Dry Streak At The Blyth Festival The Blyth Festival has mounted any number of terrifc comedies over the years – Liars At A Funeral and Cakewalk come to mind – but I can’t remember when I last laughed as hard as I did at the astonishing comic payoff of Leeann
Othello At The Stratford Festival Othello by William Shakespeare, at Stratford’s Tom Patterson Theatre, is the third Shakespeare I’ve seen this season and the third one I have liked. I admired it every bit as much as I did the RSC production in 2024. In my book that makes this
Sisters of ’78 At The Blyth Festival Sisters of ’78, the new play by Kristen Da Silva, now receiving its world premiere at the Blyth Festival, is a perfect example of what makes Blyth so special. The play fulfills Blyth’s mandate to present new Canadian plays that reflect the lived
The Bean At The Foster Festival The Bean, by the prolific Norm Foster, is receiving a sprightly world premiere at the charming Sons & Daughters Winery, tucked into the countryside south of St. Catherines. Norm Foster plays are often reports from the front lines of the battle of the sexes.
The Tempest At The Stratford Festival Departing Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino’s particular brand of rough magic is on fulsome display in his imaginative production of The Tempest by William Shakespeare on the Stratford Festival’s main stage. I have long maintained that Cimolino is, arguably, the greatest interpreter of the Bard
And Then There Were None At Drayton Entertainment I didn’t add Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at Drayton Entertainment’s St Jacobs Country Playhouse to my list of must-sees for a simple reason. I hate this kind of show. Why? you might ask. For the simple reason that, fiercely
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
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
Falcon Girls at The Yale Rep Falcon Girls by Hilary Bettis, now receiving its world premiere at the Yale Rep, is a grab bag of characters, themes, issues, and notions that comes across more as notes for episodes in a multi-season TV mini series than a fully formed play. That’s
Escaped Alone At Yale Rep Caryl Churchill’s 2016 play, Escaped Alone, is a puzzlement, which despite its 55 intermissionless minutes seems to go on forever. The four women in Yale’s production of Escaped Alone, middle-aged to elderly (although Churchill apparently specified that they are all “at least 70”), sit in
A View From The Bridge at Long Wharf Theatre The now homeless and itinerant Long Wharf Theatre is making ingenious use of an ad hoc space on the second floor of the sleek Canal Dock Boathouse on the shore of New Haven harbor to mount a smashing revival of Arthur
The Salvagers At Yale Rep The Salvagers by Harrison David Rivers, having its world premiere at Yale Rep, is the latest in a long line of semi-successful plays to indulge in kitchen sink realism. There is an angry young man at the center of the working class Salvage family –
Here For Now Announces 2025 Season Stratford’s Here For Now Theatre has announced a 2025 season of five one-act plays, all premieres of one sort or another, running from May 28 to August 31. This will be the company’s first season in its new indoor space in Stratford’s former Registry
Vale Atque Ave or Wither Stratford? The Latin scholars among you may recognize that headline as an inversion of the more traditional “Ave Atque Vale” (Hail and Farewell). I refer, of course, to the upcoming changing of the guard at the Stratford Festival, where Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino will be
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
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”
The 2024 OntarioStage Awards What they lack in prestige, they more than make up for in pointlessness.™ It’s the third time around for the annual awards compilation voted “Easiest to Ignore” by the Canadian theatre establishment. The usual caveats apply: As an American, my time in Canada is limited thanks
Lighthouse Theatre Announces Its 2025 Season The Lighthouse Theatre in Port Dover, Ontario, was new to me this season, but based on my visit to see Norm Foster’s Lakefront, I’ll be returning to their comfy 350-seat house next year. Lighthouse has announced its 2025 season and it looks more than
