Watching Glory Die is a call to action. Judith Thompson’s play is based on the true events surrounding the death of Ashley Smith, a teenage inmate at Kitchener’s Grand Valley Institution. If you’ve heard of the tragic story, you’ll know that after an exceedingly long period in solitary confinement, Smith strangled hers…

The embedders return to the Shaw Festival’s The Horse and His Boy for their last rehearsal before they move into the Festival Theatre for technical rehearsals. Shannon Fletcher, Matt Lazaris-Brunner, Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk, and Danielle Woodcock write, It’s an exciting thing, walking into Shaw and being recognized b…

The DARTCritics journied to Crow’s Theatre to see Stephen Massicotte’s play Mary’s Wedding, directed by Kent Staines. Students Dani Shae Barkley and Gwen Anderson express their thoughts below, although in relatively different formats. Dani Shae conveys her experience through text while Gwen elects to explore criticism…

To close out the coverage of Essential Collective Theatre‘s The Team by our critics, the non-embedding students attended the premiere and closing of the show last month. The Team ran at Theatre Aquarius from March 14-16, and at the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre from March 20-23. Check out what these new pairs of…

Our Shaw embedders stepped into The Horse and His Boy‘s rehearsal hall for the first time. Shannon Fletcher, Alexandra Chubaty-Boychuk, Matt Lazaris-Brunner, and Danielle Woodcock write, The Shaw Festival is one of Canada’s most prestigious theatre companies. The four of us have all seen shows at Shaw before, and now w…

The other half of our embedders give their final thoughts on The Team to close out DART Critics’ time embedding with Essential Collective Theatre. Dani Shae Barkley, Jonah Pace, and Kristina Testa write, The creative team engages in their “Check-out” circle. Photo by Kristina Testa. When we walked into the Robertson Th…

Hazel Adie and Frances Johnson write, Feeling almost as excited as if we were about to step on stage ourselves, we take out seats in the Robertson Theatre. Director Colin Anthes steps forward to thank us all for attending and gives a land acknowledgement. That calm, confident voice now so familiar from rehearsals is li…

The second production we have students embedding is The Horse and His Boy at The Shaw Festival. Their first order of business was to meet the director, Christine Brubaker. Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk, Shannon Fletcher, Matthew Lazaris-Brunner, and Danielle Woodcock write, Photo by Peter Andrew Lusztyk. Design by KeyGordo…

Alexandra Chubaty-Boychuk writes, “Are you scared to have another baby?” This is a question Christina Serra gets asked solely because her son, Bruno, has cerebral palsy. She used to perform in Ahuri Theatre’s This is the Point, but then made the decision not to anymore. Her husband Dan Watson explains during the show t…

The second half of our embedding team offers further insight into their visit to The Team‘s rehearsal room.  Hazel Adie and Frances Johnson write, “Holy shit! – that’s not the line,” the actor Laura Welch shouts as she starts a run-through of a scene, and the room dissolves into helpless giggles. This moment is one amo…