GCTC’s Bang Bang a fast-paced, funny satire
GCTC: ‘Bang Bang’ a strong metatheatrical start to the GCTC season
Theatre, by its very nature, breeds more theatre. An interdisciplinary blend of space and of time, theatre-making is unique in its ability to transcend the boundaries of taste that might haunt other artistic disciplines; as such, it is able to tackle more concepts through more stylistic avenues than, say, a song or a painting. Bang Bang by Kat Sandler, presented by the Great Canadian Theatre Company, is singularly self-aware in its exploration of this idea of metatheatre; it anticipates its audience, its discourse, and the contextual parameters to which we as theatregoers have become accustomed, and is quick to defend itself from potential backlash. Bang Bang is a strong start to GCTC’s season in terms of the conversations it starts, and sets a promising standard for future GCTC performances. …
LO (or Dear Mr. Wells). Rose Napoli and David Mamet clash in this fine production dealing with troubling ethical questions..
Geoff McBride and Erica Anderson
A two-hander by Rose Napoli that has been given a fine production at the GCTC thanks to director Eric Coates’ delicate work with actors Erica Anderson and Geoff McBride. There is also the beautiful scenography constructed by Seth Gerry’s lighting design that speaks to the text in many ways and the clean lines of Brian Smith’s sleek set. Nevertheless the play is troubling and even rather difficult to swallow because of the ethical questions it raises.
Before even seeing the show, I thought immediately of David Mamet’s Oleanna, where the playwright creates a complex relationship between a student and her professor that has dire consequences for the professor. Questions of sexual harassment, involving what appear to be vengeance and anger and much misunderstanding , clearly motivated or not, make Mamet’s work a lot more ambiguous and sophisticated than Napoli’s writing because we are never sure about the motives of the young lady. Has she been manipulated by a group of her peers has the profs apparent lack of sympathy encouraged her anger?. She does not feel attracted to her professor in a sexual way, quite the contrary , so the story is very different, but we are still not sure where Mamet is leading us in spite of all the manipulation- or highly aggressive reactions that escalate to a great degree on the part of the female lead. The play still leaves us with many ethical questions as does Napoli’s play yet Laura’s feelings and her involvement with Alan makes this highly charged drama a lot clearer but difficult to swallow. …
Blyth Festival production plucks the feathers of the Pigeon King.
the show opens on April 26 with previews on april 24-25.
Behaviour is essential and traumatic-socially conscious theatre at its peak!
It isn’t easy to review a play like Behaviour, written by Ottawa playwright Darrah Teitel and directed by Michael Wheeler. All the usual things a reviewer discusses, the lighting, the sound, the acting, seem unimportant. They’re all excellent, it’s a top-notch performance in every way, but Behaviour is a play so inextricably about its message that everything else can seem marginal.
Behaviour is traumatizing, cathartic, and of the utmost importance. Ostensibly about sexual assault on Parliament Hill, it is an impossibly powerful play about rape. Divided into three parts, the middle soliloquy engulfs the rest of the play. The curtain closed, a single light harshly illuminating her, Zoë Sweet’s Mara lists the seven types of rape that she has identified, that she has experienced. That every woman has experienced. It is not an easy scene, but it’s a perfect one. It would be hard to find a more powerful scene in theatre history. …
At the Mountaintop there is doubt, uncertainty and humanity
First published on Artsfile, January 29 2019
The Mountaintop offers a loving and sometimes critical vie of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the last night of his life
Conversing with an angel in his Lorraine Motel room, Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop, a Black Theatre Workshop and Neptune Theatre Production, attempts to explore what might have been going through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s head during his last on Earth.
The production, directed by Toronto-based ahdri zhina mandiela, stars Letitia Brookes as motel maid-turned-angel Camae, and Tristan D. Lalla as Dr. King. Set in a realistically designed motel room created by set designer Eo Sharp, the play’s small cast and unobtrusive design help to highlight King and Camae as the sole focus of the show. …
The Seventh Season: Artistic Director Eric Coates remaking GCTC one play at a time
Eric Coates is the artistic director of the Great Canadian Theatre Company.Now into his seventh season as artistic director, has Eric Coates remade the Great Canadian Theatre Company in his own image?