Theatre

The Toronto Adventures The Toronto Adventures chronicles the real life story of a Cape Breton girl as she moves to “the big smoke” (psst – that’s Toronto) to make it as an actress. The inevitable culture clash is played out, often to humourous effects. Through it all the protagonist never loses her sense of humour […]

Here’s a treat for audiences. A magic show. But not just a magic show. Magical Thinking (as in pick a card, show the audience, think of that card, is it the seven of diamonds?) is a piquant showcase of Trevor Poole, close-up magic card manipulator and heavy equipment maintenance man. OK, the latter is his […]

Monetta James exudes charisma, innate acting talent and oodles of potential as a theatrical performer. Her range of expressiveness whether in dance movement (mainly African-centric mimicking the movement of graceful cranes), singing in a clear confident rich alto, or portraying a freedom seeking slave in the American South, a troubled 30s “pop” singer modelled on […]

The two-barrelled title of Bud Hunter’s play is only the first of Hunter’s many problems. How about (for seconds) opening lines like, “This probably won’t be much fun for you” (oh-so-true) and, “If my childhood had been a factory, they would’ve shut it down years ago due to poor managerial practices and a blatant disregard […]

As Bud Hunter’s one-man play, “Bud Hunter’s Life in the Big City or Male Menopause and the Single Guy” begins, Hunter references “The Sopranos.” Tony talks with Dr. Melfi about his family and past as a means of working through and understanding his current problems and reactions, Hunter points out. To that end, Hunter’s play […]

Hey! Guess what guys? School shootings suck! That’s the message that Just Another School Shooting tries really, really hard to convey, but falls flat at pretty much every turn. The play is centred around four high school students who survived an attack in their Hamilton high school. All the high school archetypes are here – […]

It’s as rare as fur on a duck, bicycles that prefer to walk or a chorus line of clog dancing eels. And that is clowns who are genuinely funny. Not like the odious burger shiller. Or those sad sack rubber wranglers fashioning balloon animals at kids birthday parties. No-no-no. I’m talking about real clowns who […]

This is a nice surprise. A smart, funny-witty standup delivered (and written) by Kirstin Howell on the roiling turmoil of dating from a single woman’s point of view. Interspersing the commentary, well-chosen, well-sung illustrative songs well-accompanied on a Roland electric keyboard by Adam Theriault (who also doubles as a potential Mr Dreamy “gentleman caller” and […]

Cory Bowles has presence, he owns the stage. It’s hard to take your eyes off him as he becomes two very different black men in his show “Righteous.” The first man is a smart, tough drug dealer working to support his family. The second is a successful lawyer, fleeing his community and the taunts of […]

Tricky at the best of times with a full cast of stellar players to present a broad comedy that relies heavily on lightning speed, big, big character acting and crisp, well-timed stage business. Perhaps a well-known comparable example of this type of play is Noises Off. Hard Candy (not a theatrical version of the movie […]

I don’t know much about dance. One of my earliest memories is of being hauled out of a performance of “The Nutcracker” because I kept asking, at the top of my voice, when they were going to talk. Well, Sue Gertridge’s “Dance in a Can” is a perfect introduction to dance for the uninitiated. She […]

There’s a little bit of a lot of things in “Billie’s Blues Revisited.” There are snippets of powerful song from Taryn Della and the late, great Lady Day. There’s poetry by spoken word artists Reed “iZrEAL” Jones and El Jones –poetry that carries you away on rhythmic waves to times and places you’ve never been […]