Community News — Kingston Theatre Alliance

I went into the Kingston Theatre Alliance’s Artistic Council Meeting not quite sure what to expect. I had imagined something like a long boring board meeting: agendas, motions, votes. What I found instead felt more like a creative co-working space, where artists, administrators, and theatremakers gathered around a shared table (this time, a virtual one) to swap updates, brainstorm solutions, and ground ourselves in the state of Kingston’s theatre scene. […]

Warning: This article contains some spoilers for The Crackwalker. This article also contains reference to Substance Use, Child Abuse, Systemic Neglect, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Mental Illness.

A dark comedy, Morris Panych’s 7 Stories follows an unnamed protagonist, Man (Aaron Manier), as he prepares to jump from the seventh floor of his apartment building. However, his various eccentric neighbours interrupt him with stories from their own chaotic, comedic lives in ways that are often metatheatrical, leaving audiences to reconsider what we perceive as performance. Panych’s commentary is embedded into the humour of the play, in a way that may go undetected. It’s etched into each character’s incorporation of how they are perceived or the way they perceive others, tying into the ultimate idea that performances as we know them are more frequent than we may believe. 

Two farmers, a folksy artist, a collective theatre project, and a secret between friends kept for decades: what could go wrong? The Drawer Boy, an award-winning play by Brockville’s Michael Healey, tells the story of two old friends in 1972 rural Ontario. Angus (Tom Barnett) and Morgan (Patrick McManus) live and work alone on their farm, but their lives change when Miles (Stephen Jackman-Torkoff), a young actor from Toronto working […]

I attended Queen’s University at a time when there were still students around from prior to the lockdown, and they would tell me about all of the amazing clubs that made Queen’s Drama a land of endless opportunity. However, as things began to reopen, a vast number of these clubs never returned. 5th Co, Vagabond Theatre, Imaginary Theatre Company, and Queen’s Students on Broadway all have fizzled out over the […]

The 17th edition of Kingston WritersFest (KWF) is about to kick off! From free events like Literary Trivia Night to the Writers Studio masterclasses, KWF 2025 has something for everyone. We sat down with local authors Ying Lee, Merilyn Simonds, and Jamal Saeed to learn a bit more about some of the names behind this year’s fest. Ying Lee: Creativity and Crafting Worlds by Mariam Tirani Ying Lee has published […]

In 1972, Paul Thompson (who at the time was artistic director of Theatre Passe Muraille) and a group of actors ventured out of the city to interview farmers in and around Clinton and Blyth, Ontario. They discussed their lives and their careers, while also occasionally aiding in the chores and fieldwork. This resulted in The Farm Show, a play made up of those interviews which has gone on to be […]

In the week leading up to the winter solstice, I sat down with a handful of local theatre-makers to reflect on the year, learn about people’s upcoming projects, and find out what was keeping them warm through the short, dark days of December. This interview with Krista Dalby is the final installment in a series which appeared on the Kingston Theatre Alliance’s Performance Blog in the early (and not so […]