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For composer Njo Kong Kie 楊光奇, the word ‘artist’ is a complicated label

At the ping pong table, eating pastries that Njo had thoughtfully laid out, I listened as this artist reflected on the back and forth of a career that’s bounced between multiple genres and disciplines. 

REVIEW: Soulpepper’s The Comeuppance unpacks high-school reunions with deadly, millennial-aged precision

Macabre and drama-filled yet surprisingly gentle, The Comeuppance will probably be most compelling to the around-40 crowd who share its specific touchstones and millennial angst from a high-school experience bookended by Columbine and 9/11.

REVIEW: TfT delivers humour and cruelty in striking rendition of Camus’ Le Malentendu

Director Karine Ricard banishes all earthly joy from the scene, leaving behind an almost lunar coldness.

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.

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.

REVIEW: National Ballet’s Procession tangles the lines of sorrow and sensuality

Procession, the National Ballet of Canada’s brooding and stylized world premiere ballet, rushes to the stage with startling vitality — and does so at a funeral.

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.

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.

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.

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.

How director Jillian Keiley uses perspective to guide the audience’s eye in Dial M for Murder at Theatre Calgary

“There's a magic in theatre, and a spiritual part of theatre, that's really important," says Keiley. "It's the gathering, but it's also: ‘How did you make me believe that? How did you do that?’ That's the mystery I play with in all my shows. And it's a tightrope every time."

REVIEW: The Veil brings stripped-down psychological thrills to the Crow’s Theatre Studio

While the world premiere solo show’s attempts at societal critique sometimes lack precision, director Helen Juvonen’s subtle, atmospheric production makes for an unnerving horror theatre experience.