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Chronicling a Love Affair with Canadian Theatre

Orgasmos At Teatro Arlequin In Madrid – A Review

orgasmos

Orgasmos at Teatro Arlequin in Madrid Based on the title, one might expect that Orgasmos (Orgasms), which enjoyed a recent one-night stand – how appropriate! – at Madrid’s Teatro Arlequin Gran Via, was devised to lure in sad old men in greasy raincoats and Japanese tourists, rather like O Calcutta of blessed memory. In fact, […]

What Was I Thinking?

un sogno a istanbul

What Was I Thinking? As I was meandering through Europe, contemplating exile, I found myself in Siracusa, Italy, taking it slow and relaxing in a nice hotel as I recuperated from back and leg pain (long story). Once I was feeling better I ventured out to explore Ortigia, Siracusa’s “old town,” a charming tangle of […]

Lucia Di Lammermoor At Bayerische Staatsoper – A Review

lucia

Lucia Di Lammermoor At The Bayerische Staatsoper Before I get to Donizetti’s Lucia Di Lammermoor, and in the interest of full disclosure, let me begin by confessing my profound ignorance of classical music and all things operatic. Not only is it an art form for which I have no instinctive appreciation, I find most of […]

Rampersad Helms Red Shoes At RSC

the red shoes

Rampersad Helms ‘The Red Shoes’ At RSC Following in Tim Carroll’s footsteps, Kimberley Rampersad, the Associate Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival is directing and choreographing The Red Shoes at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. This Red Shoes is a new version of Hans Christian Andersen’s “dark fairy tale” by Irish playwright Nancy Harris, […]

Othello At The Royal Shakespeare Company – A Review

othello

Othello At The Royal Shakespeare Company Tim Carroll is taking a bit of a sabbatical from his duties as Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival in Canada’s Niagara-on-the-Lake to direct William Shakespeare’s Othello at the Royal Shakespeare Company in England’s Stratford-upon-Avon. I’ve seen four Shakespeares directed by Carroll, at The Globe in London, on Broadway, […]

The Lehman Trilogy In The West End – A Review

the lehman trilogy

The Lehman Trilogy In The West End “Give ‘em the old razzle-dazzle,” from Chicago, kept going through my mind as I watched Sam Mendes’ astonishing production of The Lehman Trilogy, now being revived on London’s West End at the spacious yet intimate Gillian Lynne Theatre. Adapted by Ben Power from a script by Italian playwright […]

Safe House At The Abbey Theatre – A Review

safe house

Safe House At The Abbey Theatre I haven’t had much luck with the Irish avant garde. I have vague memories of a wordless Grotowsi-esque rendition of the Great Hunger that came to New York some decades ago. Now there’s Safe House, the new 90-minute whatchamacallit by Enda Walsh and Anna Mullarkey, now puzzling audiences on […]

Stereophonic On Broadway – A Review

stereophonic

Stereophonic on Broadway Stereophonic, the cleverly crafted play by David Adjmi, directed with surgical precision by Daniel Aukin, that plays like a Frederick Wiseman fly-on-the-wall documentary, snagged a Tony for Best Play. It’s easy to see why. Set in a Sausalito recording studio circa 1976 and clocking in at just over three hours, Stereophonic painstakingly […]

The Hills Of California On Broadway – A Review

hills of california

The Hills of California On Broadway “The hills of California will give ya a start. I guess I better warn ya cuz you’ll lose your heart,” says the Johnny Mercer song from 1948. The Hills of California, the new play from Jez Butterworth now at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre, may not make you lose your heart, […]

Thoughts On The 2024 Season

Thoughts On the 2024 Season Well, the OntarioStage Awards have been posted and I am back in centuries old Connecticut, “where tradition is a way of life™,” reminiscing. At this time of year, my beloved wife and I would indulge in a conversation about which of the two major festivals, Stratford or Shaw, had the […]