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Category Archives: University life
Lindsay Anne Black: canary in the mine
Whether your Kafkaesque fate is to wake up to the discovery you’ve turned into an insect, or merely that you have to hide inside your house because of coronaviruses and lockdowns, I think we’re ready for Eldritch Theatre’s current theatrical … Continue reading
Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Food, Health and Nutrition, Interviews, University life
Tagged asthma, Craig Walker, Donna-Michelle St Bernard, Eldritch Theatre, Environmental Sensitivities, Eric Woolfe, ES, Franz Kafka, Fred Euringer, HP Lovecraft, Karen P Hay, Lindsay Anne Black, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Natalie Rewa, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Queen's University, Red Sandcastle Theatre, rewild, Two Weird Tales, Women's College Hospital
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ARC Ensemble –Dmitri Klebanov Chamber Works
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
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As my mom approaches 100
I must explain the reason for my previous post telling my mom’s stories yesterday: because she was born in 1921. In other words, she’s approaching her one-hundredth birthday. She has had five children although one of them died very young. … Continue reading
The Mission in 2021
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
Hermione Lee: Tom Stoppard A Life
I’m humbled reading Hermione Lee’s biography of Tom Stoppard. I was exalted by Alex Ross’s colossal Wagnerism study because I’m a typical grandiose Wagnerian, thinking I know something about the topic. Its 784 pages flew by, the book flattering my … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Politics, Popular music & culture, Reviews, University life
Tagged Alex Ross, Empire of the Sun, Hermione Lee, JG Ballard, Rosenkrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Tom Stoppard, Tom Stoppard A Life, Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music
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Young Cassidy, Old Stoppard
Celebrating World Theatre Day in a pandemic that prevents one from going into a theatre might seem to be an oxymoron. Or it might be the best time to really understand what one has lost. Absence and abstinence make the … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, University life
Tagged Hermione Lee, Maggie Smith, Michael Redgrave, Michael Sidnell, Rod Taylor, Sean O'Casey, Sources of DramaticTheory, Tom Stoppard, William Butler Yeats, World Theatre Day, Young Cassidy
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Beethoven 250: recalling Brian Macdonald’s Diabelli Variations
As I reminisce about a piece choreographed by Brian Macdonald I hope I can be forgiven for seguing into remembrance of the man, who is known for many things. You probably saw one of the musicals he directed at Stratford, … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, University life
Tagged Anton Kuerti, Brian Macdonald, Canadian Opera Company, Diabelli Variations, FOOT, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ludwig van Beethoven, madama butterfly, Trinity College, University of Toronto
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Sky Gilbert’s remarkable new book Shakespeare Beyond Science: When Poetry Was the World
I am on my third read-through of Sky Gilbert’s Shakespeare Beyond Science: When Poetry Was the World. It is the best book I’ve read this year, one of the most interesting books I’ve ever encountered. I’ve been dancing around this … Continue reading
Brand new sound: a moving experience
I stumbled upon something quite by accident and want to share the good news. No I can’t take credit. We’re fixing some old windows, and needed to work with the contractor, who was blocked off by the way the furniture … Continue reading
Neighbourhood impacts
I was looking in the Canadian Opera Company’s latest publication, a shiny offering that arrived in the mail less than an hour ago, with the title “Audience Impact Report.” Speaking of impacts the mailing included the obligatory return envelope & … Continue reading