This year, our student embedders become one of The Team, as they follow the creation process of Essential Theatre Collective‘s upcoming show. To start, they met with director Colin B. Anthes and designer James McCoy to discuss their vision for The Team. Hazel Adie, Dani Shae Barkley, Frances Johnson, Jonah Pace, and Kr…
The DARTcritics class of 2017-18 took on the challenge of reviewing theatre for young people, catching Carousel Player’s production of Jordi Mand’s new play The Will Be Excellent at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, where it performed two public matinees before resuming its tour of elementary schools in Southern…
It’s been over a week since Essential Collective Theatre’s world premiere of Our Lady of Delicias opened at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and I’m still bumping into people buzzing about it. Politically charged, hilariously delivered, and satisfyingly ambiguous, it’s a play that sparks discussion, discussion t…
“You know theatre. The lights, the sound, the spectacle. When you take your seat in the auditorium, no matter the size, you know you’re in for a treat. Audiences come from far and wide to be whisked away into thrilling tales of love, drama, comedy, and more. We come for what’s on stage, but what we don’t get to see is…
Welcome to the inaugural episode of the DARTcritics Presents: Two Peas in a Podcast! This podcast explores topics, themes, trends, conventions, and tropes in theatre and performance through the context of specific productions. In this first episode, hosts Mae and Andria – theatre critics and Brock University Dramatic A…
Welcome to the first post in our blog series on the Brock University Dramatic Arts winter mainstage production of Top Girls! Written in 1982 by Caryl Churchill and directed for DART by faculty member Danielle Wilson, Top Girls is an exploration of and critical look at women and their relationships to power and success.…
Emma McCormick and Kristina Ojaperv write… While a vision may look good in theory, it is how the cast and creative team build a show in rehearsal which gives that vision substance. On January 25th and 31st, we attended rehearsals of This Will be Excellent after meeting with director Erin Brubacher. Rehearsals take plac…
Emma McCormick and Kristina Ojaperv write, As our journey into the evolving form of embedded criticism begins, we feel the title of Jordi Mand’s new work sums up our first impressions – This Will Be Excellent. Embedded criticism provides an inside look at the process of a show’s creation, through discussing the initial…
Essential Collective Theatre (ECT) is a St Catharines staple. Their latest production, The Welland Canal Play, takes another local icon as its subject matter, tracing the complex and contentious history of the Welland Canal’s construction. Here, critics Sumer Seth and Kristina Ojaperv share their thoughts: Sumer Seth w…
The DARTcritics class is back in session! Our 25 budding theatre critics tested their critical skills on local St. Catharines company Stolen Theatre Collective’s production of House by Canadian theatre darling Daniel MacIvor. Here’s a taste of what they thought. Welcome, DARTcritics class of 2017/18! Anthes as Victor.…
