Sky Gilbert‘s The Cabaret Company presents his newest work, My Dinner with Casey Donovan, opening this week Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace. READ MORE
Theatre: Nathaniel Bacon — My Dinner With Casey Donovan
Sky Gilbert‘s The Cabaret Company presents his newest work, My Dinner with Casey Donovan, opening this week Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace. READ MORE
Have you ever wanted to write a masque? Have you ever wondered about the personal sacrifice that goes into creating a masque masterpiece? Do you even know what a masque is? To find out the answer to all of these questions, join Toronto Masque Theatre for their final salon of the season, and learn what really goes on behind the scenes.
Fresh from the succes of last season’s Arlecchino Allegro, which I thoroughly enjoyed, Artistic Director Nicholas Dénoument and Prima Ballerina Mina Kalishnikova, from the esteemed Gorgonetrevich Corps de Ballet National, will draw on their vast experience to create a masque right before our eyes. The whole thing from scratch: the music, the dance, the scenery, the costumes, the lighting, maybe some poetry. The whole thing. Seriously!
To lend assistance will be, the maestro, Larry Beckwith along with soprano Michele DeBoer, and lutenist, Lucas Harris. The evening will include light snacks, tea, coffee, and a cash bar.
If you’ve yet to attend of Toronto Masque‘s salons, I cannot recommend them enough. For an evening of quality music, humour, and much more, I encourage you to come out next Monday night!
The Spotlight on Israeli Culture Festival continues this month with a poignant play written by one of Israel’s most beloved authors, Savyon Liebrecht. For one day only, on Sunday, March 8, winner of Israel’s Best Play Award (2006), Apples From The Dessert, will be performed as a dramatic reading at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.
Liebrecht’s Apples From The Dessert is a romantic comedy and drama about Orthodox Sephardic Jewish parents from Jerusalem whose only daughter, Rivka, runs away from home to live on a kibbutz with a secular Ashkenazi named Dooby, after she finds out her father’s plan to marry her off in an arranged marriage.
The dramatic reading will feature Aris Athanasopoulos (Seven Years), Sarah Dodd (Dora Award-winner, Marion Bridge), David Eisner (Driving Miss Daisy), Theresa Tova (Bella: The Colour of Love), Vanessa Smyth (Bullet for Adolf), and Avery Saltzman (Therefore Choose Life).
David Eisner is not Artistic Director of the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company. He is also the director for this dramatic reading, and will also be playing the role of Rivka’s father Reuven. Eisner took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about the play and its siginificance.
HM: The play is based on a very popular short-story by Savyon Liebrecht. Has anything changed in its content for this particular production?
DS: I believe in the short story the father is hardly mentioned. But along with a very successful run in Israel, this play had a full production at Theatre J in Washington DC a few years ago and a film version is just coming out now.
HM: The story confronts religion against secularism / modernity head on; while at the same time, it is about love and reconciliation. As director, how do you approach these themes?
DS: Well first of all you cast it well, and we have some wonderful actors including Sheila McCarthy, Aris Athanasopoulos, Sarah Dodd, Vanessa Smyth and Avery Saltzman. Ultimately this story is about family and love, and that is something we can all relate to.
HM: I understand, you’ll also play the role of Reuven – the Orthodox patriarch. How do you prepare for this character?
DS: I look at the back round of the character. In this case a very hard and difficult childhood as an orphan who was not shown much love. I look at the scenes and the conflict within them, and the overall arc of the character. And then I look for things you have inside that serve the character and things you need to add.
HM: In your opinion, what makes this story poignant within Israeli culture and beyond?
DS: In Israel there has almost always been tension between the very religious and the secular, and add to that the added factor of generational differences. I think Israeli audiences were moved by a play that explores and reflects that story, with an ending that has some light and hope and potential middle ground. The tension between tradition and modernity is really universal. This play had a production in the Philippines and they understood and related to the narrative in every way. I think as humans we always will struggle with the past present and future and how we choose to live our lives.
I agree with Eisner. I think as humans, we are constantly looking for ways to remember the past while moving forward. And many of us are certainly looking for ways to live our lives in a more inclusive manner.
Time for another installment of my curated Theatre Crawl list. I have picked four different show currently on-stage in Toronto, which will appeal to a variety of theatre and dance fans. All shows deal with varying themes, from love to loss.
Music: Ori Vidislavski (original music), Elton John, Vains of Jenna
Artistic advisor: Keren Levi
Costumes: Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor
Lights: Netta Koren
Midsummer
(A play with songs)
Runs until March 1, 2015
The play is about two child soldiers caught in the grip of ruthless warlords, their heart-pounding escape towards freedom and the nurse who rescued and cared for them, as she testifies before a commission charged with examining the issue of child soldiers.
The original French play won the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama as well as several other awards. It has been translated into 7 languages and performed all over the world.
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| Photo: Pleiades Theatre |
MISSING. Karla Richter, 24: a loving and trusting young woman, last seen before she left for the grocery store in blue jeans, a green parka and her red rubber rain boots. The police and papers ignore the disappearance, leaving her three friends – whose roots lie in Serbia and Croatia – to discover the truth. A search for Karla becomes a search for the self in this lyrical thriller and modern day epic cloaked in the mystery of Europe’s underworld.
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| Sarah Sherman, Cara Pifko, Gord Rand Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann |
This latest installment of In The City features music, theatre, film and visual art events taking place around T.O. this weekend and for the rest of the month.
Imaginary Friends
Gabrielle De Montomollin
The Red Head Gallery
February 4 to 28, 2015
Reception: Saturday February 7, 2-5 pm
Falls, on the shores of Lake Muskoka and the wintery streets of Montréal, sailing the Atlantic to points further East, de Montmollin’s real-in-art imaginary friends travel the world and send home visual “wish you were here” messages.
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| Roussillon, 2010. Gabrielle De Montomollin. |
The Backward Class
Hot Docs 2014 Audience Award Winner
Opens in Toronto Friday, February 6
The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
In the depths of rural southern India, in a small school devoted to backward caste students, aspiring graduates Vijay, Anith and Mala are studying. At seventeen years old, they are the inaugural graduating class and are preparing for final exams no class of their background has ever had the opportunity to write, the Indian School Certificate high school graduation exams.
Mooredale Concerts
Walter Hall, U of T
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Tickets: $30, or $20 for under age 30,
available online or by calling 416-922-3714 ext. 103
Mooredale Concerts brings together violinists Erika Raum and Scott St. John, violist Sharon Wei and cellist Thomas Wiebe. Three great classical works for duo and trio comprise their program – Schubert’s Trio for Strings in B flat major, D. 471; the Sonata for Two Violins in A minor by Eugène Ysaÿe; and Bach’s massive Goldberg Variations for String Trio in G major, BWV 988, arranged by Dmitry Sitkovetsky.
On the same afternoon, you can bring the kids to Music & Truffles – Classical Music for Family Enjoyment. The artists also perform a one-hour interactive version of the concert for young people age five and up, and their families. Sunday, February 8 at 1:15 p.m. at Walter Hall, iTickets, only $13, include a chocolate truffle for all.
Twisted
Factory Theatre with b current
Runs until February 22
Written by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman and Joseph Jomo Pierre
Directed by Nigel Shawn Williams
Starring: Susanna Fournier and Ngabo Nabea
Twisted is a modern-day reimagining of the Dickens classic, Oliver Twist, set in the heart of Toronto’s urban centre. In this retelling, Ollie, an orphaned black youth, and bottom girl Nancy are trying to survive the gritty streets of Toronto. Ollie has been in and out of foster homes and Nancy suffers from a loveless childhood, but they find love in each other, at least through their cell phones. Through their intimate and poetic text messages, they forge a powerful real-time connection – and plan a dangerous escape for a better life. Together.
From this list, I can tell you that I have attended previous Mooredale Concerts and have always enjoyed myself. I have also seen the documentary The Backward Class twice at Hot Docs Documentary International Film Festival last year. It is uplifiting, moving, and definitely a crowd pleaser. For the rest, I suggest you take the time to check out either the art or theatre show. They always make for an entertaining afternoon or evening out, especially in the winter.
Canadian Rep Theatre‘s presentation of the Toronto premiere of How Do I Love Thee? by Florence Gibson MacDonald opens tonigh, February 5th, at the Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre. Directed by Canadian Rep Artistic Director Ken Gass, How Do I Love Thee? is a language-rich exploration of both the euphoric and darker sides of the marriage of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, Victorian-era poets who enjoyed “rock star status” at the heights of their careers.
This exploration of the intricacies of love, creativity and addiction features a great cast with Irene Poole and Matthew Edison as Robert and Elizabeth, Nora McLellan as Elizabeth’s maid Wilson, and David Schurmann as John Kenyon, Elizabeth’s distant cousin and friend of Robert.
Following the euphoria of a heady courtship carried on chiefly through letters, Robert elopes to Italy with Elizabeth, only to discover her lifelong addiction to opiates which fuel her relentless creativity.
Playwright Florence Gibson MacDonald noted her “inspiration for this play came from a most unlikely source: the British Medical Journal wherein several doctors in the 1990s engaged in a lively discussion about Elizabeth Barrett’s illness.” It is on this note, that I took the liberty to ask MacDonald more about the play, and its inspiration.
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| Playwright Florence Gibson MacDonald Photo: Canadian Rep Theatre |
HM: Since How Do I Love Thee?‘s premiere in Alberta, has any material changed in the story or overall play?
Florence Gibson MacDonald: Yes, there have been significant changes. Ken Gass, Artistic Director of Canadian Rep, and I went back to a previous draft of the play and worked from there. We both felt there were elements, in the second act primarily, that deserved a second look. So although there are no major changes to character or structure, the lives of the Brownings after their marriage has been expanded to include things like the birth of their son, Pen, Elizabeth’s interest in Italian politics, the writing of Aurora Leigh- all things that created friction in the marriage! This resulted in changing the act break as well.
HM: It is very interesting how you were inspired to write this play when noticing Elizabeth Barrett’s illness was often mentioned in the British Medical Journal. Is this an important aspect of her and Robert Browning’s courtship, you think?
FGM: Elizabeth’s addiction to opiates is, of course, a game changer in their marriage. Especially since Robert knew nothing about it until they’d lived in Italy for a month and there was no money to pay the bills! But equally important, I think, is the fact she became dependent on her drugs to write. The play explores the effect of drugs on creativity.
HM: Given the great poetic correspondence between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, how did you go about choosing which of these would be quintessential to the play?
FGM: I have only used excerpts from the first few letters. From there it became my own invention, in order to make it dramatic, and to compress the correspondence phase of their relationship- which lasted a year- into a time frame that could be conceived on stage. Of course, I had to use that famous line from Robert’s first letter to Elizabeth, “Dear Miss Barrett, I love your verses with all my heart, and I love you too!”
Oh, that first letter! I remember I learned about both poets in my high school years, knew a bit about Elizabeth’s addiction, and of course, am a fan of their lovely sonnets. Knowing how MacDonald aims to tell their story, I am definitely intrigued about How Do I Love Thee? It will make for an interesting evening at the theatre, as well.
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| Irene Poole and Matthew Edison as Robert and Elizabeth Photo: John Lauener |
After almost two years of extensive renovations, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts opened its doors on October 1st. There were so many improvements to the building but some things that should be pointed out include the uncovering of the original marble in the lobby, ergonomic seats with individual cup holders, and of course, state-of-the-art technology provided by Sony Canada Ltd. all throughout the venue.
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Last Friday, I was listening to CBC Radio 1’s show Q. The host of the show did an interview with the members of The Old Trout Puppet Workshop & Friends from Alberta. They are former university classmates, who got together to form this puppet workshop. Their efforts have realised The Famous Puppet Death Scenes, which showed at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts last week.
I was intrigued by their description of their puppet show. They explained how they created several characters to depict various ways of dying. What an interesting topic for a puppet show Ghomeshi commented. The puppet creators agreed. They stated that they wanted to provide people a different way to deal with the topic of death. It is easier to accept even the most gruesome death when the individual who dies is a puppet. In that sense, they make a good point. READ MORE
