Toronto Theater Reviews

Review: SHANIQUA IN ABSTRACTION at Streetcar Crowsnest
by Ilana Lucas - April 15, 2024

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....

Review: SPRING DOUBLE BILL at Toronto Dance Theatre
by Ilana Lucas - April 14, 2024

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 betw...

Review: EL TERREMOTO at Tarragon Theatre
by Ilana Lucas - April 08, 2024

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 ...

Review: UNCLEARING at Harbourfront Centre
by Ilana Lucas - April 08, 2024

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....

Review: HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK at Elgin Theatre
by Ilana Lucas - April 08, 2024

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 curta...

Review: LES MISERABLES at the Princess of Wales Theatre
by Samantha Wu - March 30, 2024

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 the...

Review: DANA H. at Factory Theatre
by Ilana Lucas - March 25, 2024

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 case i...

Review: NO ONE'S SPECIAL AT THE HOT DOG CART at Theatre Passe Muraille
by Ilana Lucas - March 23, 2024

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 list...

Review: DEAD ELEPHANTS at Aki Studio
by Ilana Lucas - March 20, 2024

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....

Review: TEASE at Crow's Theatre
by Samantha Wu - March 17, 2024

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...

Review: ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD at CAA Theatre
by Samantha Wu - March 14, 2024

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 w...

Review: AS I MUST LIVE IT at Theatre Passe Muraille
by Ilana Lucas - February 25, 2024

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 type of imm...

Review: ALADDIN at Princess Of Wales
by Ilana Lucas - February 23, 2024

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 numbe...

Review: GUILT: A LOVE STORY at Tarragon Theatre
by Ilana Lucas - February 22, 2024

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....

Review: THE EVE OF ST GEORGE at The Great Hall
by Samantha Wu - February 22, 2024

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 ...

Review: MIND OVER MATTER at The Rec Room
by Ilana Lucas - February 19, 2024

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....

Review: UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE at Canadian Stage
by Ilana Lucas - February 19, 2024

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....

Review: CASEY AND DIANA at Soulpepper
by Ilana Lucas - February 13, 2024

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 trying...

Review: DION: A ROCK OPERA at Coal Mine Theatre
by Ilana Lucas - February 11, 2024

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 ...

Review: UNCLE VANYA at CAA Theatre
by Samantha Wu - February 12, 2024

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 revi...

Review: NATASHA, PIERRE, AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 At Streetcar Crowsnest
by Ilana Lucas - February 02, 2024

The musical is based on a section of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, but it’s anything but staid and traditional. In the midst of war, death, and constrained social circumstances, in fact, it’s enormously successful in feeling like a celebration of life....

Review: MIGRAAAANTS at Theatre Passe Muraille
by Ilana Lucas - January 30, 2024

Putting the audience onto the same boat as its characters and letting us feel the intense, heated gaze of its captain exemplifies what MIGRAAAANTS does best, which is to take us on a journey....

Review: 42ND STREET at Princess Of Wales
by Samantha Wu - December 17, 2023

If you're looking for a holiday musical to entertain the whole family, 42nd Street is full of  song and dance, sparkling costumes, and toe-tapping spectacle. The Tony Award-winning production is playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre into the New Year....

Review: WITHROW PARK at Tarragon Theatre
by Ilana Lucas - December 10, 2023

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...

Review: AIN'T TOO PROUD at Ed Mirvish Theatre
by Samantha Wu - December 10, 2023

Ain't Too Proud, playing at the Ed Mirvish Theatre for a limited engagement, brings the life and times of Motown's finest, The Temptations, to the Toronto stage in a toe-tapping 'Behind the Music'-style spectacular that will leave audiences jaw-dropped....