Category Archives: Politics

Simon Banks’ Opera: The Autobiography of the Western World

Posted on November 30, 2022 by barczablog

For me Christmas came early, when I got my hands on Simon Banks’ new book Opera: The Autobiography of the Western World. I mention that because this is the ideal gift for anyone you know who loves opera or who … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged history, opera, Opera: The Autobiography of the Western World, Simon Banks, theatre history | Leave a comment

Red Velvet history lesson

Posted on November 28, 2022 by barczablog

I feel the need to frame my testimony, reviewing Lolita Chakrabarti’s play Red Velvet at Crow’s Theatre, in the admission that Ira Aldridge, the first black man to portray Othello onstage in London, is almost completely unknown largely because of … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Allan Louis, Amelia Sargisson, Charles Kean, Cherissa Richards, Crow's Theatre, Edmund Kean, Ellen Denny, Ellen Tree, Guloien Theatre, Ira Aldridge, Jeff Lillico, Kyle Blair, Lolita Chakrabarti, Othello, Peter Hinton, Red Velvet, Starr Domingue, Thomas Ryder Payne | 1 Comment

Pre-Democracy with Lucio Silla

Posted on November 21, 2022 by barczablog

I had an epiphany watching today’s presentation of Lucio Silla from Opera in Concert in the St Lawrence Centre. In my review of the opening night of Hannah Moscovitch’s Post-Democracy (that opened at the Tarragon Theatre last Thursday) I included … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Abduction from the Seraglio, Amy Moodie, Daddy Warbucks, Giovanni de Gamerra, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Hannah Moscovitch, Holly Chaplin, Julia MacVicar, La Clemenza di Tito, Lucio Silla, Owen McCausland, Post-Democracy, Robert Cooper, Suzy Smith, Tarragon Theatre, Vania Chan, Voicebox Opera in Concert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Leave a comment

Post-Democracy at Tarragon Theatre

Posted on November 18, 2022 by barczablog

Theatre sometimes takes us into worlds we don’t like, showing us people we’d avoid, situations we might never encounter otherwise. In some respects theatre is like a conceptual hazmat suit, a way to taste poison without dying. We may cower … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Chantelle Han, Diego Matamoros, Hannah Moscovitch, Jesse LaVercombe, Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu, Post-Democracy, Rachel Cairns, Succession, Tarragon Theatre | 1 Comment

Mary Trump’s Reckoning

Posted on September 19, 2022 by barczablog

The title of the book is The Reckoning: Our Nation’s Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal. It’s to be understood as a reckoning for America, but perhaps also a personal one for the author. After watching the Royal Funeral … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Politics, Psychology and perception, Reviews | Tagged donald trump, Mary Trump, Queen Elizabeth, The Godfather, The Reckoning, Too Much and Never Enough, Vito Corleone | Leave a comment

Art Canada Institute presents Kent Monkman

Posted on June 8, 2022 by barczablog

The title of the lecture was “Art Canada Institute presents: The Making of a Masterpiece– Kent Monkman.” Monkman is an enormous star, famous far beyond the immediate milieu of art dealers and galleries. But I have no real idea who … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Books & Literature, Politics, Popular music & culture | Tagged adaptation, Art Institute of Canada, Clueless, Kent Monkman, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, Shame and Prejudice: A story of resilience, Shirley Madill | Leave a comment

Ecology of Being –Duo Concertante

Posted on April 16, 2022 by barczablog

In childhood I heard musicians and performers protesting the Vietnam War or advocating as part of the Civil Rights Movement. Ever since I’ve admired activist artists. Music, film, satire, humour, painting, can all be powerful voices advocating change, moving emotions, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Politics, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged Anthropocene, anthropogenic global warming, Bekah Sims, Carmen Braden, Clara Steeves, Dawn Avery, Duo Concertante, Ian Cusson, Melissa Hui, Nancy Dahn, Randolph Peters, Timothy Steeves | Leave a comment

ARC Ensemble –Dmitri Klebanov Chamber Works

Posted on October 26, 2021 by barczablog

Exile doesn’t just occur when you’re distant from your homeland. What about artists ignored or silenced inside their country? I never thought of it that way before reading Simon Wynberg’s excellent essay in the liner notes to ARC Ensemble’s new … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Politics, Reviews, University life | Tagged anti-Semitism, ARC Ensemble, Bernard Herrmann, Dmitri Klebanov, Dmitri Shostakovich, Erika Raum, exile, Gustav Mahler, Kevin Ahfat, Marie Bérard, North by Northwest, Royal Conservatory of Music, Simon Wynberg, Steven Dann, Thomas Wiebe | 1 Comment

Nixon in China, 2021

Posted on July 4, 2021 by barczablog

The Metropolitan Opera feed of free streaming performances celebrate American composers the week of July 4th Independence Day. I was especially excited to get another look at John Adams’s Nixon in China, that we saw both via a production by … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Politics, Reviews | Tagged Alice Goodman, Canadian Opera Company, Carolyn Maule, Chou En-lai, James Maddalena, Janis Kelly, John Adams, Karl Marx, Kathleen Kim, Mao Tse-tung, Metropolitan Opera High Definition Broadcast, Nixon in China, Peter Sellars, Richard Paul Fink, Robert Brubaker, Russell Braun | Leave a comment

The Mission in 2021

Posted on June 21, 2021 by barczablog

It’s been a month of reflection for Canadians following the discovery of the remains of 215 children buried on the grounds of the Kamloops residential school, another discovery near Brandon residential school, and the possibility of more to come. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Spirituality & Religion, University life | Tagged Christianity, Ennio Morricone, Going Home Star, Gone With the Wind, Indigenous Genocide, Jesuit, Kent Monkman, Max Steiner, National Indigenous Peoples Day, Roland Joffe, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The Mission, The Scream, Truth and Reconciliation Commission | 2 Comments