Actor and critic in residence Hayley Malouin writes, I’ve always been fascinated by the process of adapting books into plays. Narratives and dramatic text have such different manners of discourse. Different methodologies; different modes of presentation; different stories. The type of story-alchemy that changes one into the other is no small undertaking. But I am in…
Critic in residence Nicholas Leno writes, In the not too distant future our over-populated planet is nearly wiped out by a deadly super-virus that kills its hosts in their sleep. A year has passed since the virus’ spread, and Jackson, hero of Dragonfire Players’ new show The After Year, leads a group of survivors as they…
This is the mini-site for coverage of the In the Soil Arts Festival.
1 March 2014: Carousel Players’ mandate is to create professional theatre for young audiences aged 5-15. So, what impression would one of their shows have on a group of University students? The DARTcritics reviewed Carousel’s production of The Power of Harriet T, imagining they were writing for a school newsletter to help parents decide if…
A Beautiful View / Centre for the Arts at Brock / Daniel MacIvor / Embedded post / Niagara theatre / Volcano Theatre
10 April 2014: This is a selection of the DARTcritics’ reviews of A Beautiful View. Cassandra Moerman writes: Well, fans and friends, I went to see A Beautiful View by Daniel MacIvor, and let me tell you: the view was pretty incredible. Volcano Theatre put on this stellar performance in a section of the Sean O’Sullivan…
Embedded criticism involves an arts writer following a creative process closely and generating writing about the process that reflects this insider knowledge. The term was coined by London (UK)-based theatre critic and blogger Andrew Haydon in April 2012 and expanded on by the New York City-based arts writer and advocate Andy Horwitz in October of…
Early Saturday morning on March 8, a group of five of us #DARTCritics headed to the Shaw Festival Theatre, to sit in on a rehearsal of director Peter Hinton’s production of Cabaret. With little idea of what to expect, and the buzz of coffee-charged chatter filling the small car, we made our way to the…
20 February 2014: As part of their preparation for our colloquium, The Changing Face of Theatre Criticism in the Digital Age, the DARTcritics undertook research on a number of critics, bloggers, and others with an interest in their work, looking in particular at how online forms of communication (including social media) figure in their critical…
As part of their participation in Jill Dolan’s visit to Brock and the theatre criticism colloquium, a group of DARTcritics have imagined a utopian theatre community online. Here is a link to their research on this: http://utopiantheatre.wordpress.com
5 February 2014: The DARTcritics attended the matinee performance on 25th January of London Road at Canadian Stage. Here are some of their review responses: Sarah Mason writes: I remember once having a conversation with my father which involved him questioning the way in which playtexts are usually delivered. He said that despite theatre being…
