Toronto Archives - Capital Critics' Circle / Le cercle des critiques de la capitale

Cottagers and Indians For the Love of Manomin

By Laurie Fyffe | March 24, 2018

Cottagers and Indigens Photo Cyla Von Tiedemann

Cottagers & Indians By Drew Hayden Taylor. Directed by Patti Shaughnessy. Featuring Herbie Barnes and Tracey Hoyt

A cottage on a lake, the lonely call of a loon, a sizzling barbeque, and there she sits, Maureen Poole (Tracey Hoyt), glass of wine in hand, enthroned in her Adirondack chair, soaking up the afternoon sun. A quintessential Canadian setting, for those who can afford it, or for whom a cottage was the principle family residence since the late 19^th century. …

The Tale of a Town: the Ottawa portion of the show reveals disparate stories that remind us we are still one community

By Patrick Langston | December 7, 2014

Toronto’s FIXT POINT theatre company is on a three-year, nationwide mission. Its goal: to remind us who we are by interviewing residents of cities and towns across Canada about their memories of their main street areas and then presenting the highlights of those interviews in mixed-media shows collectively called The Tale of a Town. FIXT POINT creates a new show for every city or town, drawing on local and other actors as collaborators and performers.

When The Tale of a Town Storymobile, a small, round-shouldered trailer outfitted with benches and audio equipment, arrived in Ottawa in mid-November, residents from Orleans, downtown and Wellington West contributed their memories inside it as well as online and by telephone. The FIXT POINT team quickly put together and rehearsed the show and this week performed it over three nights in those same three areas of the city. We attended the Friday night show at the in-the-round venue in Orleans – an empty retail site adjacent to the Shenkman Arts Centre. On stage performing multiple roles, singing and playing musical instruments: Ottawa performers Emily Pearlman, Patrick Gauthier and Katie Swift as well as visiting artists Adam Paolozza and Norah Sadava. Behind the scenes: FIXT POINT’s co-founders/play creators/directors Lisa Marie DiLiberto and Charles Ketchabaw.

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Terminus: Shakespearean feel for verse grapples with bloody images inspired by Catholic mythology in this brilliant production of Mark O’Rowe’s play.

By Alvina Ruprecht | November 27, 2012

Maev Beaty as A. Photo Mirvish Productions.

Since Mark O’Rowe’s Terminus made its debut in 2007 at the Abbey theatre in Dublin, it has turned into a theatrical tsunami, leaving audiences wondering what hit them

This is exactly the feeling I had leaving the Royal Alexandra where Terminus has just begun its run in the Second Stage Series, several months after its Canadian premiere at the SummerWorks Festival in August where it played at the Factory theatre. Not having seen that first production I can’t compare the two performance sites but there is no doubt that the larger space of the Royal Alex could only have enhanced this amazing piece while, at the same time, removing the intimacy of that smaller theatre.

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