Review: Flush – A Dog’s Life
An evocative tale, from the perspective of a cocker spaniel, about his life with Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
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A Theatre Buff Reviews Elf – The Musical
Brent Thiessen’s smile radiates light, love and good-will.
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory Whips Up Delicious Confections
I’ll begin with a confession. My husband and I drove into Toronto this week to see Charlie And The Chocolate Factory having never read the book, nor seen the movies*. The thought at top of mind as we sat in traffic was, Why are we going to see another bloody musical, and a children’s production…
A Theatre Buff Reviews O’Flaherty V.C.
O’Flaherty V.C. is the quintessential Shavian play. The time period is World War I; the setting is just before tea-time in the courtyard of a general’s manor house. In the space of a forty-five minute one act play, Shaw skewers religion, politics, education, war, and the British class system. O’Flaherty V.C. is fast, funny, and provocative;…
A Theatre Buff Reviews Coriolanus
This is a difficult confession to make public: I don’t love Shakespeare. I select which Shakespearean plays to see at Stratford based upon the the lead actors not the script. This year’s casting of André Sills in the role of Coriolanus is inspired. Over the past few years I have observed Sills at the Shaw…
A Theatre Buff Reviews: The Nether
When consenting adults can put their imaginations together in virtual reality, what are the implications for morality and ethics? The Nether, a brilliant sci-fi crime drama, poses these questions and others through Jennifer Haley’s tightly written script. The production at Hamilton’s Theatre Aquarius is both spare and elegant; the cast and the creative team have…
A Theatre Buff Reviews: The Dance of Death
Tolstoy’s observation that “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” is just as true for marriages as it is for families. In Strindberg’s The Dance of Death, the marriage of Edgar (Jim Mezon) and Alice (Fiona Reid) is a combination of “hate and love forged together in a…
A Theatre Buff Reviews: Matilda The Musical
Matilda The Musical is the delightful tale of a little girl who survives the emotional abuse of her narcissistic, conniving and stupid parents, and the spirit crushing conduct of the headmistress of Crunchem Hall Elementary. The book upon which this musical is based was written by Roald Dahl, so we know that there will be both…
A Theatre Buff Reviews: Our Town
The stark simplicity of the set and stage props in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town belies the depth and breadth of life on the eastern seaboard in the early 1900’s. The setting is Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire and we are introduced to it by the Stage Manager who takes the audience on a social tour of…
A Theatre Buff Reviews: If/Then
If/Then is a musical that delivers through story, song and dance. It’s engaging and it’s clever. The premise explores possible futures for Elizabeth (Jackie Burns), a young and recent divorcée, as she learns how to make a life in New York City after moldering in Phoenix for ten years. If/Then seamlessly blends two versions of Elizabeth’s life from…
Bonnie Lendrum 