TORONTO THEATER REVIEWS

A gender-bending, English and American Sign Language (ASL) bilingual production of Shakespeare's Hamlet may sound ambitious - but it plays as compellingly human. Maybe you're not familiar with the story. Maybe you've seen it a hundred times. Regardless, Why Not Theatre's PRINCE HAMLET will defy your...

The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire displaced an entire city. In AFTER THE FIRE, writer Matthew MacKenzie examines the aftermath of the disaster through two couples. However, the complexity of the plot leads to a somewhat convoluted story due to the amount of exposition and information throughout....

In Damien Atkins's WE ARE NOT ALONE, the playwright and actor leverages his own fears and judgements against an Arizona-based convention full of extra-terrestrial experiencers, believers, and alien-human hybrids to explore the concept of belief in a manner that brings our own existence into question...

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG has to be the loudest I've ever heard a Toronto audience laugh. The hilarious farce has captured the essence of what most theatre professionals spend their lives fearing. It takes the unpredictable nature of live theatre and exaggerates the hell out of it....

What happened in the Prime Minister's office on the ill-fated day of Joe Clark's budget vote? Michael Healey's play on the downfall of the 16th PM of Canada, produced by The 1979 Group and directed by Miles Potter, explores the ideology of the morally-motivated Albertan and his interactions with som...

Ross Petty's panto is back and better than ever! THE WIZARD OF OZ at the Elgin Theatre is a loose adaption of the classic story with a modern/environmentally-conscious twist. Ross Petty's panto has become a staple of the Toronto theatre community, entertaining generations of audiences for over 20 ye...

Before the show even begins, the voice of Andrew Lloyd Webber informs us all that the kids in SCHOOL OF ROCK play their instruments live. This becomes overwhelmingly impressive as the show progresses. SCHOOL OF ROCK: THE MUSICAL, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and book by...

Written by Christopher Morris following years of research in Israel, directed by Daniel Brooks, and produced by Human Cargo with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille, THE RUNNER is an intimate look into the life of Jakob (Gord Rand), a member of the Jewish crisis-response team ZAKA....

It was a, 'I was there when…' kind of evening for opera. Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky appeared at Toronto's beautiful Koerner Hall for her highly anticipated recital, From Bel Canto to Verismo, accompanied by pianist Anthony Manoli. One has to applaud the presenter, Show One Productions, on its comm...

In a desolate world, to what lengths are people willing to go to feel safe? In YELLOW RABBIT, produced by Silk Bath Collective and Soulpepper and directed by Jasmine Chen in its world premiere, two people must determine what they value most, and suffer greatly at the hands of the leader of a refuge ...

WE KEEP COMING BACK, produced by Factory Theatre and Selfconscious Productions, begins with a dream of Warsaw, but strangely enough, never quite gets there. Most ideas expressed go unanswered by the cast, and rightfully so, given the show's foundation....

This is not your parents' Willy Wonka. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, the new musical by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, is a bigger, brighter, louder version of the beloved novel by Roald Dahl. Featuring larger-than-life projections, updated characters, and brand-new music - the world of Willy ...

What happens when you put eight accomplished singers, two dynamic actresses, and a back-up band that steals the show more than once? You get UNCOVERED: JONI MITCHELL & CAROLE KING....

Out of your dreams, and onto the stage! Scarborough Music Theatre's Oklahoma! Shines at the Scarborough Village Theatre until November 17th...

Caryl Churchill's 2016 work ESCAPED ALONE receives a subtle, simple rendition in its Canadian premiere. Produced by Soulpepper and the Necessary Angel Theatre Company, the piece walks a fine line between mundane and manic for the entirety of its 50-minute view time....

Written by Marco Ramirez and directed by Guillermo Verdecchia in this Soulpepper production, THE ROYALE is described as a match told in six rounds. What viewers actually get is a 90-minute whirlwind of emotion packed to the brim with subtle self-reference and a gut-wrenching showdown between a risin...

The soul of Motown is alive in Toronto. On its final stop before Broadway, AIN'T TOO PROUD busts open the Motown catalogue at Mirvish's Princess of Wales Theatre. With explosive vocals that reach every extreme of the human voice, high-energy choreography, and a playlist of 31 Motown favourites - AIN...

How do you charge a person in the flesh for their actions in a simulation? Produced by Coal Mine Theatre and Studio 180 Theatre, Jennifer Haley's work shines as a multi-world crime investigation....

Sarah DeLappe's first foray into playwriting is a complete knockout, and is brilliantly directed by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster and produced by The Howland Company and Crow's Theatre. ...

Striking audio and powerful stories drive ORALTORIO: A THEATRICAL MIXTAPE as the lives of black women, never named yet eerily familiar, are brought to life in this new Soulpepper and Obsidian Theatre production, directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu. ...

DR. SILVER: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE is setting a new standard for Canadian musical theatre. From the moment you arrive at the venue, you're faced with a mass of Dr. Silver's followers - they're friendly, but it's unsettling to watch the room slowly fill with mini cups of blue water....

What happens when you get a group of talented women together to write a show? Over a dozen sketches that reveal the funnier aspects of being a woman....

How do you dust off an old classic and make it engaging and fresh for a 21st Century audience. The Shaw Festival has done just that in its gem of production THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. Many have heard the title but may not be familiar with the details of the intriguingly convoluted case that Sher...

From the first crash of drums, you could feel the excitement ripple through the theatre. The beloved musical MAMMA MIA! returned to the Ed Mirvish Theatre for a limited engagement and audiences could not have been more thrilled. Telling the story of Sophie Sheridan and her mother Donna, the show exp...

Mark Crawford's BED AND BREAKFAST is a two-man show stuffed to the brim with vibrant, interesting characters, that takes place after Brett (Gregory Prest) inherits a family home in some Ontario small-town and packs up his life in Toronto with his partner Drew (Paolo Santalucia) to open a bed and bre...