TORONTO THEATER REVIEWS

Time travel back to the age of film noir when black and white movie dramas were played to the hilt with overarching mannerisms, full of prototypical characters and not too subtle close ups full of tension inducing musical scores. The Shaw Festival is producing one from that ilk with the classic Agat...

Like its main character, R.A.V.E. is weighed down by some overly ambitious intersectional goals; however, as a party and as an emotional experience, it earns a R.A.V.E. review.A.V.E. at Outside The March?...

Director Moya O’Connell’s take on Henrik Ibsen’s play, in a new version by Liisa Repo-Martel, emphasizes the power of triangles, relationship groupings that seem stable but which are easily unbalanced by such an act of bisection. With a dynamite cast, an accessible adaptation, and the claustro...

Back by popular demand for a limited time is the multiple Tony and Grammy Awards winning new musical Hadestown - music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell, directed by Rachel Chavkin - for a limited run at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre until May 26. This modern, politically relevant tale combines two...

What did our critic think of SWAN LAKES AND MINUS 16 at Harbourfront Centre?...

Directed by Sabryn Rock, behind Theatre Passe Muraille’s hit Our Place, watson’s show is an 85-minute series of sketches about the joys and frustrations of being a Black woman right here, right now....

Toronto Dance Theatre’s Spring Double Bill, highlighting East Asian choreographers of different dance backgrounds, is as welcome as a spring bloom. The two trios run the gamut from serious to irreverent, but both highlight dance as a way to connect, whether between the present and past self, or be...

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 r...

As the name suggests, UNCLEARING can be somewhat opaque in its messaging to the audience, but it doesn’t stop it from being a stimulating evening....

Produced by Côté Danse, Ex Machina and Dvoretsky Productions, THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET is on at the Elgin theatre for five short days, and it’s a respectable addition to Ham Mountain, a visually inventive production that never lets its stage magic overshadow the dancers behind and in front of the c...

The world's most beloved musical, Les Misérables - directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell based on the Victor Hugo novel, makes a highly anticipated return to the Princess of Wales Theatre for a limited engagement. This new reimagined staging is heralded as a reawakening of the classic for...

When actress Jordan Baker opens her mouth, the voice we hear isn’t hers; it’s the voice of Dana H. playwright Lucas Hnath’s mother, Dana Higginbotham, recorded in a series of interviews and cut together to form a lip sync track. Dana herself speaks her truth as she remembers it, which in this ...

Petch’s show blends stories of their experiences from behind the hot dog cart to behind the hospital desk with a discussion of the principles of de-escalation, along with highlighting incidents of when they feel they failed to properly follow these tenets. In turn, the show itself invites us to li...

Good Old Neon’s DEAD ELEPHANTS, now being performed in the Daniels Spectrum’s Aki Studio, packs more pachyderms into its devised script than you might think possible in such a small space, though none of the fine beasts are ever seen on stage....

If you're looking for a downright sexy frolic to highlight your weekend, look no further than Big City Kitties production of Tease, in association with Crow's Theatre. This highly energetic blend of comedy and burlesque with sides of clown, sketch comedy, dance, and awareness are sure to leave you b...

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead is the hilariously absurdist play written by Tom Stoppard, directed by Jeremy Webb, that shines the spotlight on two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet. The star-studded casting for the title duo could not be a more perfect match - from the Academy Award ...

In AS I MUST LIVE IT, Reece’s poetic, autobiographical solo show at Theatre Passe Muraille, it’s clear that he’s found a voice that thoughtfully and lyrically grapples with the intricacies of life and identity. Reece’s narrative, beautiful from both a verbal and visual standpoint, is the typ...

The story of the ascendance of young Aladdin from “street rat” to sultan in Agrabah, this morality tale about the importance of pure-heartedness, self-determination and using your power to help others is a straightforward, fun show that expands slightly on the original film’s memorable musical...

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....

Transcen|Dance Project have brought back their intoxicating and mesmerizing intimate and interactive dance rendition of Bram Stoker's Dracula to The Great Hall. Previously staged in 2015 and then in 2019 to sold out runs, the return of The Eve of St George is highly anticipated. If you've seen this ...

Shelby Handley, Armand Antony, and Alexandra Brynn read the miniscule cues you emit with the tiny movements of your eyes, the twitching of your facial muscles, and even the rhythm of your breathing, in order to figure out exactly what you’re thinking....

With important messages for policymakers and babymakers alike, the urgent performance is part political statement, part a cappella concert, and all cri de coeur about the frustrations of being a parent when nothing is affordable and nobody cares....

Green’s play is a terrific achievement; its urgent structure, indelible characters, and alternately witty and wrenching dialogue make it a highlight of this or any theatre season. But what really stands out is its great, gentle humanity in how it treats all its characters, fragile people just tryi...

The tight, 70-minute DION is a visually compelling show which puts you right in the middle of the dangerous merriment, with terrific performances and some banger musical numbers. It only stumbles when, like one of its characters, it loses its head, trading its promising fluidity and timelessness to ...

Crow's Theatre presents a world-premiere adaptation of Anton Chekhov's classic Uncle Vanya, adapted by Liisa Repo-Martell and directed by Chris Abraham, playing now at the CAA Theatre until February 25, 2024. What has always been an intensely emotional story brimming with familial trauma gets a rev...