REVIEW: She’s Not Special at Tarragon/Nightwood Theatre
She’s Not Special does not hold back from telling a story about accepting who you are in order to be your greatest self.
REVIEW: Inge(new) at Theatre Myth Collective/Red Sandcastle Theatre
Inge(new) – In Search of a Musical sets out to tackle a lot: it’s not easy to put feminist discourse on stage in a new way.
REVIEW: Gypsy at the Shaw Festival
Gypsy’s strong dramatic skeleton makes it a perfect choice for the Shaw Festival, where it’s playing until October in a hauntingly clear production directed by Jay Turvey.
REVIEW: The Rage of Narcissus at Expandido Theatre Group/Theatre Passe Muraille
Beauclair and Blanco don’t seem to worry whether theatre is an artform worth skipping Netflix for. They know it is. And that willingness to take up space is both slightly wearing and profoundly beautiful.
REVIEW: L-E-A-K at Sara Porter Productions/Theatre Centre
A mix of dance, spoken word, and multimedia components, the often lighthearted nature of L-E-A-K’s composition evokes the delicate seafoam at the ocean’s surface more than the deep, dense waters below it.
REVIEW: Prince Caspian at the Shaw Festival
This Prince Caspian has its flaws, but it should still satisfy anyone with an itch for family-friendly high fantasy.
REVIEW: A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings at the Ottawa Children’s Festival/Riverbank Arts Centre
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is a refreshing take on a literary classic that is instructive for all with its themes of spectacle and society’s fanatical mistreatment towards anything outside the norm.
REVIEW: Tunnel at the End of the Light at Alumnae Theatre/Roland Gossage Foundation/Soldiers in the Arts
I fear Tunnel at the End of the Light will go underseen because it exists outside usual theatrical paradigms. This would be a shame: it is exhilaratingly playful, thematically complex, and has a clearly defined raison d’etre.
REVIEW: Boom X at Kidoons and WYRD Productions, in association with Crow’s Theatre, Theatre Calgary, and The 20K Collective
Boom X is a low-stakes good time at the theatre — with sick guitar solos to match.
REVIEW: Vaches: The Musical at Théâtre Français de Toronto
Vaches: The Musical‘s irony might occasionally keep its audience at a distance, but as a celebration of Casselman’s wacky warmth, the show revels in an infectious, ragtag charm.
REVIEW: Tosca and Macbeth at Canadian Opera Company
Be it the lush and extravagant production of Tosca or the brooding and eerie production of Macbeth, both operas capture the spirit of romantic opera to delight audiences.
REVIEW: The Sound Inside at Coal Mine Theatre
The Sound Inside is classic Coal Mine, a startlingly weighty imported play produced with integrity and verve.
REVIEW: Bone Cage at The Assembly Theatre/One Four One Collective
Bone Cage is a remarkably impressive production in a limited space — just don’t go in expecting any sense of joy.
REVIEW: Shorelines at TACTICS (Ottawa)
Mishka Lavigne’s Shorelines is a compelling and tragic story about our future, our faults, and our failures.
REVIEW: Frozen River at YPT/Manitoba Theatre for Young People
Frozen River (nîkwatin sîpiy), the new play from Manitoba Theatre for Young People at Young People’s Theatre, emphasizes the importance of keeping promises, even if it takes seven generations to do so. The hour-long show, co-written by Michaela Washburn, Joelle Peters, and Carrie Costello and directed by Katie German, uses the story of two unlikely … Continued
REVIEW: The Chinese Lady at Studio 180/fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company/Crow’s Theatre
The play resonates as a moving character study subtly laced with cautionary reminders of the distance between performance and truth.
