When I first heard that Robert Lepage had written, directed, and would perform a one-person show for the PANAMANIA Festival about his life growing up in Québec, the first word that came to my mind was – dare I say it? – indulgent. “An entire show about Lepage, by Lepage?” I thought to myself. “Should I buy a biography…
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: While reading this, eat a bag of Cheetos (or other cheese-flavoured crunchy junk food). If you disagree with a point made in the critique, feel free to throw food at the screen, or partake in the eternally delightful comedy classic spit-take. The immature Morro (Heather Marie Annis) and the matu…
FRINGE AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: When I tell you, find a nearby object– it doesn’t need to be significant— and hold on to it. If you’re reading this on-the-go, please do not grab a stranger or their belongings. Okay, go ahead. I’ll wait. (Musical interlude). Are you holding onto your object? I hope you are. Examine it. G…
A note from Hayley: We have a new face at DARTcritics! Evan Bawtinheimer is a recent graduate of the Dramatic Arts Department at Brock University, and an avid theatre goer (if you live in Toronto and dig theatre, then you’ve probably seen him and heard his laugh). Evan is in the interesting position of a) being a DART…
Director Peter Hinton knows how to walk the walk when it comes to revitalizing George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion for modern audiences, and his stellar ensemble knows how to talk the talk. Eliza Dolittle (Harveen Sandu) displays her lower social class standing with terrible pronunciation and articulation that Henry Higgin…
A corporate executive, a female pope, a 13th Century Japanese concubine, a warrior peasant, a turn-of-the-century world traveler, and an obedient Renaissance wife sit down to dinner. The ensuing conversation is the iconic set up for Caryl Churchill’s feminist examination, Top Girls, playing this season at the Shaw Fes…
Murder and madness should be the political playwright’s playground. Unfortunately, the world premiere of Michael Healey’s Canadian adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Physicists at the Stratford Festival fails to excavate the rich material at its disposal to its fullest potential. Originally written following the…
She Stoops to Conquer is a stellar success at the Stratford Festival. Opening on June 4, Oliver Goldsmith’s classic comedy is brought to life for contemporary audiences by director Martha Henry and her tremendously talented cast, who tell the story of genuine characters in an outrageous world. Goldsmith’s comedy is set…
Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew presents a delicate decision for directors of our time to make: either condone the inherent sexism and celebration of male-dominance in the text or condemn it. This season at Stratford’s Festival Theatre, director Chris Abraham has taken a third option; he has chosen to ignore it.…
Lady from The Sea by Henrik Ibsen plays at the Shaw Festival this season, reminding audiences of a type of love that is all consuming, just like the open ocean. As the titular character, Moya O’Connell captures the very essence of that once familiar feeling of lovers gone by. Jenny Hval and Susanna’s “I Have Walked Thi…
