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Bealtaine Theatre Festival

iPhoto caption: Danny O’Mahony and Emily Kilkenny Roddy in 'Bellow.' Photo by Ste Murray.

REVIEW: This year’s Bealtaine Theatre Festival featured accordions, ketamine, and James Joyce

The festival serves up a curated program of contemporary theatre from Ireland — appreciated, in a city that punches below its weight in terms of international performing arts offerings from countries it doesn’t border.

By Liam Donovan / Jun 12, 2026
iPhoto caption: Ordena Stephens-Thompson and Tony Nappo in 'The Neighbours' at Tarragon Theatre. Photo by Jae Yang.

As PlayME’s season concludes, its creators reflect on the changing world of Canadian audio drama

Chris Tolley remembers CBC's Studio 212 with a sense of awe. “It felt like you were on the Starship Enterprise holodeck,” he said. “There was this big, long table with all these different computers and servers underneath. The studio had these different staircases made out of wood and metal, and strips of concrete and wood floor, so that you could run on them and record [different sound effects].”

By Nathaniel Hanula-James / May 26, 2026
iPhoto caption: 'Chicken.' Photo by Hildegard Ryan.

A show about a celebrity chicken is one of four Irish plays at this year’s Bealtaine Theatre Festival

This piece of contemporary Irish theatre stars a talking fowl with a ketamine habit. Its creators are anything but chicken.

By Nathaniel Hanula-James / May 12, 2026
Jaime Lujan in 'Reina.' iPhoto caption: Jaime Lujan in 'Reina.' Photo by Eden Graham.

REVIEW: Documenting seven Toronto indie shows, from Factory Theatre to the Tranzac Club and beyond

I’ve started writing brief reviews of Toronto productions Intermission isn’t otherwise covering, and stowing them away until I collect enough to publish in a batch. And now here I am, with seven.

By Liam Donovan / Jun 17, 2025