TORONTO THEATER REVIEWS

In several comedy clubs around the city, audiences would be quick to turn on a comedian once the material starts to bring race and immigration into the mix. However, when you have six talented comedians, all of whom are immigrant themselves telling the jokes, immigration suddenly becomes a major sou...

Scottee is working class. Is he ashamed? No, he absolutely isn't. Does he wish to engage in thought-provoking discussions with as many fellow members of the working class as he can? Yes, he absolutely does. Welcome to the WORKING CLASS DINNER PARTY....

It's definitely a cliché, but the adage 'sometimes less is more,' holds true. Especially when it comes to performance art pieces like THIS WORLD MADE ITSELF & INFINITELY YOURS. This is a moving and innovative piece that is sure to capture the hearts and minds of whoever sees it....

As a frequent theatre-goer, there are certain shows you look back on and go, 'wow, I really sat through that?' Unfortunately, LESSONS IN FORGETTING is one of those shows....

Have you ever seen a figure that no one else could see? Have you ever heard a voice that no one else could hear? Have you ever felt a presence that no one else could feel? If so, or if you simply believe that ghosts walk among us, THE GHOST PROJECT is the show for you....

If a production is successful, it will draw you into the world it has created and for a while, allow you to lose yourself in the story unfolding on stage. With just a few well-placed set pieces, convincing costumes and powerful performances, it can be done. THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, now playing at the ...

It's time to escape Toronto's urban jungle for a real one, and this journey is one for the entire family to take together. Rudyard Kipling's classic works are adapted and directed by Craig Francis and Rick Miller in this modern, multimedia take on a beloved story of the connection between humanity ...

HAMILTON has proven its lasting power in the five years since it debuted on Broadway, and after landing in several international locations, the mega-hit musical about America's ten-dollar founding father has crossed the border....

SECRET LIFE OF A MOTHER is a simple, sweet, agonising, and intimate work of autobiographical theatre by some of Toronto's best theatre talent. With a script (mostly) by Hannah Moscovitch and (mostly) starring Maev Beaty, SECRET LIFE offers an inward look at the pains and paradoxes of pregnancy, bir...

The Canadian Opera Company's HANSEL AND GRETEL, directed by Joel Ivany, is a spectacularly detailed production; unfortunately, the sheer amount of things happening at every moment overwhelms the gorgeous music and talented cast....

In the opening scene of THIS WAS THE WORLD, on now at Tarragon Theatre, a law professor (R.H. Thomson) meets with his supervisor (Kim Nelson) to discuss a problematic statement he made in class. a?oeI apologised immediatelya??, he insists, but the fact that he's reclining with his feet up on his bri...

The theatre shook with applause for Jully Black last night as she opened the musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE at the Winter Garden Theatre. She was one of many in the cast to give powerhouse performances in a dramatically and musically challenging show....

It might not be the most gut-busting show from the company, but The Second City's new romance-themed show is still a fun, funny, and healthier alternative to stuffing your face with chocolates this Valentines Day....

Lucius is an exuberant, charismatic serial killer who claims to have found God while incarcerated. His exact religious philosophy is unclear - he preaches justice but cannot account for his own atrocities.  Angel was arrested for shooting the leader of a dangerous religious cult. He doesn't thin...

MARJORIE PRIME is set some 30 years in the future, after scientists have invented Primes, charmingly lifelike holographic representations of dead people you can buy to keep you company after a loss. Say your husband's passed away - I'm so sorry, but look! here he is, or something that looks and talk...

The Canadian Opera Company's remount of THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, last performed in 2015, is a visually striking and pitch-perfect adaptation of one of opera's most well-known works. With staging by Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants, director Joan Font beautifully blends 19th century sensibilities,...

Theatre Passe Muraille kicks off 2020 with an Arabic-language double-bill. Is it novelty or innovation? A bit of both, I think....

England's first female regent is often forgotten and relatively unknown, but in Soulpepper's remount of MOTHER'S DAUGHTER, Queen Mary gets her moment in the sun - whether she wants it or not....

There's never been a shortage of movies-turned-stage musicals, but where many achieve to go beyond their inspirations, LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL is a show that stays true to what makes the cult-classic film so beloved a?' and in doing so, is just as relevant and timely in 2020 as the movie was in 2...

SWEAT is a work of social realism, that controversial genre of fiction, film, and drama that tries to be romance and documentary all in one. It casts light on an often ignored part of American society, that is, those disenchanted workers - and ex-workers - whose dreams have been disrupted by some th...

It's one of the most well-known musicals, but THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA continues to surprise, featuring a stellar cast, design, and dozens of special effects that all add up to a massive spectacle of a show....

EVERY SILVER LINING is about being a teenager, and cancer. Clara (Allison Wither, who also composed the music and wrote the lyrics) is a teenager. She reads books, goes swimming, and ignores her friends. Her brother, Andrew (Daniel Karp) is dying of leukemia....

Aluna Theatre and Nightwood Theatre's production of THE SOLITUDES, directed by Bea Pizano, is an interesting glimpse into the lives of eight very different women's lives, histories, and bloodlines. Despite strong creative elements and performances, the dozens of ideas that are brought up rarely conn...

As in the best novels by Philip Roth, playwright Hannah Moscovitch delights in convincing us that her character's predatory behaviour is a minor flaw, not that bad in context, and that he's not that much worse, really than anyone else. Annie is intelligent, independent, has some sexual experience; i...

Jess is torn between her obligations to her family and her dream of being a soccer star. Everyone tells her she has what it takes to make it big - except her parents, who remind her that her commitment, first and foremost, should be to her family. I won't tell you how BEND ITa?? ends, suffice to say...