What happens when your seemingly average, regular family is touched by mental illness and suicide? Bitter Medicine, a true story written by Clem Martini – based on the graphic novel of the same title by Martini and his brother Oliver – and directed for this SummerWorks production by Patrick Finn, gives a first-person account of theContinue reading “SummerWorks: Bittersweet, heartbreaking & hopeful true story of mental illness in Bitter Medicine”
Tag Archives: Lower Ossington Theatre
SummerWorks: Powerhouse, high-voltage solo cabaret in Do I Have to Do Everything My Fucking Self?
I was back at the Lower Ossington Theatre last night, this time in the downstairs Cabaret space, for the closing night of the SummerWorks music series performance of the Light Fires/Adam Lazarus production of Do I Have to Do Everything My Fucking Self? Starring Regina the Gentlelady from the band Light Fires and directed by Lazarus, this one-womanContinue reading “SummerWorks: Powerhouse, high-voltage solo cabaret in Do I Have to Do Everything My Fucking Self?”
SummerWorks: Delightful, magical story time with Unintentionally Depressing Children’s Tales
This year’s SummerWorks has been full of opportunities to see and hear some imaginative, unique pieces of storytelling – and Erin Fleck’s Unintentionally Depressing Children’s Tales, directed by Maya Rabinovitch, is a brilliant example. A young man brings light to his darkened town. A very cranky pony named Heathcliff falls in love with the mistress ofContinue reading “SummerWorks: Delightful, magical story time with Unintentionally Depressing Children’s Tales”
SummerWorks: Beautifully layered exploration of relationships, class, the struggle for order & mental illness in Complex
Bumped into actor Tim Walker at the Lower Ossington Theatre on the weekend and found out about Complex, written by Rebecca Applebaum and directed for SummerWorks by Christopher Stanton in partnership with the Koffler Centre of the Arts – and I’m really glad I did. Set in modern-day Toronto, the title makes multiple references: the Chalkfarm apartment thatContinue reading “SummerWorks: Beautifully layered exploration of relationships, class, the struggle for order & mental illness in Complex”
SummerWorks: Erotic, poetic & mytholgical journey in The Bull, the Moon and the Coronet of Stars
Sexual tension unfolds between two museum co-workers, as a strange, frightening and powerful presence stalks the museum halls. This is how the SummerWorks production of Van Badham’s The Bull, the Moon and the Coronet of Stars, directed by Vikki Anderson, begins. Marion (Daniela Vlaskalic) is drawn to attractive men who are wrong for her –Continue reading “SummerWorks: Erotic, poetic & mytholgical journey in The Bull, the Moon and the Coronet of Stars”
More theatre in T.O. – on right now & upcoming
So much out there to see and still no clones on hand to help me make it out to everything. Here are some shows that are continuing and upcoming: The Village Players’ production of Les Liasons Dangereuses, by Christopher Hampton, directed by Anne Harper – running now until October 5 at the Village Playhouse. NextContinue reading “More theatre in T.O. – on right now & upcoming”
Hope in a planet – Utopia
Got out to one final SummerWorks show yesterday – this time, it was Theatre Free Radical’s production of playwright/director Len Falkenstein’s Utopia at the Lower Ossington Theatre mainspace. Karen (Rebekah Chassé), a single mother struggling to keep the family Christmas tree farm afloat, witnesses a bizarre and wondrous moment when a planet drops anchor –Continue reading “Hope in a planet – Utopia”
Life, love & faith in all its messy glory – Eating Pomegranates Naked
I was back at the Lower Ossington Theatre main stage again last night, this time to see Andrea Scott’s Eating Pomegranates Naked, directed for the SummerWorks production by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu. A group of 30-something friends unearth personal loss, sins of omission and secrets, and struggle with various crises of faith. Scott (Eli Ham) andContinue reading “Life, love & faith in all its messy glory – Eating Pomegranates Naked”
Fiercely sexy, ruthlessly funny, real & raw – Theatre Brouhaha’s Delicacy
I had the great pleasure of seeing Theatre Brouhaha’s production of Kat Sandler’s Delicacy for the second time during its SummerWorks run at Lower Ossington Theatre last night. I’d first seen it during at Factory Theatre Studio back in the Fall and loved its sharp-edged, quick-witted, socially apt story and characters – played out byContinue reading “Fiercely sexy, ruthlessly funny, real & raw – Theatre Brouhaha’s Delicacy”
Touching, disturbing macabredy – Murderers Confess at Christmastime
Three beds, suggesting three separate playing areas. And Christmas music, which is kinda trippy when you’re hearing it in August. Setting the scene for Outside the March/The Serial Collective co- production of Jason Chinn’s Murderers Confess at Christmastime, directed for SumerWorks by Simon Bloom. An injured young actress (Amy Keating), home alone, becomes an unwitting hostContinue reading “Touching, disturbing macabredy – Murderers Confess at Christmastime”
life with more cowbell 