
Ilana Lucas
Ilana Lucas is an English professor at Toronto’s Centennial College. She holds a BA in English and Theatre from Princeton University, and an MFA in Dramaturgy and Script Development from Columbia University, where she learned countless fascinating theatre stories as lead archivist for the estate of Tony winners Phyllis Newman and Adolph Green. She is Vice President of the Canadian Theatre Critics’ Association.
Before BroadwayWorld, she worked as Brit+Co’s weekly books columnist, and as a Senior Writer for Mooney on Theatre. In her spare time, she is a freelance dramaturg and playwright, sings in Toronto's Amadeus Choir, and plays nerd-rock handbells with Pavlov's Dogs Handbell ensemble. Her most recent play, “Let’s Talk,” won the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival’s 24-Hour Playwriting Contest.
She believes that theatre has a unique ability to foster connection, empathy, and joy, and has a deep love of the playfulness of the written word.
Most Popular Articles


Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 3 at Toronto Fringe
July 9, 2026

Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 2 at Toronto Fringe
July 6, 2026

Review: PREDICTABLE HOLIDAY ROM-COM/THE UNAUTHORIZED HALLMARK(ISH) PARODY MUSICAL at Second City/The Royal
November 23, 2025

Review: MJ: THE MUSICAL at Ed Mirvish Theatre
September 26, 2025

Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL 2026: REVIEW ROUNDUP 1 at Toronto Fringe
July 4, 2026

Interview: Tom McCamus of DEATH OF A SALESMAN AND WAITING FOR GODOT at the Stratford Festival
July 20, 2026
BroadwayWorld spoke to McCamus about playing two characters who represent humanity’s fears of stasis and obsolescence, but who themselves live in the present tense.

Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 4 at Toronto Fringe
July 13, 2026
Reviews of Love, Shakespeare, and Rope; A Comedy Show at the End of the World; and Orbit

Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 3 at Toronto Fringe
July 9, 2026
Reviews of Pedro the Penguin, 1920s Walking Around in a Dream, Olivia O: The Musical, A Conversation With Myself, and Aliya Kanani: A Comedian's Guide to Enlightenment

Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 2 at Toronto Fringe
July 6, 2026
Reviews of DADS, Brava: A Cabaret of Devotions, and LADIES' DAY at the 2026 Toronto Fringe Festival

Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL 2026: REVIEW ROUNDUP 1 at Toronto Fringe
July 4, 2026
Toronto Fringe Festival: Reviews of War Dog, D.

Interview: Ilana Khanin of YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE at Alumnae Theatre
June 17, 2026
When it comes to experimental theatre in North America, few have a legacy as long, dedicated, and influential as Richard Foreman.

Review: CICADAS at Tarragon Theatre
May 17, 2026
What did our critic think of CICADAS at Tarragon Theatre?

Review: STRIFE at Tarragon Theatre
April 24, 2026
Anyone who’s spent ten minutes online in the past decade knows that we live in an age of anger and polarization when it comes to the issues and identities we hold dear.

Review: THE MOORS at The Theatre Centre
April 17, 2026
In Jen Silverman’s The Moors, the slightly deranged love child of the Brontës, Waiting For Godot, and Six, Emilie the governess (Blessing Adedijo) arrives at a manor amidst the titular plains to find that nothing is quite as she expected.

Review: CYRANO at CAA Theatre
March 24, 2026
When it comes to adaptations of French playwright Edmond Rostand’s romantic tragedy Cyrano de Bergerac, you can take your pick of the nose.

Review: THE NEIGHBOURS at Tarragon Theatre
March 6, 2026
What did our critic think of THE NEIGHBOURS at Tarragon Theatre?

Review: PEOPLE OF THE CITY at Factory Theatre
March 5, 2026
Bad Dog Theatre’s new improv show at Factory Theatre revolves around a storyteller who shares three short stories from their lives about what it means to be a person in Toronto.

Review: LITTLE WILLY at Canadian Stage
March 5, 2026
Master puppeteer Ronnie Burkett brings the beautiful handcrafted marionettes of the Daisy Theatre to Canadian Stage’s Berkeley St.

Review: LOVE YOU FOREVER AND MORE MUNSCH at Young People's Theatre
February 25, 2026
I grew up with Robert Munsch stories.

Review: EUREKA DAY at Coal Mine Theatre
February 25, 2026
Many of us have, at some point in our lives, operated on the basic assumptions that our chosen communities, particularly those aligned by basic ideology, had our best interests at heart and would look out for each other.

Review: YOU, ALWAYS at Canadian Stage
February 18, 2026
Erin Shields’ beautiful YOU, ALWAYS, directed by Andrea Donaldson at Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Street Theatre, is a kaleidoscopic, fragmented look at all moments of a sibling relationship, from childhood to maturity and everything in between.

Interview: Anusree Roy of THROUGH THE EYES OF GOD at Theatre Passe Muraille
February 12, 2026
BroadwayWorld spoke to Roy about the play’s history, her fascination with writing complex women, and the possibility of a future instalment to make Chaya’s story a trilogy.

Review: MISCHIEF at Tarragon Theatre
February 3, 2026
The fish leads a more exciting life when it jumps out of the water to visit mischief on the birds.

Interview: Aidan DeSalaiz of COMPANY at The Theatre Centre
January 11, 2026
BroadwayWorld spoke to actor Aidan deSalaiz, who plays Bobby in the immersive production, about the show’s contemporary relevance, its fascinating and revealing contradictions, and the joys of connectivity in an increasingly isolating world.

Feature: Ilana Lucas Picks the Top Toronto Theatre 2025
January 5, 2026
In a world where AI increasingly tries to consume and simulate real human experiences, theatre sometimes feels like one of the last gasps of being in a room together.
BroadwayWorld TV