Ilana Lucas - Page 5

Moscovitch’s POST-DEMOCRACY, a new, tight one-hour drama at Tarragon Theatre, bares the seedy, nepotistic underbelly of the glistening penthouse. The bleak hour is gleefully biting in its criticism of a class invulnerable to consequence. However, it bites off a little more than it can chew in addressing the issues implied by its portentous title.

Renowned Toronto dance company Kaeja d’Dance, winner of the 2019 Dance Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award, brings the premiere of two new works to Harbourfront Centre from November 11-13. The company, now in its 31st year, presents 31: TOUCHX and I AM THE CHILD OF as part of Harbourfront’s Torque series.

John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Doubt claims that doubt may be as enduring a force as certainty. Though I’ll never know if the Broadway production would have been life-changing, I can say that the intimate, intense production by new company B&E, set within The Church of the Holy Trinity, certainly makes a convincing argument.

In Human Measure, artist Cassils’ first piece of contemporary dance choreographed by Jasmine Albuquerque, trans and nonbinary bodies are highlighted. A rejoinder to Yves Klein's Anthropometries paintings, in which naked women were painted blue and then dragged across canvases as living brushes, the piece frames its subjects as creators, not tools.

Canadian Stage’s PUBLIC ENEMY is a modern dining-room drama where opinions are loudly aired and ignored. Effectively staged by Brendan Healy, with an impressive cast inhabiting its dysfunctional but believable characters, it’s like watching a conversation by your most frustrating group of relatives.

We regularly use “cockroach” as dehumanizing language for the Other in an attempt to justify their oppression or extermination. That’s the central metaphor of Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho)’s Cockroach, a scathingly funny screed that pits a wisecracking insect against the ghost of Shakespeare in a fight for the identity of a Chinese immigrant to Canada.

Fall for Dance North (FFDN) returns for its eighth year from September 17-October 8th. BroadwayWorld spoke to AD Ilter Ibrahimof about what audiences can expect to see, the festival’s mission of affordable and accessible eclectic dance, and the joys and challenges of presenting a hybrid of online and live programming in a mid-pandemic world.

French performance art group Les Plasticiens Volants will unveil the North American premiere of LEONARDO, DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES, based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci, which includes enormous inflatable sculptures, puppets, and pyrotechnics. BroadwayWorld Toronto spoke to the Plasticiens about the upcoming show and future work.

Banishment, unassailable friendships, brotherly hate, love at first sight, philosophy, a magical forest, and a witty young woman in disguise. These classic Shakespearean elements and more await audiences of Canadian Stage's Dream in High Park production of AS YOU LIKE IT, in bloom at the High Park Amphitheatre until September 4.

WÉI, a new 50-minute dance piece choreographed by Yvonne Ng, is billed as an exploration of identity and belonging, asking questions about the importance of nature versus nurture. While the answers may be inconclusive, this meditation on individuality vs. collective development explores the concepts in a number of absorbing images.

“Isn’t it funny how nothing ever happens?” That line from Lisa D’Amour’s DETROIT, now playing at the Coal Mine Theatre, could be the motto for its portrayal of suburban ennui. D’Amour’s sharp script and the cast’s committed performances make this show feel vital and present – like, perhaps, something is happening after all.

DakhaBrakha returns to ArtPark July 14th for a reception, fundraising concert, and talkback. Originating from the Ukrainian experimental theatre group, Dakh, under the artistic direction of Vladislav Troitsky, the band of four friends has played worldwide in a mission to spread and celebrate Ukrainian culture.

Taking on Sondheim is a daunting task. It’s an even more daunting task to mold his works to fit and frame one’s own life story. Cynthia Dale encourages us to TAKE THE MOMENT at her show at the Winter Garden. Dale’s winning voice and a thoughtful script distinguish this deeply personal show from simply a series of musical theatre covers.

With the world on fire in so many different ways, we could all use a good laugh. Second City’s new mainstage offering at Comedy Bar Danforth, MISSION TOTALLY POSSIBLE, provides one, and then some.

On June 28-29, Harbourfront Centre presents the final work in the Torque dance series, Alan Lucien Øyen and winter guests’ STORY, STORY, DIE. This multidisciplinary production from the award-winning Norwegian director is an exploration of the way we shape the world’s perception of our lives, and the lies we tell to appear more desirable.

Dixon Road, a new musical by Fatuma Adar produced by The Musical Stage Company and Obsidian Theatre in association with Canadian Stage, would not let the burst of rain drenching the High Park stage drown its opening night exuberance. DIXON ROAD ably balances despair and delight to create a show that’s a must-see.

“Are we ready to play God?” is the question that pervades R.U.R.: A TORRENT OF LIGHT, Tapestry Opera’s new co-production with OCAD University. Inspired by Karel Čapek’s 1920 work, the opera updates the source material while preserving its central questions about servitude and freedom. Will robots continue to assist humanity – or simply replace it?

What are the essential qualities that make people who they are? What are the ties that bind us together, emotionally and physically? Is memory crucial to continuing a relationship, or does love conquer all? These are some of the questions asked in LESSON IN FORGETTING, Emma Haché’s heart-wrenching play that is getting its English-language premiere from Pleiades Theatre at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

In Guillaume Côté’s CRYPTO, a man has nightly visions of a mysterious beast. Driven to distraction by his desire to discover what features in the foreground of his dreams, he eventually finds himself set free by his wife to seek the cryptozoological creature. After the man locates the mythical being, however, wonder soon turns to a need to possess and transform as the dark side of humanity’s drive to learn is exposed.

ITALIAN MIME SUICIDE, in a new production by Bad New Days playing at The Theatre Centre, is both more tongue-in-cheek and more serious than its name suggests. The show, written by Adam Paolozza and directed by Paolozza and Kari Pederson, was inspired by the 2003 suicide of an Italian mime who felt that his craft was no longer respected.