Cylla von Tiedemann News

When the ground beneath your feet starts, to move it's an unmooring, dangerous feeling. That’s the sensation that shakes at the core of Christine Quintana’s complex and refreshing new play, EL TERREMOTO (The Earthquake), which may shake you from your seat—even without the help of the intense rumble produced by the sound system.

Flacks, a well-known writer who has provided material for anything from Workin’ Moms to Kids in the Hall, airs her dirty, guilty laundry with all five stages of grief and a side of sharp, rueful humour.

It’s been a strong year for Toronto theatre. I saw 145 shows this year in Toronto and beyond, and am happy to report that theatre is alive and well. I’ve laughed, sobbed, coughed (discreetly into a mask), and cheered my way through our stages in 2023. Here are some local highlights.

Love Power the Band will release their highly anticipated new single, 'Psychedelic Halo.' The track, written by lead vocalist Ananda Xenia Shakti, is a vibrant sound bath for Awakening Higher Realm Consciousness. It features a vibrant mix of angelic vocals, pulsating guitars, and mesmerizing percussion, creating a blend of the Velvet Underground.

In WITHROW PARK, Morris Panych’s new play at Tarragon Theatre, we see a view into a neighbourhood a little less than 7 kilometres away from where we sit. Panych’s script is quippy and fun with a philosophical bent about aging, mortality, and the ability to start again at any point, but just like its characters, finds it hard to achieve balance between those two states.

In Nikki Shaffeeullah’s A POEM FOR RABIA, three centuries of women come together to explore the currents of change that shape their lives. Expansive and thoughtful, it’s a fearlessly creative play as messy and complex as the themes of colonialism and queer womanhood it investigates, both to its major credit and minor detriment.

The excitement in the audience on Thursday night was palpable for the World Premiere of FRANKENSTEIN REVIVED – An adaptation written and directed by Morris Panych, with music by David Coulter, based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Word on the street was that this was unlike anything audiences had seen before – and it more than lived up to the hype.

Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the first rehearsal of the highly anticipated Canadian production of SIX. Meet the talented cast members and see them in action as they bring this hit musical to life on the Canadian stage.

The world premiere of Nick Green’s play CASEY AND DIANA had its opening night at the Stratford Festival’s Studio Theatre on Thursday. This production – directed by Andrew Kushnir – is incredibly powerful. Festival veteran Sean Arbuckle is devastating and captivating in what is quite possibly one of the best performances to ever grace this stage, and he is fully supported by an outstanding cast around him.

With only five weeks remaining of the acclaimed all-Canadian production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the CAA Ed Mirvish, it’s time to look at the impact of the show!

Though her style may not be for everyone, Woolley is clearly a talent to watch, displaying a range of abilities in her twisty, complex script. PAINT ME THIS HOUSE OF LOVE gives us a compelling situation, strong characters, and one truly blazing performance, but also the frustration of a conversation that never fully gets started.

The Hooves Belonged to the Deer, playing at the Tarragon Theatre, is an eye-opening revelation story where conflicting situations conspire and lead to a tumultuous end for for Izzy, a young teen Muslim boy coming to terms with his sexuality while under the lure of a local pastor.

What did our critic think of REDBONE COONHOUND at Tarragon Theatre? That's the hotly debated question in Amy Lee Lavoie and Omari Newton's new play at Tarragon Theatre, co-produced with Montreal's Imago Theatre. In REDBONE COONHOUND, interracial couple Mike and Marissa (Christopher Allen and Chala Hunter) find the delicate power balance that comes from living in the world with vastly different experiences can be upset by a small incident that carries the weight of history.

What did our critic think of PRESSURE at Royal Alexandra Theatre? Mirvish Productions presents Pressure playing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre until March 5 2023. Fitting to the name, this performance is a pressurized exploration into the days leading up to D-Day in June, 1944. General Dwight Eisenhower (exquisitely played by Malcolm Sinclair) led the Allied Forces on a carefully calculated attack on Nazi-occupied France. With 350 000 lives at stake, the one unpredictable wild card was the often unforgiving weather. The man tasked with delivering the most crucial weather forecast in history fell on Scottish meteorologist James Stagg (Kevin Doyle).

Get a first look at photos and video of The North American premiere of Pressure at the Royal Alexandra Theatre!

The highly acclaimed production of JOSEPH AND THE TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT has made its way to Toronto. Presented now by Mirvish and directed by Laurence Connor, its premise is straightforward - the Narrator (Vanessa Fisher) is retelling the biblical tale of Joseph (Jac Yarrow) to a group of children.

Get a first look at photos and video of the new London Palladium production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, now on stage through February 18, 2023 at the Princess of Wales Theatre.

David Mirvish is presenting the long-anticipated Toronto premiere of Studio 180 Theatre’s production of INDECENT directed by Joel Greenberg. Get a first look at photos here!

Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dykstra are two accomplished pianists who also happen to be pretty darn funny. Together they've created a musical comedic romp, 2 Pianos 4 Hands (2P4H) playing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, an ode to their lifelong obsession with the 88 keys. If you've ever endured a music lesson as a child, the flashbacks experienced here are all too real.

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.