Shes-Not-Special-review

REVIEW: Ophis dunks viewers into a gothic experience of Medusa’s psychic landscape

Transcen|Dance Project’s Ophis is a woozy tragedy that courts both playfulness and eroticism, deliberately dissolving the boundaries of stage and audience with an immersive format that’s sometimes thrilling, sometimes terrifying, and sometimes — if you’re a people-pleaser like me — both simultaneously. 

‘Through science, art, theatre, we create’: Antoni Cimolino looks ahead to his final year as Stratford’s artistic director

“You want to choose things that feel important to the moment,” he says about building a Stratford Festival season. “If you choose plays and they don’t resonate, it’s very hurtful. You believe in them and the power of them.”

Rhubarb! Festival director Ludmylla Reis wants artists to embrace ‘the detour’

"We do something formative at some point in the arts, and then we just continue doing that in different fonts until we’re no longer on this earth," says Reis. "The important thing is to know what that is, because you don’t want to be controlled by it. You want to be in control."

Twelve indelible moments of performance from 2025

With the lights fading on another year of fleeting thrills in dark rooms, we asked 12 Ontario performing arts writers to reflect on a moment that stayed with them. The results mainly stem from Toronto theatre productions, but there are a few surprises weaved in.

REVIEW: Sex Dalmatian’s Hot Holiday Spectacular is a peppermint-coated acid trip

Rock Bottom Movement’s surrealist mandate is on full display in this 15-dancer fantasia, which begins with an invitation to let go: “The only thing you need to know is not to know anything at all,” pronounces the Mayor of Sex Dalmatian, the evening’s narrator and the mayor of the titular canine’s mind.

Wing Chun Dance Drama is a martial arts movie come to life

“In China — especially in the history of Chinese cinema — Ip Man is a household name,” said Han, in translated written responses to questions over email. Ip had a lasting influence on wing chun, a style of kung fu that originated in southern China over 300 years ago. In his 60s, he trained Bruce Lee, who would go on to become a famous performer in Hong Kong and American martial arts films. 

REVIEW: Aportia Chryptych marks many firsts for Canadian opera

While representation is important, re-telling stories of Black Canadians comes with even greater responsibility.  Our stories are not monoliths, nor should they exist within a digestible social narrative. Imbued with...

REVIEW: The Legend of Daddy Hall feels like coming home

Home is not a place, it’s a feeling, and Come Home — The Legend of Daddy Hall feels like I came home. I was taken on a journey watching this play and came out honoured to be a witness to such an incredible story. I encourage you to do the same.

REVIEW: shaniqua in abstraction at Crow’s Theatre blends razor-sharp humour with biting cultural critique

This play is such a delight to watch, and I would definitely go again. I live for this quality of performance, and I’m looking forward to how this play will continue to inspire Black Canadian theatre to come.

REVIEW: Three Sisters weaves together joy, fear, and the Biafran Civil War

In this conversational review of Three Sisters, contributors Kemi King and Aisha Lesley Bentham reflect on a masterful production helmed by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu.

REVIEW: In 3 Fingers Back, Donna-Michelle St. Bernard explores the extremes of war

3 Fingers Back ain't no regular play about war. We don't see or hear the destruction of the land or the cry of the people. Instead, Donna-Michelle (DM) St. Bernard's double bill of plays is more intimate, an inward crawl to what she calls the repetitive stress patterns that constitute the world.

REVIEW: speaking of sneaking and The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time reflect each other in palindromic layers

Think of both of these plays not side-by-side but instead facing each other and reflecting to us, the audience.