Elizabeth Amos, Christian Lange, Nicole Mitchell, Osasu Oke, and Josh Sanger write: With “Wellness Week” just having drawn to a close at Brock University, and exams looming on the horizon, there couldn’t have been a more apt time to bring the discussion about mental illness literally to our doorstep. Monica Dufault, artistic director of Essential Collective…
Melinda Mohammed writes: Ex-boyfriends, doctors, sex, and clowns — oh my! That’s right, clowns! Sexual Healing, a production playing this weekend at Brock University, brings laughter, laughter and, well, more laughter. This extremely energetic, unpredictable show will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. This is an Independent show in Brock’s…
Why Not Theatre’s celebrated production, Brimful of Asha, visited the Courthouse Theatre in St. Catharines in late October for one night only, and the DARTcritics were among the lucky few to snatch up tickets (and the snacks that came with them!). Here are two of their reviews: Jeremy Knapton writes: Some have said that there is…
On 23rd October the DARTcritics went to the theatre and the movies — at the same time! Here are several review accounts of the experience of seeing David Hare’s play Skylight via the innovation of NT Live: Alex Jackson writes: True love exists in David Hare’s Skylight, but not a light and fluffy love. It…
Alex Franks, Jeremy Knapton, Connor Chabot, Spencer Walker write: Before beginning our final behind-the-scenes experience with STRUTT 2014 several thoughts were going through our group’s minds. First was the fact that we were excited about getting to see the STRUTT Wearable Art Show itself! There was also the after-party, and costumes we had heard stories of, that…
Natalie Allaire, Cole Larson, and Trella Noctor write: Rehearsals for The Incredible Speediness of Jamie Cavanaugh are well underway and on Monday, January 12, our behind the scenes reporting group had the opportunity to sit in on a for a few hours and meet with the director, Kerry Ann Doherty. Since our previous visit with Nigel…
For the second time this year, leading Canadian playwright George F. Walker has premiered a new work in the Niagara region. Following on from The Ravine, produced by Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects in Niagara Falls in May, CrazyLady Theatre Productions opened Parents Night at the Pearl Theatre Company in Hamilton this month, directed by Brock Dramatic Arts…
They’re back! A new class of 37 Dramatic Arts students at Brock University are this year’s DARTcritics. As part of their work in the course DART 3P95/6: Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism, they will be reviewing nine productions in the Niagara region and in Toronto. First up was a visit to the Shaw Festival…
DART fourth-year student Keavy Lynch recently finished a six week internship at the Shaw Festival this summer. Here is a consolidated list of blog posts from her time there. Thoughts around the Table May 13, 2014 In the first, she muses on tablework – the early phase of a rehearsal in which the director,…
Here are highlights from the recent colloquium, The Changing Face of Criticism in the Digital Age, held at Brock University this March. Videos edited by Dramatic Arts students Jessica De Hoog, Emily Ferrier, Misha Harding, James Keating, Nicholas Leno, Brianne Lidstone, Hayley Malouin, and Kendra Neaves. Theatre in Niagara Discussion led by Karen Fricker, Assistant…
Critic in Residence Nicholas Leno writes, The apocalypse has reached London, not 28 days later, but right now! Last week St Catharines’ Dragonfire Players were in London, Ontario performing their newest show The After Year for the London Fringe Festival. I began following Dragonfire Players in April when Hayley Malouin and I interviewed the show’s creators,…
30 January 2014: At the end of their embedding, and having read some of their classmates’ review responses to the production, the five students following the process of The Valley reflected on their experiences. Here are excerpts from what they wrote: Anthony Kuchar writes: In all the years I’ve been working and studying in theatre,…
Critics in residence Nicholas Leno and Hayley Malouin write, How can we write an ending to a weekend that has been the most hectic, fun, and inspiring experience we’d had since making this little ol’ town our home? We aren’t quite sure, but we’re definitely going to try. If you loved In The Soil as…
Critics in residence Nicholas Leno and Hayley Malouin write, How can we write an ending to a weekend that has been the most hectic, fun, and inspiring experience we’d had since making this little ol’ town our home? We aren’t quite sure, but we’re definitely going to try. If you loved In The Soil as…
Critic in residence Hayley Malouin writes, “We are all Creator-made. And the Creator does not make junk.” On Sunday evening Debajehmujig Theatre Group presented The Global Savages, an hour-long event sharing the cultural and spiritual history of the Anishinaabeg people. It is not so much a performance as a kind of heightened storytelling experience; the…
