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Amira Benjamin
Amira Benjamin is an undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa in sociology and anthropology. She is interested in all forms of journalism, especially arts and community reporting. You can find them critically analyzing Marvel movies or filling up a Pokedex. They are a member of the 2023 cohort of the IBPOC Critics Lab, supported by Intermission Magazine and the Stratford Festival.
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iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: Psychology and ideology collide in Necessary Angel’s austere Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice left me in a state of tension — pondering whether, in a similar situation, I’d be more likely to flirt with or kill a potentially evil man.
Armchairs, tattoos, and an online theatre magazine
When I started at Intermission, my world was limited to the confines of an armchair. Arts journalism was a high it felt dangerously fruitless to chase. The life stretched ahead of me was amorphous and frightening, a chasm filled with hand sanitizer and immigration concerns. It was worth crying over a spilled kombucha and scrubbing at the stain.
iPhoto caption: Headshot courtesy of Marcia Johnson.
Speaking in Draft: Marcia Johnson
"The whole reason I started writing was to give myself work, because I just wasn't getting lead roles, I wasn't getting interesting roles, and I knew that I could carry them off," says Johnson. "My goal when I wrote You Look Great Too was for people to say, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, she can play a lead’ — and then I would never have to write again. Then it turned out that writers were more in demand. I thought ‘OK, maybe I’ll write a few more plays.’"
iPhoto caption: Photo by Ann Baggley.
REVIEW: Here For Now’s Dinner with the Duchess is an aching étude on the cost of creative passion
Dinner with the Duchess is a tallying of an artistic life’s costs that builds a symphony out of simple presentation, resounding long past the final note.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: Wights sizzles with ambition at Crow’s Theatre
While the play’s genre-straddling form feels slightly too ambitious for its concept, this sheer ambition is exciting, challenging audiences to think, while warning us that we can only go so far with words.
Announcing the winners of the 2024 Nathan Cohen Awards
The Canadian Theatre Critics Association has announced the winners of the 2024 Nathan Cohen Awards for Excellence in Critical Writing, including two writers from Intermission.
iPhoto caption: Snow in Midsummer production still by David Cooper.
REVIEW: Snow in Midsummer is a timeless, brilliant tragedy
Directed by NAC English Theatre artistic director Nina Lee Aquino, the gorgeous details of the production allow audiences to feel the gravitas of every character.
iPhoto caption: Wendy and Peter Pan production still by David Hou.
Wendy and Peter Pan explores the power of love — and grief
“Part of what gets me through the very emotionally tumultuous ending of the story is remembering that Wendy has to live for the family members who are still there,” says Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks, who plays Wendy in the Stratford Festival’s production of Wendy and Peter Pan. “I just think that that's such a beautiful part of this adaptation.”
REVIEW: Ottawa’s undercurrents festival explores a vast sea of emotions and styles
Curated by Ottawa Fringe, the 14th rendition of undercurrents festival has concluded, having brought fresh, fiery theatre productions to audiences in Canada's capital.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: Prison Dancer at the NAC is a rehabilitating tale of humanity
Carmen Leilani De Jesus, Romeo Candido, and Nina Lee Aquino have created a contemporary classic with Prison Dancer.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Jeremy Daniel.
REVIEW: Hairspray in Ottawa is a sugar-sweet song and dance down memory lane
Did someone order some Hairspray? Well, it’s arrived at the National Arts Centre, and it’s more than ready to win your heart over.
REVIEW: The Supine Cobbler is a hilarious, deeply intimate trip to the abortion clinic at GCTC
The play is strange, which is a loving compliment to Connell’s playwriting, but also entirely familiar; the space used feels endless, a testament to how malleable the play is and the strength of Pearlman’s direction.
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