Circus version of Swan Lake touches down at Meridian Arts Centre
iPhoto caption: Photo by Pia Johnson.
This week, TO Live will present Circa’s Duck Pond, a circus reimagining of Swan Lake.
Blending cheeky humour with impressive physicality, Duck Pond is created by Circa artistic director Yaron Lifschitz and 10 of the Australia-based company’s esteemed ensemble members.
It features haute couture costumes by Libby McDonnell, music by Jethro Woodward (with help from Tchaikovsky), and lighting by Alexander Berlage.
This Toronto engagement is part of a cross-Canada tour. After its run at Meridian Arts Centre (from January 30 to February 1), Duck Pond will play TOHU in Montreal (from February 5 to 9) and Le Diamant in Quebec City (from February 13 to 15).
“Ballet, fairy tale, and circus lovers alike will be transfixed as Duck Pond draws upon the worlds of Swan Lake and The Ugly Duckling, as well as a variety of different acrobatic languages — from the seductive burlesque Black Swan to the clowning of the sequin-flippered Duck Army,” said Lifschitz in a press release.
Duck Pond runs at Meridian Arts Centre from January 30 to February 1. Tickets are available here.
iPhoto caption: (L to R) Kelsey Verzotti, Kennedy Kanagawa, and Ma-Anne Dionisio. Photo by Tim Nguyen.
Theatre Calgary announces casting for world premiere musical The Tale of the Gifted Prince
Starring as Prince Ren is Kennedy Kanagawa, known for his recent Broadway appearance in Into the Woods. Joining him is Ma-Anne Dionisio as the Woman, and Kelvin Moon Loh as the King and Magistrate.
iPhoto caption: Headshot by Andy Moro.
Tara Beagan wins 2025 Governor General’s Award for drama
Published by Playwrights Canada Press, her multilingual play Rise, Red River connects environmental devastation with the intergenerational impacts of colonial violence.
Announcing the ON Criticism: 2025/26 Theatre Critics Lab cohort
Caelan Beard (Brampton), Alexandrea Marsh (London), Phillip Dwight Morgan (Toronto), Izzy Siebert (London), Joe Szekeres (Oshawa), and Hunter Weaymouth (Hamilton) will work with Intermission senior editor Liam Donovan and editorial director Karen Fricker in this six-month-long training and professional development program.
iPhoto caption: A headshot of Jonathan Church. Photo courtesy of The Stratford Festival.
Stratford names Jonathan Church as its new artistic director
“The Festival is fortunate to have attracted such a celebrated and accomplished artistic leader,” wrote Stratford executive director Anita Gaffney in a press release.
iPhoto caption: Liz Der, Vivien Endicott-Douglas, Philippa Domville, and Sofia Rodriguez. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Chelsea Woolley world premiere to kick off 2025-26 Nightwood season
A highly physical and unexpectedly comedic work, Enormity, Girl, and the Earthquake in Her Lungs explores refuge, resilience, and survival. At its centre is Vic, a young woman who finds herself in a shelter under extraordinary circumstances.
iPhoto caption: A stock image of Lighthouse Festival Theatre in Port Dover.
Lighthouse Festival reveals 2026 summer lineup
“Our 2026 season is bursting with stories we can’t wait to share with you,” wrote artistic director Jane Spence in a press release.
iPhoto caption: Lauren Gillis and Alaine Hutton in 'Public Consumption.' Photo by Eden Graham.
REVIEW: Lester Trips’ stylish Public Consumption captures the internet’s profound emptiness
Rather than directly representing online life, Public Consumption speculates — with virtuosity — about how the digital world affects our bodies. And the show's findings are by no means comfortable.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Elana Emer.
REVIEW: Icarus Theatre’s DNA paints a disturbing mural of teenage rebellion
While director Erik Richards’ tendency toward snappy, thriller-esque pacing doesn’t suit all of DNA’s more intimate moments, it adds electricity to the drama’s group scenes, bringing playwright Dennis Kelly’s reflections on groupthink and collective grief into clear view.
iPhoto caption: Olivier Normand in 'The Far Side of the Moon.' Photo by Li Wang.
REVIEW: Lepage’s ethereal The Far Side of the Moon is insomniac theatre
The Far Side of the Moon begins and ends with a large mirror on stage, and the show extracts enigmatic power from the tantalizing question of whether its protagonist is losing himself in his reflection, or moving toward self-discovery.
iPhoto caption: 'Kokuho' still courtesy of TIFF.
REVIEW: During this year’s TIFF, two films depicted theatre as a vessel for transcendence
Of the several performing arts-adjacent selections I took in, most affecting were two dramas: Lee Sang-il’s Kokuho and Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. In both period pieces, theatre creation serves as an emotional outlet for an artist navigating devastating loss.
iPhoto caption: Cyrus Lane and Kirstyn Russelle in Barrie run of 'Blackbird.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: Talk is Free Theatre’s Blackbird offers a close-up look at two detailed performances
Emerging director Dean Deffett has concocted a tight, straightforward production, primarily of interest as an intimate character study.
iPhoto caption: Sleman Aldib and an audience member in 'The Opposite.' Still from a trailer by Spectrum Associates.
REVIEW: Kitchener’s biennial IMPACT Festival crackled with urgency
Most of the six works I viewed tackled urgent topics, from the convoluted Canadian immigration system to the Palestinian experience of displacement: explorations that line up with artistic director Pam Patel’s curatorial statement, which discusses how IMPACT ‘25 “unpacks what it means to survive, to resist, and to seek refuge” through a global, Indigenous-focused lens.
Comments