffle feathers, create spaces that validate the public’s...
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
In 1939, Indigenous students bring their living culture to one of the Bard’s problem plays
“There’s no monolithic experience of residential school,” says co-playwright and director Jani Lauzon. “There are some really extraordinary plays already written about residential schools that deal with that [more tragic] lens. We set out to write a different kind of play, with a different gaze.”
iPhoto caption: Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh.
Roberto Zucco marks a new era in Buddies’ history of queer theatre
Toronto theatre can be a bit risk-averse. Artistic directors, constrained by limited funding, program obvious crowd-pleasers over boundary-pushing experiments. Playwrights, afraid to ruffle feathers, create spaces that validate the public’s...
iPhoto caption: Headshot courtesy of Justin Miller.
Speaking in Draft: Justin Miller
“I love to laugh,” says Miller, an actor, bouffon drag clown, performance artist, and teacher extraordinaire. “Some of the most impactful and meaningful experiences I've had have been shared through a comedic lens. I think you have a far better chance of actually changing people with comedy, because it's in moments of surprise and subversion of expectation that you have a chance to knock them off their balance, and maybe show them something new.”
iPhoto caption: Photo by Johan Persson.
REVIEW: Life of Pi gleams with unforgettable puppets
Based on the beloved novel by Yann Martel, the exquisite touring production uses puppets as its vocabulary, asking complex questions about storytelling and the power of imagination.
Reviews
iPhoto caption: Photo by Johan Persson.
REVIEW: Life of Pi gleams with unforgettable puppets
Based on the beloved novel by Yann Martel, the exquisite touring production uses puppets as its vocabulary, asking complex questions about storytelling and the power of imagination.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Elana Emer.
REVIEW: Infinite Life thrums with meditations on chronic illness and pain
Director Jackie Maxwell’s production at Coal Mine Theatre, featuring six generous, empathetic performances, is a paean of understanding for the chronically ill, candidly examining the despair and fury of bodily helplessness in a way that’s magnified by our proximity to the characters in the intimate space.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: In Rosmersholm, ghosts abound
While the play’s ideas sizzle and pop with contemporary verve, the story’s an occasionally frustrating vessel for those captivating sentiments on politics and identity.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz
REVIEW: 1s1 Theatre’s Qalb marries autobiography with ASL poetry
Since much of Qalb is about distance — between mind and heart, justice and reality, me and you — it’s a powerful statement of hope to conclude with the bridging of a gap.
iPhoto caption: Photo courtesy of Theatre Calgary.
REVIEW: The Play That Goes Wrong dazzles at Theatre Calgary
The Play That Goes Wrong is a sparking-flaming-smoking car crash that you just can’t take your eyes off of. A fiery, racing delight, this is not a production to be missed.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Rick Clifford
REVIEWS: Toronto International Film Festival 2024
A filmed production of an experimental Egyptian opera, a TV series penned by Jordan Tannahill, and the moviemaking debut of Broadway director Marianne Elliott are among the offerings at this year’s TIFF with connections to the world of theatre.
Spotlight
iPhoto caption: Norm Foster in an undated headshot.
“I'm really proud that people want to see my work and want to see my new stuff,” says Foster, whose new play "Lakefront" plays at Lighthouse Festival Theatre through the end of the summer. “That makes me want to keep writing. Whenever I think, ‘Oh, maybe I’ve written my last play,’ I go, ‘No, I think I've got a few more in me. Let's keep going.’”
iPhoto caption: Vanessa Sears for Intermission Magazine. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
“If I want to be the most expansive, detailed, versatile artist I can be, the only way to do that is to keep learning, questioning, exploring, and working,” says Sears, currently starring as Juliet in the Stratford Festival’s production of Romeo and Juliet. “If that’s not where the open doors are, then I will go elsewhere.”
iPhoto caption: Philip Akin at home. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
“I don't know why it is being placed on Black people to change minds,” says Akin. “I ain't here to pick your intellectual cotton.”
Donate
Since you’re here, we have a small favour to ask.
Donate NowWe have big plans to grow and are committed to being a reliable platform for the performing arts in Canada. But to help us get there, we need support. Please consider donating so we can keep working hard to give you the performing arts journalism that is needed and wanted across Canada.
Artist Perspectives
iPhoto caption: Kailin Brown in the Broadway National Tour of Chicago. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.
I’m not a woman, I just play one
“As a performer, my job is to play a character, and if that character is right for me it doesn’t matter what gender they are,” writes non-binary actor Kailin Brown. “What matters is that I can make a difference in someone’s life who can relate to the character, or to me as the actor.”
iPhoto caption: Photo by Robert Motum
Why would anyone do a PhD in theatre?
In an industry where stagnant government funding and tuition freezes have contributed to increasingly rigorous competition for fewer full-time positions, I’ve found myself reflecting: why do a PhD in theatre today?
Will female stories ever have a place in Canadian theatre?
A season of less than 50 per cent female playwrights, directors, and actors means the female-identifying population is not being fully represented. Programming becomes a question of this play or that play, as opposed to this and that, resulting in some narratives receiving short shrift.
The spectacle of suffering: Toronto theatre’s addiction to trauma porn
Trauma is everywhere in Toronto — on the streets, subway, and stage — and maybe that’s why I’m so bored by it.
iPhoto caption: Rose Napoli appears as Margaret in her play Mad Madge. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Rose Napoli reflects on Mad Madge, rom-coms, and the undeniable power of Patrick Swayze.
iPhoto caption: Image by Haley Sarfeld.
Every play is fantastic: A small-city theatre critic’s manifesto
My top priority as a critic will be to furnish every marketing team with as many easily quotable compliments as possible. I'll do this dutifully and without ambivalence.