Stage Door Reviews
The Fourposter

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by Jan de Hartog, directed by Laurel Smith
Classic Theatre Festival, Arts Court Theatre, Ottawa
August 5-28, 2022
Michael: “I have the choice between bed and the madhouse. I prefer bed”
In October 2020 the Classic Theatre...
It Runs in the Family

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by Ray Cooney, directed by Alex Mustakas
Drayton Entertainment, Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend
July 21-August 6, 2022;
Hamilton Family Theatre, Cambridge
August 12-28, 2022
Dr. Bonney: “Ahoy in front and avast...
Girls & Boys

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by Dennis Kelly, directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson
Here For Now Theatre Company, Falstaff Family Centre, Stratford
July 28-August 7, 2022
Woman: “I met my husband in the queue to board an easyJet flight and I have to say I took...
Forty-Seven

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by Deanna Kruger, directed by Rebecca Cuthbertson
Here For Now Theatre Company, Falstaff Family Centre, Stratford
July 21-31, 2022
Trish: “It’s hard being a person”
The doughty Here For Now Theatre Company has embarked...
Wingfield Unbound

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by Dan Needles, directed by Douglas Beattie
Douglas Beattie Theatrical Productions Ltd., Player’s Backstage, Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford
July 25, 2022
Editor: “Knowing history makes us able to concentrate on making new...
Gaslight

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by Johnna Wright & Patty Jamieson, directed by Kelli Fox
Shaw Festival, Royal George Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
May 27-October 8, 2022
Bella to Jack: “You and I speak different languages”
The Shaw Festival is currently...
Detroit

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by Lisa D’Amour, directed by Jill Harper
Coal Mine Theatre, 1454 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
July 10-August 7, 2022
Sharon: “Does anyone talk to their neighbors anymore?”
Steppenwolf gave Lisa D’Amour’s play Detroit its world...
A Short History of Niagara

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by Alexandra Montagnese & Mike Petersen, directed by Tim Carroll
Shaw Festival, Fort George, Niagara-on-the-Lake
July 21-August 4, 2022;
Court House Market Room, Niagara-on-the-Lake
August 5-14, 2022
“Skipping a...
Everybody

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by Branden Jacob-Jenkins, directed by László Bérczes
Shaw Festival, Studio Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
June 17-October 8, 2022
Everyman: “O, Deth, thou cummest whan I had thee leest in mynde”
The Shaw Festival is currently...
Wingfield’s Folly

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by Dan Needles, directed by Douglas Beattie
Douglas Beattie Theatrical Productions Ltd., Player’s Backstage, Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford
July 17, 2022
Walt: “They realize that I cooperate best when I don’t know what’s...
Little Women

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by Jordi Mand, directed by Esther Jun
Stratford Festival, Avon Theatre, Stratford
July 7-October 29, 2022
Mrs. March: “Conceit spoils the finest genius”
The Schulich Children’s Play at the Stratford Festival this year...
The Drawer Boy

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by Michael Healey, directed by Gil Garratt
Blyth Festival, Harvest Stage, Blyth
June 22-July 16, 2022
“Each be other’s comfort kind” (from “At the Wedding March” by Gerard Manly Hopkins)
The Blyth Festival is currently...
Wingfield’s Progress

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by Dan Needles, directed by Douglas Beattie
Douglas Beattie Theatrical Productions Ltd., Player’s Backstage, Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford
July 10, 2022
“Elegance in Harmony with Nature”
On July 10 Rod Beattie performed...
All’s Well That Ends Well

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by William Shakespeare, directed by Scott Wentworth
Stratford Festival, Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford
July 7-October 29, 2022
First Lord Dumaine: “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together” (Act 4,...
My Hero

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by Norm Foster, directed by Simon Joynes
Port Stanley Festival Theatre, Grace Auditorium, Port Stanely
June 17-July 9, 2022
Corinne: “If I want to cavort, I’ll cavort”
Norm Foster is already known as Canada’s most prolific...
Letter from Wingfield Farm

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by Dan Needles, directed by Douglas Beattie
Douglas Beattie Theatrical Productions Ltd., Player’s Backstage, Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford
July 3, 2022
Editor: “There’s a lot to read in a weekly newspaper”
A one-time...
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

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by Jack Thorne, directed by John Tiffany
David Mirvish, Sonia Friedman, Colin Callender & Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto
June 19, booking to December 24, 2022
Dumbledore: “Those we love...
2 Pianos 4 Hands

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written & directed by Ted Dykstra & Richard Greenblatt
The Marquis Entertainment Inc. & Talking Fingers, Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto
June 12-July 17, 2022
“We’re the two best pianists in the neighbourhood”
2 Pianos...
Chicago

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music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, book by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse, directed by Donna Feore
Stratford Festival, Festival Theatre, Stratford
June 3-October 30, 2022
Mama Morton: “In this town, murder is a form of entertainment”
Hamlet

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by William Shakespeare, directed by Peter Pasyk
Stratford Festival, Festival Theatre, Stratford
June 2-October 28, 2022
Hamlet: “I have of late – but wherefore I know not – lost all my mirth” (Act 2, Scene 2)
It is great...
Richard III

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by William Shakespeare, directed by Antoni Cimolino
Stratford Festival, Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford
June 4-October 30, 2022
Richard III: “What do I fear? myself? there’s none else by” (Act 5, Scene 3)
June 4th is...
Wildfire

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by David Paquet, translated by Leanna Brodie, directed by Soheil Parsa
Factory Theatre, Toronto
June 2-19, 2022
Claudine: “Come to think of it, you’re exactly like my cookies”
Imagine a combination of Aeschylus, Samuel...
Damn Yankees

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music & lyrics by Richard Adler & Jerry Ross, book by George Abbott & Douglass Wallop, directed by Brian Hill
Shaw Festival, Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
May 28-October 9, 2022
Mr. Applegate to Gloria: “Go home. Get...
Too True to Be Good

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by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Sanjay Talwar
Shaw Festival, Studio Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
May 29-October 8, 2022
The Elder: “The only trustworthy dogma is that there is no dogma”
The Shaw Festival is currently...
Kurios

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written and directed by Michel Laprise
Cirque du Soleil:
Grand Chapiteau, Port Lands, Toronto
August 28-October 26, 2014;
Grand Chapiteau, Ontario Place, Toronto
April 14-July 10, 2022
“What’s Old is New Again”
R+J

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by William Shakespeare, adapted by Ravi Jain, Christine Horne & Alex Bulmer, directed by Ravi Jain
Stratford Festival & Why Not Theatre, Festival Theatre Canopy, Stratford
August 15-September 26, 2021 in person;
October 7-November...
Serving Elizabeth

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by Marcia Johnson, directed by Kimberley Rampersad
Stratford Festival, Tom Patterson Theatre Canopy, Stratford
September 2-26, 2021 in person;
October 28-November 28, 2021 online;
February 7-October 28, 2022 online
I Am William

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by Rébecca Déraspe, music by Chloé Lacasse & Benoît Landry, translated by Leanna Brodie, directed by Esther Jun
Stratford Festival, Tom Patterson Theatre Canopy, Stratford
August 14-September 12, 2021 in person;
October 21-December...
The Rez Sisters

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by Tomson Highway, directed by Jessica Carmichael
Stratford Festival, Tom Patterson Canopy Theatre, Stratford
July 23-August 15, 2021 in person;
September 30-November 21, 2021 online;
January 10-September 30, 2022 online
A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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by William Shakespeare, directed by Peter Pasyk
Stratford Festival, Tom Patterson Theatre Canopy, Stratford
July 21-August 1, 2021 in person;
September 16-December 4, 2021 online;
January 17-September 16, 2022 online
Wild Magic

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by Greg Frewin
Greg Frewin Theatre, 5781 Ellen Avenue, Niagara Falls
May 2005-March 17, 2020;
July 30, 2020-December 19, 2020;
July 16, 2021-October 9, 2022
“He deals cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry...