Stage Door Reviews 2023

The Fox

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

✭✭✭✩✩
by Daniela Vlaskalic, directed by Kelli Fox
Here For Now Theatre, Stratford-Perth Museum, Stratford
August 25-September 9, 2023
Jill: “I hate nature”
Here For Now Theatre’s festival of new work is presenting the world premiere of...

Life Without

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

✭✭✭✭✭
by Steve Ross, directed by Jan Alexandra Smith
Here For Now Theatre Festival, Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford
August 11-26, 2023
Jack: “He shone until he didn’t”
Most people will know Steve Ross from his 20 seasons at the Stratford...

Jenny’s House of Joy

Sunday, August 13, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Norm Foster, directed by Lisa Horner
Norm Foster Theatre Festival, Mandeville Theatre, Ridley College, St. Catharines
August 11-20, 2023
“It’s life that matters, nothing but life” (Dostoevsky, The Idiot)
By programming entire...

King Gilgamesh and the Man of the Wild

Sunday, July 30, 2023

✭✭✭✩✩
by Ahmed Moneka, Jesse LaVercombe and Seth Bockley, directed by Seth Bockley
TRIA Theatre and Soulpepper Theatre, Young Centre, Toronto
July 27-August 6, 2023
Gilgamesh: “Enkidu, my friend whom I love, has turned to clay!
Am I not...

Prairie Nurse

Friday, July 21, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Marie Beath Badian, directed by Megan Watson
Summer Stage, Capitol Theatre, Port Hope
July 15-30, 2023
“They all look the same”
The third show in the Capitol Theatre’s Summer Stage season is Prairie Nurse by Marie Beath Badian....

Margaret Reid

Monday, July 17, 2023

✭✭✭✩✩
by Madeleine Brown, directed by Monique Lund
Here For Now Theatre, Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford
July 14-29, 2023
Cora: “A narrative has to have a narrator”
Margaret Reid by Madeleine Brown is currently receiving its world premiere...

The Effect

Saturday, July 15, 2023

✭✭✩✩✩
by Lucy Prebble, directed by Mitchell Cushman
Coal Mine Theatre, 2076 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
July 13-30, 2023
Connie: “It’s a chemical reaction, is what I’m saying”
The final play of the Coal Mine Theatre’s 2022/23 season is The...

Hadestown

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
music, lyrics and book by Anaïs Mitchell, directed by Rachel Chavkin
David Mirvish, Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto
July 7-August 20, 2023
Hermes: “It’s an old songIt’s an old tale from way back whenIt’s an old songBut we’re gonna...

Corporate Finch

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

✭✭✩✩✩
written & directed by Taylor Marie Graham
• Port Albert Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, Toronto
July 5-16, 2023;
• Here For Now Festival, Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford
July 20-22, 2023;
•...

Easy as Pie

Sunday, July 9, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Aaron Malkin & Alastair Knowles, directed by David MacMurray Smith
• James and Jamesy, Toronto Fringe Festival, Factory Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
July 5-16, 2023;
• Winnipeg Fringe PTE Mainstage, Winnipeg, MB
July 19-30, 2023;
•...

Outlaw

Sunday, June 25, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Norm Foster, directed by Jim Mezon
Norm Foster Theatre Festival, Century Barn, Ball’s Falls
June 23-July 2, 2023;
Rose Theatre, Brampton
July 6-9, 2023
Keets: “No man really knows about other human beings”
You may think...

Treemonisha

Monday, June 12, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Scott Joplin, directed by Weyni Mengesha
Volcano with the Canadian Opera Company, Soulpepper & Moveable Beast, Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto
June 10-17, 2023
Treemonisha: “Was I born to do this?”
2023 has been a great year for...

Armadillos

Friday, June 9, 2023

✭✩✩✩✩
by Colleen Wagner, directed by Jani Lauzon
Factory Theatre, Factory Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
June 8-24, 2023
Karmyne: “We need a new story”
On paper, Armadillos, Factory Theatre’s last show to open in its 2022/23 season has a...

Kelly v. Kelly

Sunday, June 4, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
Music & lyrics by Britta Johnson, book by Sara Farb, directed by Tracey Flye
The Musical Stage Company with Canadian Stage Berkeley Street Theatre, Toronto
May 31-June 18, 2023
Eugenia: “All I’m guilty of is dancing”
Britta Johnson’s...

Casey and Diana

Friday, June 2, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Nick Green, directed by Andrew Kushnir
Stratford Festival, Studio Theatre, Stratford
June 1-17, 2023
Thomas: “When I go I want to have a train”
The Stratford Festival is currently presenting the world premiere of Casey and Diana...

L’Anima del filosofo

Sunday, May 28, 2023

✭✭✭✩✩
by Franz Joseph Haydn, directed by Nico Krell
Faculty of Music, University of Toronto & Schulich School of Music, McGill University, MacMillan Theatre,Toronto
May 26-27, 2023
Coro: “O poter dell’armonia!
La favella degli de
Ed...

The Rage of Narcissus

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Sergio Blanco, translated by David Goldman, adapted and directed by Marcio Beauclair
Expandido Theatre Group, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, Toronto
May 19-28, 2023
“Je est un autre” (Arthur Rimbaud in letter to Georges Izambard,...

Pinocchio

Sunday, May 21, 2023

✭✭✭✭✭
by Teater Patrasket, directed by Alex Byrne
Teater Patrasket, Harbourfront Centre Theatre, Toronto
May 20-22, 2023
Narrator: “What should Pinocchio do?”
The only show I was able to catch at this year’s Junior Festival at Harbourfront...

Vaches, the musical

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
music by Brian St-Pierre, book & lyrics by Stéphane Guertin and Olivier Nadon, directed by Dillon Orr
• Créations In Vivo, Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs, Toronto
May 11-13, 2023;
• Capitol Centre, North Bay;
May 16, 2023;
•...

The Sound Inside

Monday, May 15, 2023

✭✭✭✩✩
by Adam Rapp, directed by Leora Morris
Coal Mine Theatre, 2076 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
May 11-June 3, 2023
“There is no complete life. There are only fragments. We are born to have nothing, to have it pour through our hands” (from...

The Chinese Lady

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Lloyd Suh, directed by Marjorie Chan
Studio 180 Theatre & fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company with Crow’s Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest, 345 CarlawAvenue, Toronto
May 5-21, 2023
Afong Moy: “What do they see when they see me?”
In...

La Verbena de la Paloma

Sunday, May 7, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Tomás Bretón, directed by Guillermo Silva-Marin
Toronto Operetta Theatre, Jane Mallett Theatre, Toronto
May 5-7, 2023
Don Hilarión: “Oh, qué noche me espera”
If you want to know why La Verbena de la Paloma (The Festival of the...

New

Thursday, May 4, 2023

✭✭✭✩✩
by Pamela Mala Sinha, directed by Alan Dilworth
Necessary Angel Theatre Company with Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre & Canadian Stage, Berkeley Street Theatre, Toronto
April 28-May 14, 2023
Nuzha: “There is no happen”
Pamela Mala...

Macbeth

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Giuseppe Verdi, directed by David McVicar
Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Toronto
April 28-May 20, 2023
Macbeth: “Pietà , rispetto, amore,
Conforto a’dì cadenti
Ah! non spargeran d’un fiore
La tua canuta età.”
The...

Paint Me This House of Love

Saturday, April 22, 2023

✭✭✭✩✩
by Chelsea Woolley, directed by Mike Payette
Tarragon Theatre, Tarragon Extraspace, Toronto
April 20-May 11, 2023
Rhondi: “Truth is love”
The Tarragon Theatre closes its 2022/23 season with the world premiere of Paint Me This House...

The Seagull

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

✭✭✭✭✭
by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Simon Stephens, directed by Daniel Brooks
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
April 13-May 7, 2023
Konstantin: “Theatre is a dreamscape”
Soulpepper’s current production of The Seagull is...

Maanomaa, My Brother

Monday, April 17, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Tawiah M’Carthy and Brad Cook, directed by Philip Akin
Canadian Stage & Blue Bird Theatre Collective, Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs, Toronto
April 14-30, 2023
“Wo bε yε me nua” (“Will you be my brother?”)
Canadian Stage and...

American Son

Saturday, April 15, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Christopher Demos-Brown, directed by Jordan Laffrenier
Drayton Entertainment, St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, St. Jacobs
April 6-23, 2023
“The face of the race”
Drayton Entertainment may be known primarily for light entertainment,...

La Resurrezione

Friday, April 7, 2023

✭✭✭✭✭
by George Frideric Handel, directed by Marshall Pynkoski
Opera Atelier, Koerner Hall, Toronto
April 6-8, 2023
Angelo: “Risorga il mondo, lieto e giocondo”
At the end of my 2021 review of the film Opera Atelier made of its fully...

The Hooves Belonged to the Deer

Saturday, April 1, 2023

✭✭✩✩✩
by Makram Ayache, directed by Peter Hinton-Davis
Tarragon Theatre & Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Tarragon Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
April 5-23, 2023
“In the beginning Man created God”
The Tarragon Theatre and Buddies in Bad Times...

Of the Sea

Friday, March 31, 2023

✭✭✭✩✩
by Ian Cusson, directed by Philip Akin
Tapestry Opera & Obsidian Theatre with TO Live, Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto
March 25-April 1, 2023
Dfiza: “Water is the god that makes us free”
Tapestry Opera and Obsidian Theatre have combined...

Metamorphoses 2023

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Michele Smith & Dean Gilmour with the company, directed by Michele Smith
Theatre Smith-Gilmour, Streetcar Crowsnest, 345 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto
March 24-April 9, 2023
“Omnia mutantur, nihil interit” (Metamorphoses 15:165
Ovid’s...

The Gig

Monday, March 27, 2023

✭✭✭✭✩
by Mark Crawford, directed by Morris Panych
Theatre Aquarius, Dofasco Centre, Hamilton
March 10-25, 2023
Fonda to Laura: “You’ll make a great politician ... not a compliment”
Theatre Aquarius is presenting the world premiere of...

Mahabharata, Parts 1 & 2

Thursday, March 23, 2023

✭✭✭✭✭
written by Ravi Jain & Miriam Fernandes, directed by Ravi Jain with Miriam Fernandes
Why Not Theatre with the Barbican, London, Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
March 9-26, 2023
Bhishma: “What has been spoken once cannot be unspoken”
Why...