Tag Archives: Canadian Stage

Topdog/Underdog and questions of greatness

Posted on October 7, 2023 by barczablog

Last night I went to see Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks, promoted as “The Greatest American Play of the past 25 years” according to the NY Times and identified as “a darkly comic fable” in one of the ads. Directed by … Continue reading →

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From the Met: Jocelyn and Dean create a Hamlet

Posted on June 5, 2022 by barczablog

Adapting a play into an opera can be fascinating work, especially when it’s as well-known a play as Hamlet. I’ve seen several attempts to turn this play into something else including a couple of musicals, an opera long ago, and … Continue reading →

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#popstarplay life lessons

Posted on February 22, 2020 by barczablog

I heard a wonderful interview with Vivek Shraya on Q earlier today that gave me some  clues as to what I’d be seeing and hearing tonight in her one-woman autobiographical show How to Fail as a Popstar, aka #popstarplay in … Continue reading →

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AF and why

Posted on February 21, 2020 by barczablog

Huge preamble coming. If you want to skip to the review itself, look under the photo.I went to see AF and am daring to review it. I feel I need to say this after having read Yvette Nolan’s piece, responding … Continue reading →

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Resonant Minorities

Posted on October 18, 2019 by barczablog

Tonight I was present at the Canadian premiere of Yang Zhen’s third installment of his “Revolution Game Trilogy”, Minorities, a Red Virgo production presented by Canadian Stage. You will recognize many things in this show. We watch five female dancers later … Continue reading →

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The Book of Life

Posted on September 22, 2019 by barczablog

I needed that. The Book of Life, a Volcano Production in association with the Woman Cultural Centre, Rwanda, and Why Not Theatre, is currently running at the Berkeley St Theatre, presented by Canadian Stage. I came into this show wondering … Continue reading →

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I swallowed a moon made of iron: Oxymoronic, Prophetic

Posted on May 18, 2019 by barczablog

Njo Kong Kie has created a one man show from Xu Lizhi’s texts, that he sings and enacts mostly from the piano, I swallowed a moon made of iron, presented at the Berkeley Street Theatre by Canadian Stage. That title comes … Continue reading →

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Robert Lepage’s 887 this time

Posted on May 4, 2019 by barczablog

Have you seen Robert Lepage’s 887? This show’s been all over the world. I missed the first Toronto incarnation in 2015 but saw it & raved about  it last time, brought to Toronto via Canadian Stage (one of the co-producers) … Continue reading →

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Boisterously brilliant Bigre

Posted on April 12, 2019 by barczablog

Watching people tortured can be funny. Bigre, a Compagnie le fils du Grand Réseau Production, presented by Canadian Stage in collaboration with Théâtre Francaise de Toronto, opened tonight at the Berkeley St Theatre. In our modern gentrified cities, the impossibly … Continue reading →

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Revisor

Posted on March 8, 2019 by barczablog

The hybrid creation Revisor from Jonathon Young and Crystal Pite is so much more than I can put into words, a piece of theatre that explores the process of signification while showing us the ways that it breaks down. It’s … Continue reading →

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