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 int…

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 th…

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 beautiful Niagara…

Richards (left) and Griffith with Céspedes and Bolin (background) in The Power of Harriet T 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 pr…

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…

On 16 November 2013, the DARTcritics (as part of the audience of nearly 2,000) attended the STRUTT Wearable Art Show at the W.S. Tyler factory in St Catharines. From fire dancers, to a fabulous catwalk show with a live soundtrack by the  Toronto-based country-meets-rock style band The Sadies, to acrobats suspended on s…

On Friday, 25 October, the DARTcritics attended the production One, from Montréal’s Orange Noyée productions, at the Brock Centre for the Arts. Here is a selection of their critical responses: Mani Soleymanlou Sarah Lawrence writes: Darkness.  Silence.  Anticipation.  Suddenly, a shadowy figure darts across the stage,…

Next week sees the Brock Department of Dramatic Arts main stage production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, featuring several members of the DARTcritics team. The production, co-directed by DART professors Gyllian Raby and Danielle Wilson, is set in the 1950s and laced through with country blues music. It plays from 7-9…

On 3 October, the five DARTcritics embedded in Cabaret Sauvignon saw the production, and reflect on the experience here given their privileged insight into the ideas behind the show. One critic writes: Rockway Vineyards is where the scene plays out. Guests seated, a three-course meal, and 1920s-style cabaret theatre th…

The 35 students in DART’s Theatre Criticism class saw the Shaw Festival’s production of Lady Windermere’s Fan on 24 October, 2013. Here is a selection of the DARTcritics’ reviews. Hayley Malouin writes:  The only true constant is scandal, a sentiment made exquisitely clear in the Shaw Festival’s production of Lady Wind…