Indie

The Winter's Tale

Lauren Gillett — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Subtitle:

Groundling Theatre Company's inaugural production is a moving tragicomic feast

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Presented by Coal Mine Theatre
A Groundling Theatre Company production
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Graham Abbey

Back in a cozy new venue for a second season, The Coal Mine continues to bring exciting indie theatre to Toronto's east end. This month, the company presents Groundling Theatre's inaugural production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale directed by Graham Abbey featuring a powerhouse cast including Tom McCamus, Lucy Peacock and Brent Carver.

Images:

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

4.5

Show Dates:

Tue, 2016-01-26 - Sat, 2016-02-20

Theatre:

The Coal Mine Theatre

Red Light Winter

Annie Hodgins — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 18:24:22 +0000

Subtitle:

Unit 102 presents compelling production of Adam Rapp's twisted love story

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Presented by Unit 102 Actor's Company
Written by Adam Rapp
Directed by Anne Van Leeuwen

Red Light Winter is a play that keeps you guessing. Following its 2005 debut in Chicago, scriptwriter Adam Rapp was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for this intriguing and claustrophobic portrayal of a bizarre love triangle. The play opened for its first run in Toronto on January 8 and runs until January 23 at Unit 102 Theatre Company.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

Show Dates:

Fri, 2016-01-08 - Sat, 2016-01-23

Theatre:

Unit 102 Theatre

Q&A: The River

Lauren Gillett — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Subtitle:

Dani Kind on her role in Jez Butterworth play opening The Coal Mine's new season

Headline:

Interview

Credits:

Presented by The Coal Mine
Written by Jez Butterworth
Directed by Ted Dykstra

After a popular and critically-acclaimed first season, artistic curator Ted Dykstra and artistic producer Diana Bentley will launch The Coal Mine's second season next month with Jez Butterworth’s The River, starring David Ferry, Dani Kind and Jane Spidell. Set in a remote fishing cabin, The River is a taut, tense, love story about the dark influence past relationships have on the present.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Show Dates:

Sun, 2015-11-01 - Sun, 2015-11-22

2015 SummerWorks Performance Festival

Lauren Gillett — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 01:51:31 +0000

Subtitle:

Six theatre productions to see at the 2015 SummerWorks Performance Festival

Headline:

Preview

SummerWorks is back! Canada's largest juried and curated performance festival takes over Toronto for 11 days from August 6 to 16, with more than 50 productions and performances happening all over the city. This year's edition– SummerWorks 25 – marks the organization’s 25th anniversary.

Here, we list six shows that caught our eye in the theatre category this year.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Show Dates:

Thu, 2015-08-06 - Sun, 2015-08-16

Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play

Lauren Gillett — Mon, 18 May 2015 15:13:53 +0000

Subtitle:

Outside the March enlightens audiences with unplugged production of Mr. Burns

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Presented by Outside The March in association with Crow's Theatre and Starvox Entertainment
Written by Anne Washburn
Score by Michael Friedman
Lyrics by Anne Washburn
Directed by Simon Bloom and Mitchell Cushman
Musical direction by Britta Johnson

Fans of the long-running animated series The Simpsons were disappointed to learn that Harry Shearer, who lends his voice to a number of key characters, including Mr. Burns, is leaving the show according to recent reports. This news signals the end of an era for a generation raised on the funny catch phrases and plotlines that have made the iconic American satire so popular. However, if Outside the March's current production of Anne Washburn's dark comedy Mr.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

4.5

Show Dates:

Sat, 2015-05-09 - Sun, 2015-06-07

Theatre:

Aztec Theatre

Brimstone and Treacle

Annie Hodgins — Thu, 14 May 2015 23:21:33 +0000

Subtitle:

Dennis Potter's devilish play lands in Toronto at SideMart Theatrical Grocery

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Presented by Precisely Peter Productions
Written by Dennis Potter
Directed by John Shooter

Precisely Peter Production’s staging of the 1976 British written-for-television play Brimstone and Treacle deftly captures the spirit of that time with a very disturbing twist. As with most controversial works, the play has a storied history.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

Show Dates:

Tue, 2015-05-05 - Sun, 2015-05-17

Theatre:

SideMart Theatrical Grocery

Liver

Lauren Gillett — Sun, 03 May 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Subtitle:

Kat Sandler takes a slice out of the medical world in her latest dark comedy

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Presented by the Slab Collective
Supported by Theatre Brouhaha and Red One Theatre Collective
Written and directed by Kat Sandler

When you're given your life back, is it really yours? That is the overarching question posed by Toronto playwright Kat Sandler in her latest play LIVER, a morbidly funny meditation on life and death, now playing at The Storefront Theatre (955 Bloor Street West).

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

Show Dates:

Thu, 2015-04-30 - Sun, 2015-05-10

Theatre:

The Storefront Theatre

Creditors

Lauren Gillett — Fri, 01 May 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Subtitle:

Love and revenge rendez-vous in Coal Mine Theatre's intimate production

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Presented by Coal Mine Theatre
Written by August Strindberg
Adapted by David Greig
Directed by Rae Ellen Bodie

A new indie theatre venue has popped up in Toronto's east end, this time under the Magic Oven at 798 Danforth Avenue. Led by artistic curator Ted Dykstra and artistic producer Diana Bently, The Coal Mine Theatre earned raves for their first two shows—an explosive production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Motherfucker With The Hat directed by Layne Coleman, followed by Mike Bartlett's Bull directed by David Ferry.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

Show Dates:

Sun, 2015-04-26 - Sun, 2015-05-17

Theatre:

The Coal Mine Theatre

Q&A: Liver

Lauren Gillett — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 01:07:37 +0000

Subtitle:

Claire Armstrong on her role in Kat Sandler's latest show at The Storefront Theatre

Headline:

Interview

Credits:

Presented by The Slab Collective
Supported by Theatre Brouhaha & Red One Theatre Collective
Written and directed by Kat Sandler

Dora Award-winning actress Claire Armstrong returns to the stage this spring in LIVER, a new dark comedy by prolific Toronto playwright Kat Sandler. A dark exploration of life, death and how we run from both, LIVER centres around the alcoholic Andrew, who wakes up on a gurney missing his liver, and the lives of everyone around him are thrown into choas as they decide how far they'll go to protect their discovery.

Here, we chat with Armstrong about her role in the show and her experience working with Sandler.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Show Dates:

Thu, 2015-04-30 - Sun, 2015-05-10

Theatre:

The Storefront Theatre

Q&A: A George F. Walker Double Bill

Lauren Gillett — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Subtitle:

Sarah Murphy-Dyson plays both a teacher and a principal in Crazy Lady's educational double bill at Theatre Passe Muraille

Headline:

Interview

Credits:

Presented by Crazy Lady
Written by George F. Walker
Directed by Wes Berger

Prolific Canadian playwright George F. Walker takes aim at the crumbling education system in his new plays Parents Night and The Bigger Issue, the first two installments in a four-to six-play cycle named "After Class." He has teamed up with former Royal Winnipeg Ballet soloist and actress Sarah Murphy-Dyson and actor/director Wes Berger to create CrazyLady, the new Toronto-based company presenting the double bill at Theatre Passe Muraille's Mainspace this spring.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Show Dates:

Tue, 2015-04-21 - Sun, 2015-05-17

Theatre:

Theatre Passe Muraille

Q&A: Heretic

Lauren Gillett — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Subtitle:

Soup Can Theatre's Sarah Thorpe reinvents Joan of Arc in bold new solo show

Headline:

Interview

Credits:

Presented by Soup Can Theatre
Directed by Matt Bernard
Created and performed by Sarah Thorpe

This month, Soup Can Theatre presents the premiere production of Heretic, a theatrical retelling of the story of Joan of Arc. Created and performed by the company's own talented director/producer Sarah Thorpe, the play explores the life of France's famous heroine from an unconventional angle. Was Joan of Arc a holy vessel or the victim of vivid hallucinations? A headstrong warrior or a delusional young woman elevated by the hope of a nation?

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Show Dates:

Wed, 2015-04-08 - Sun, 2015-04-12

Theatre:

lemonTree {studio} Theatre

A Woman Is A Secret

Annie Hodgins — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 02:28:35 +0000

Subtitle:

John Patrick Shanley embraces the puzzle of love in his captivating new play

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Presented by Rip Jaw Productions and The Storefront Theatre in Association with SideMart Theatrical Grocery
Written by John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Andrew Shaver
Featuring Martha Burns, Noah Reid, Jonathan Higgins, Anna Hardwick, Jade Hassouné, Karen Knox, Tony Nappo, Molly Flood, Trent Pardy, Katie Swift and Anand Rajaram
Music by Matthew Barber

When I was invited to the world premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s latest play, A Woman Is A Secret, my first thought was: why is it opening in Toronto? It’s true that this city has an inferiority complex, and I’m clearly part of the problem—but I digress. Once I remembered that Shanley, a Bronx native, worked with Norman Jewison on the now-classic film Moonstruck, things seemed to make more sense.

Images:

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

Show Dates:

Fri, 2015-03-20 - Sun, 2015-04-05

Theatre:

The Theatre Centre

Frankenstein's Boy

Lauren Gillett — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 21:42:51 +0000

Subtitle:

Eric Woolfe's latest creation is a soulwrenching love story from beyond the grave

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Presented by Eldritch Theatre
Written by Eric Woolfe
Directed by Marjorie Chan

Alchemy takes a monstrous form in Frankenstein's Boy, a haunting story stitched together by Toronto's master of Halloween theatre, Eric Woolfe. Now playing at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, Frankenstein's Boy tells the tale of Dr. Frankenstein's hunchbacked assistant, Frye, who has escaped the angry mob that murdered his master.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

Show Dates:

Fri, 2014-10-24 - Sat, 2014-11-08

Theatre:

Red Sandcastle Theatre

Concord Floral

Annie Hodgins — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Subtitle:

A haunting modern Canadian fable featuring a talented cast of young performers

Headline:

Review

Credits:

Why Not Theatre presents a Suburban Beast production
Written and conceived by Jordan Tannahill
Created and directed by Erin Brubacher, Cara Spooner and Jordan Tannahill

Critically acclaimed Toronto-based playwright Jordan Tannahill’s latest offering, Concord Floral, follows the experiences of a neighbourhood of teenagers as they seek adventure and refuge in the forgotten corners of the unforgiving suburban landscape. Set in modern-day Vaughan, Tannahill’s self-conscious adaptation of Boccaccio’s Decameron begins in a McDonald’s parking lot and portrays a generation drowning in the institutionalized blandness of contemporary mainstream culture.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Stars:

4.5

Show Dates:

Sun, 2014-10-12 - Sun, 2014-10-26

Theatre:

The Theatre Centre

Q&A: Concord Floral

Lauren Gillett — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Subtitle:

Jordan Tannahill on his latest play about contemporary suburban youth

Headline:

Interview

Credits:

Presented by Why Not Theatre
A Suburban Beast production
Written and Conceived by Jordan Tannahill
Created and directed by Erin Brubacher, Cara Spooner and Jordan Tannahill

Jordan Tannahill is the talk of Toronto's theatre community this month. Last week, the young playwright was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award in drama for Age of Minority: Three Solo Plays, a collection that explores the lives of three queer youth and their resilience in the face of violence and intolerance. And this week, Ravi Jain's Why Not Theatre presents the Canadian premiere of his new work Concord Floral at the Theatre Centre.

Exclusive:

Not Exclusive

Show Dates:

Sun, 2014-10-12 - Sun, 2014-10-26

Theatre:

The Theatre Centre