To February 24 Neptune Theatre Scotiabank Stage 1593 Argyle Street $30-$46 Closing this weekend on Neptune’s second stage is Rose Napoli’s magnificent study on the issues of consent and the abuse of power from those we trust most. Lo (or Dear Mr. Wells) follows the story of Laura (Celia Koughan), a troubled 15-year-old who discovers newfound […]
Theatre
Posted inArts + Music
The Villain’s Theatre puts Fox on trial
Fox February 20-24 Weldon Law Building, 6061 University Avenue 8pm (Wed-Sat) 2pm, 8pm (Thu, Sat, Sun) $10-25, tickethalifax.com Colleen MacIsaac, artistic producer of The Villain’s Theatre, is no stranger to bringing old works to contemporary stages. But even she says that Volpone, an early-17th century comedy by British playwright Ben Jonson, presented a particular challenge […]
Posted inArts + Music
Breaking Macbeth
Macbeth February 5-8, 7:30pm February 9, 2pm, 7:30pm Halifax Citadel National Historic Site 5425 Sackville Street $10-30, tickethalifax.com When she was approached to direct an upcoming production of Macbeth, Julia Schultz says her mind jumped immediately to one of the play’s most challenging scenes. “There’s this one Lady Macbeth monologue, ‘unsex me here,’” she says, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Concord Floral’s patterns
In Concord Floral, suburban Toronto teens adopt an abandoned million-square-foot greenhouse as their hangout, imbibing and exploring. Then two of them find a body. “The rest of the play is this fallout of why is there a body here, is it even there?” says Pamela Halstead, directing the production for DMV Theatre in partnership with […]
Posted inArts + Music
A rule-breaking Hamlet for the era of political rule breakers
Hamlet January 9-20 Neptune Theatre Scotiabank Stage 1593 Argyle Street $28-$37 neptunetheatre.com Nearly four years ago, Ken Schwartz was at The Bus Stop Theatre watching a production of The Pillowman—a Martin McDonagh play cast gender-blind with Jackie Torrens, Mary-Colin Chisholm, Theo Pitsiavas and Matthew Lumley—when he was struck by a vision. “I had this image of Jackie […]
Posted inArts + Music
Theatre review: Cinderella: A Holiday Pantomime at Neptune
I can’t say I was chomping at the bit to see Cinderella, the latest of Neptune Theatre’s holiday offerings. Albeit a holiday show bereft of holiday feels (you’ll have to see A Christmas Carol for that), this fairytale adaptation proves to be a disarmingly zany experience. Defining itself as a British-panto with a sprinkle of […]
Posted inArts + Music
Mouthpiece’s brain matter
Mouthpiece To Nov 18, 8pm (2pm Sun mat) Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth $35 ($25 underwaged) In Mouthpiece, Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava climb out of a bathtub to play both sides of one woman’s brain. They began creating her in 2013, put her on a Toronto stage in 2015, won two Dora Awards […]
Posted inArts + Music
What to Expect When You Aren’t Expected’s queer health care study
What to Expect When You Aren’t Expected Sat Nov 10 (8pm), Sun Nov 11 (2pm & 8pm) Museum of Natural History 1747 Summer Street $10/$20 “These stories are just so powerful, we just couldn’t let them sit anymore,” says Megan Aston. The stories she’s speaking about are those of LGBQ+ women who have given birth […]
Posted inArts + Music
Theatre review: Some Blow Flutes at the Bus Stop
Note: This review is based on a preview performance. Some Blow Flutes is the latest creation of HomeFirst Theatre’s artistic director, Mary Vingoe. It follows the struggle of teenage Leah Frangoulis (Ailsa Galbreath) caring for Elena (Mary-Colin Chisholm), her elderly grandmother whose dementia is progressing to an unmanageable state. Meanwhile, her denial-ridden grandfather Costas (Hugh […]
Posted inArts + Music
Theatre review: Playing with Fire at Neptune
In Playing with Fire, a one-man-show set on an ice rink, actor Shaun Smyth sets out to tell you the life of NHL superstar Theo Fleury. Now if you’re me, and know squat about sports, you’ll assume that Fleury is a famous athlete you’re sure you’ve heard of, who played hockey. So for all those […]
Posted inArts + Music
KAMP’s survival songs
KAMP To November 11 Neptune Theatre Scotiabank Stage, 1593 Argyle Street $30-$50 neptunetheatre.com “It blew my mind. I thought, ‘This is a musical begging to be written,’” says Garry Williams. Williams was visiting Sachsenhausen, a Nazi concentration camp north of Berlin. He learned the site had housed a sub-camp for homosexual men, “so they wouldn’t […]
Posted inArts + Music
Theatre review: The Little Years at the Bus Stop
The newest production from CanCon devotee Matchstick Theatre is John Mighton’s The Little Years, directed by Matchstick’s artistic director Jake Planinc and starring Colleen MacIsaac and Christine Daniels. It follows the family of Kate (Kayla Gunn and MacIsaac), a girl who dreams of a career in theoretical mathematics, from 1957 to 2002, mainly through her […]