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mahabharata

Mahabharata At The Shaw Festival – A Review

Mahabharata At The Shaw Festival Mahabharata, a joint production of the Shaw Festival and Toronto’s Why Not Theatre, has major event written all over it. A sumptuous physical production, spell-binding original music, a splendid operatic interlude, a feverish dance number by an actor representing Shiva, the god of destruction, a

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the gig

The Gig At Theatre Aquarius – A Review

The Gig at Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton Playwright Mark Crawford has always mixed social commentary with his deceptively light comedies. Bed and Breakfast explored changing attitudes toward the love that dare not speak its name in the strange, straight world outside Toronto; The New Canadian Curling Club dealt with anti-immigrant prejudice.

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peter's final flight

Peter’s Final Flight At The Elgin, Toronto – A Review

Peter’s Final Flight at the Elgin Theatre Ross Petty is a Canadian institution, and for devotees of the theatrical form known, somewhat inaccurately, as pantomime, his production of Peter’s Final Flight at Toronto’s magnificent Elgin Theatre is not to be missed. (Canadian readers can take a break here, as the

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elf the musical

Elf The Musical At The Grand Theatre – A Review

Elf, The Musical at the Grand Theatre I kinda liked Elf, the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, but I absolutely loved Elf, the Musical, now receiving a perfectly delightful production at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, under the masterful direction of artistic director Dennis Garnhum. Elf, for those who

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white christmas

White Christmas At The Shaw Festival – A Review

White Christmas at the Shaw Festival Did someone walk into a staff meeting at the Shaw Festival and say, “Hey, here’s an idea: What say we sink all our money into tap dancing lessons?” If so, the investment has paid off handsomely. Kate Hennig’s tap-alicious production of Irving Berlin’s White

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grand ghosts

Grand Ghosts at The Grand Theatre – A Review

Grand Ghosts at The Grand Theatre Grand Ghosts, now premiering at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, was a grand notion. Too bad it didn’t work out. The idea behind Grand Ghosts, as I understand it, was to celebrate the reopening of the renovated theatre with a fun frolic of

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Elsewhere
mojada

Mojada At Yale Rep – A Review

Mojada At Yale Rep The play’s title is Mojada, which literally means “wet” in Spanish, the feminine form of the Mexican slur for “wetback.” The play’s subtitle is A Medea in Los Angeles, so you know things aren’t going to end well. And I’m not talking about the traffic on

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sound of the underground

Sound Of The Underground At The Royal Court — A Review

Sound Of The Underground at The Royal Court Those coming to Travis Alabanza’s Sound of the Underground at London’s Royal Court Theatre expecting the sort of cheerful, glamorous drag show popularized by La Cage Aux Folles and Ru Paul’s Drag Race will likely be disappointed. Those who can handle some

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pride and prejudice

Pride And Prejudice At Kentucky Shakespeare – A Review

Pride And Prejudice At Kentucky Shakespeare Jane Austen purists may be horrified by Kate Hamill’s rollicking, anything-for-a-laugh 2017 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. They would be well advised to put their high standards aside for an evening and enjoy the often hilarious romp being presented by Kentucky Shakespeare in the

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christmas in connecticut

Christmas In Connecticut At Goodspeed Opera House

Christmas in Connecticut at Goodspeed Opera House Christmas in Connecticut, the 1945 Warner brothers film, is a sappy, sentimental, but nonetheless highly enjoyable rom-com (to use a turn of phrase not yet then coined). Its success is due largely to the chemistry between stars Barbara Stanwyck and the now largely

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the brightest thing in the world

The Brightest Thing In The World At Yale Rep

The Brightest Thing In The World At Yale Rep As Leah Nanako Winkler’s The Brightest Thing in the World opens, two attractive young women, Steph (Michele Selene Ang) and Lane (Katherine Romans), meet cute in a Lexington, Kentucky, coffee shop. And meet. And meet. And meet. Over the course of

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Blog

List of Sites that Review Theatre in Ontario Canada

List of Sites that Review Theatre in Ontario Canada You don’t have to take my word for it. I often find myself in a minority when it comes to opinions on plays and films, for reasons that are more fully explained on the About This Site page. It’s a phenomenon

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here for now theatre

Here For Now Theatre Announces 2023 Season

Here For Now Theatre Announces 2023 Season [From their press release.] On Monday, March 1st, HERE FOR NOW THEATRE announced their exciting 2023 SEASON of SIX CANADIAN ONE ACTS to be presented June 28th– September 23rd, in Stratford Ontario at a BRAND NEW beautiful outdoor venue behind the STRATFORD PERTHMUSEUM.

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summer stock

Donna Feore Comes To Connecticut

Donna Feore Comes To Connecticut Great news! Donna Feore is slated to direct and choreograph Summer Stock at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT, from July 7 to August 27, 2023. This world premiere is inspired by the 1950 film of the same name that starred Judy Garland and

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stratford perth musuem

New Home For Here For Now Theatre

  Here For Now Theatre has announced new digs for its 2023 season – a canopy on the grounds of the Stratford Perth Museum on the western fringe of Stratford. It’s a return to the roots of this plucky little troupe, now entering its fourth season. The first two Here

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girls & boys toronto

Girls & Boys Moves to Crow’s Theatre

Girls & Boys Moves To Crow’s Theatre In my review of Girls & Boys, presented by Here For Now Theatre last summer in Stratford, I fretted that there was precious little time left in its short run to allow those who stumbled on my review to see it – and

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ontario stage

The 2022 OntarioStage Awards

The 2022 OntarioStage Awards What they lack in prestige, they more than make up for in pointlessness.™ I’m not a major theatre critic, but I do play one on this website. 2022 marked the first year I made a serious attempt at reviewing all the plays I see, something I

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blyth festival

Blyth And Foster Festivals Announce 2023 Seasons

Blyth and Foster Festivals Announce Their 2023 Seasons The Blyth Festival and the Foster Festival have both announced their 2023 seasons and the auguries are all positive. Blyth will be producing a grand total of seven plays next year. On its outdoor Harvest Stage will unfold a trilogy about the

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