High Park’s Midsummer fails to woo with its swords Diana Jones, York University Director Tanja Jacobs’ choice to set High Park’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a carnivalesque atmosphere, inspired by the work of Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, is appropriate for several reasons. Shakespeare’s comedy is tremendously playful with its sprightly faeries, magical flowers, and […]
Romeo and Juliet, dir. Scott Wentworth, Stratford Festival at Stratford, Ontario, Canada, 2017 Reviewed by Tracy O’Brien Director Scott Wentworth writes in the playbill for the Stratford Festival’s Romeo and Juliet, “When we look at the hate speech around us today, we see our world hasn’t progressed far beyond the Capulets and the Montagues.” Perhaps […]
Richard III at Cupids, NL, dir. Danielle Irvine, Perchance Theatre, August 20th, 2017. Reviewed by Michelle King, Memorial University. Perchance Theatre is back for their eighth season of theatre at Cupids. Richard III, directed by Danielle Irvine (who also serves as the company’s Artistic Director), is one of three offerings at Perchance this summer. This adaption […]
Breath of Kings: Rebellion and Breath of Kings: Redemption, Stratford Festival, Dir. Weyni Mengesha and Mitchell Cushman, Assoc. Dir. Graham Abbey, at Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford, Ontario, Canada. June 22, 2016 Reviewed by Regina Buccola Within a three-month span this summer I will have seen the first part of Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s epic march through […]
The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of The Shrew Shakespeare by the Sea, Halifax, Canada, 2014 Reviewed by Yolana Wassersug Now in its 21st season, Shakespeare by the Sea is a perennially beloved aspect of summertime in Nova Scotia. The company has performed its site-specific outdoor plays in various historical landmarks around the city, […]
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Chamber Play (Stratford Festival) @ Stratford, Ontario, Canada, 27 July 2014. Reviewed by Jill L. Levenson (University of Toronto) Peter Sellars, practitioner and teacher of many performing arts, has brought his remarkable skill- set to Canada three times over the past two years. Initially, he energized two Canadian Opera Company productions, Richard Wagner’s […]
Reviewed by Rob Ormsby The Stratford Festival’s King Lear takes a timeworn kick at the emotional-realist / Shakespeare-plus relevance can. Director Antoni Cimolino presses his actors to convey every last one of their emotions as plainly as possible and encourages us to see the purportedly timeless significance of the play’s social critiques by adding a […]
Review by Rob Ormsby Celebration, festivity and inclusiveness are the dominant tones in the Chris Abraham-directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Stratford Ontario’s Festival Theatre. He signals this festive spirit of community before the show begins by sending many cast members in semi-casual summer dress out to mingle and chat on the theatre’s thrust stage, […]
