Pencil Kit Productions has partnered with the Gladstone Hotel and grassroots artist collective Blank Canvas to produce Shadow Girls, a theatrical production scored entirely with overhead projector art. READ MORE
Necessary Angel Theatre Company, Electric Company Theatre, and The Theatre Centre bring us their new co-production 40 Days And 40 Nights, a new work created and performed by Daniel Brooks and Kim Collier, with consulting director Jennifer Tarver for Necessary Angel.
This sensorial, ritualistic, celebration invites performers and audiences to contemplate, and talk about Love. Here is what Collier has to share about this intriguing new work.
Saudi poetess Hissa Hilal made headlines around the world as the first woman to reach the finals of the Arab world’s biggest televised poetry competition, Million’s Poet. The Poetess is the story of a woman risking her personal safety and seizing an opportunity, live on TV in front of 75 million viewers, to use her wit and lyricism to critique patriarchal society and religious extremism.
Théâtre français de Toronto‘s production of Le Menteur (The Liar) is a witty comedy of manners full of flowery language and wicked banter. Although the play was written in 1643 by Pierre Corneille, the themes are still relevant today: the resistance of youth to authority, tall tales, jealousy, infatuation, and much more. READ MORE
The 15th annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival, co-presented by TIFF and Human Rights Watch, features a diverse lineup celebrating the power individuals can hold in complex social and political situations. This year’s Opening Night film is On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani and Popi. The film offers an intimate look at the story of Roman and Ruth Blank. A couple whose experience casts a light on the power and complexity of love, marriage, and deeply held family secrets. READ MORE
With theatre season in full bloom in Toronto, I continue to discover more local theatre companies creating challenging and provocative works. This past week I learned about Lester Trips (Theatre) founded by Lauren Gillis and Alaine Hutton. Their latest collaboration, Mr. Truth, an off-the-beaten-sketch-comedy-path is set to premiere at Why Not Theatre’s The RISER Project.
To learn more about Lester Trips (Theatre) and Mr. Truth, Gillis graciously agreed to be part of my 5 Questions With… series. READ MORE
Time for another instalment of my Theatre Crawl listings. The month of April has arrived and with it, we have a great many shows to enjoy! READ MORE
Written & Performed by Jivesh Parasram, Take d Milk, Nah? is the story of how he once birthed a cow… kinda. Catchy tag line, no? Read on to find out about the inspiration behind Parasram’s show. READ MORE
Michael Healey’s play The Drawer Boy translates well to film under Arturo Perez Torres and Aviva Armour-Ostroff‘s direction. Torres and team take us back in time to Huron County, Ontario, 1972. Miles arrives at the farm and home of Angus and Morgan, two aging bachelor farmers. He stays with the two farmers in order to learn about farm life and write a play about it. Their lives are changed dramatically when Miles’ art imitates life, creating a very fine line between truth and fiction. READ MORE
In the early 90’s, playwright Michael Healey riffed on the concept of Theatre Passe Muraille’s 1972 project The Farm Show – a devised performance that saw actors from the city interacting with farmers in rural Ontario to uncover the challenges of country life – as a starting point for an intriguing script of friendship and loss. As Theatre Passe Muraille celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, they have decided to remount Healey’s The Drawer Boy, currently on-stage until March 25th.
