Kingston Theatre Alliance

The Development Coordinator will be responsible for acting as a community ambassador for the Kingston Theatre Alliance and The Kick & Push Festival through the development, planning, and execution of the initial stages of a year-round development plan to both strengthen the organization’s relationships with existing funders, and identify and pursue new fundraising and sponsorship opportunities. This role can be done in a hybrid work environment until the Festival start in July, at which point the role requires being on-site in Kingston, ON until the completion of the Festival in late August.

Last summer I booked a trip to New York City as I hadn’t visited since I was very young. I was extremely excited as I really wanted to see a Broadway musical for the first time. As I hopped online looking for shows to see, I remember thinking, “Back to the Future the Musical… Why?” I have no hate for the idea—it could be an amazing musical—I was just surprised at the idea of a Back To The Future musical and it having a spot on Broadway. I continued searching and found that around half of the musicals on Broadway at the time were either remakes of hit movies or revivals of older shows. At first, I was surprised but after further thought, it made sense. I recently looked at Broadway.com’s list of current best-selling Broadway shows and saw that four out of the top ten shows on Broadway right now are direct adaptations of former hit movies, while five out of ten of the shows are connected to an already existing popular product or a revival of an old show.

Nine is a famous Broadway musical brought to life by the students of St. Lawrence College’s Music Theatre – Performance program. It played at the Thousand Islands Playhouse this past weekend and was directed by Alexandra Herzog. With music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and book by Arthur Kopit, the story based on the 1963 film 8½  follows Italian Film Director Guido Contini (Felipe De Brito) as he tries to […]

When it comes to theatre criticism, there are dozens of different opinions about its pros and cons. Of course readers have their valued takes but if there’s ever a disconnect that draws a line, it’s usually between the folks writing and publishing a review, and the folks involved in the production. Recently, the Kingston Theatre Alliance (KTA) received an email about a review and subsequent editor’s article, both written by […]

Since my first dreary days as an ArtSci frosh, getting stuck in a crowd of Queen’s students has been a surefire way to bring out my inner Wednesday Addams. As I stood in the Rotunda Theatre’s packed lobby on Thursday evening, noisy whirls of preview-night chatter ricocheting in my ears, I felt a distinct urge to crawl deeper into my own skin. When I realized my arms were crossed and […]

You’ve heard of iPhone, iPod, iPad, but what about iWorld?  Kingston Meistersingers’ production of We Will Rock You!, directed by Rachael McDonald, is a jukebox musical with songs by Queen and book by Ben Elton. Bringing a collection of rock hits to Domino Theatre’s stage, the show flashes forward hundreds of years into the future: the world is run by Globalsoft, a music corporation that has destroyed and banned all […]

Audiences are wondering if all the world’s a billboard as the latest trend in corporate sponsorship emerges in Kingston’s theatre scene. Previously known as Domino Theatre, the new Domino’s Pizza Theatre will soon follow the lead of Slush Puppie Place (formerly Leon’s Centre) in accepting commercial dough.  Rising costs of venue upkeep and drastic cuts to arts funding have been cited as motivators for more local organizations to turn to […]

The prompt: write a play about solar eclipses.  The students of Queen’s University (QU)’s DRAM 251 class were tasked with this in their 2023 fall semester. 24 plays were written as a result and seven have gone on to be dramaturged by the students of QU’s DRAM 339 class this 2024 winter semester. But the collaboration doesn’t end here. The seven plays will have staged readings tomorrow, March 25th, 2024 as […]

The Performance Blog is a primary resource for audience members, artistic collaboration, critical dialogue, and theatre practitioners. Our platform consolidates events, news, artists, and organizations in the Southeastern Ontario area in an accessible and accountable manner that the region has never seen before. Led by the Editor, the writing team is looking for passionate individuals who are committed to questioning who and what criticism is FOR, all while building a stronger sector for live performance in the region.

Set forth on a journey through the Forest of Arden where love and laughter intersect to create a fascinatingly funny story. As You Like It is written by the brilliant William Shakespeare and Domino Theatre’s production of the show, directed by Peter Aston, is now playing. Personally, I am not a big Shakespeare theatre-goer. I read a few of the plays in high school and saw some live performances, but […]

“The biggest mistake any of us could make would be to underestimate Satan.” –Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is an interesting and unique retelling of the story of Adam and Eve, and the first battle between good and evil. By Playwright Erin Shields and directed by Evalyn Parry, the play is loosely based on John Milton’s poem of the same name. Paradise Lost flips everything we were taught about the story […]

You know how the story goes: boy meets girl, girl meets Satan, Satan tempts girl, girl eats fruit, boy eats fruit, humankind becomes doomed, and for some reason it’s all girl’s fault. Or something like that. Adam and Eve’s fall from innocence has been told and retold across millennia. Perhaps the best-known English-language version (and certainly the one most often assigned to university students) is John Milton’s 1667 epic poem, […]

The sweeping spectacle returns! Birdbone Theatre’s Broom Dance was reviewed last year by Haley Sarfeld and has made its way back to the stage after further workshopping and the incorporation of a new collaborator. As beautifully crafted shadow puppetry, the play follows a few different storylines that explore Slavic, Italian, and Polish folklore. Curated by Aleksandra Bragoszewska, Alison Gowan, and Ekaterina with compositions by Gowan and Ekaterina, Broom Dance bewitches […]

What comes to mind when you think of audience participation? No, for real, tell me.  Don’t want to? Okay, I’ll go first. When I think of participation, the little sing-song voice in my head starts humming Al Simmons’ “Don’t Make Me Sing Along”. This tune was rattling around in my mind when I met with theatre scholars Dr. Jenn Stephenson and Mariah (Mo) Horner to talk about their research project, […]

In the afterglow of Valentine’s Day, Bottle Tree Productions presents a potent potion for theatre lovers: The Witch and The Glitch. With a bubbly cast, spellbinding physical comedy, and lighthearted songs, The Witch and The Glitch provides a much-needed remedy to the doldrums of winter. This musical fable for grown-ups features a book and lyrics by Gord Love, who directs the show, and music by Michael Capon, who serves as […]

Incredible. 

Considering Matthew Shepard by Craig Hella Johnson, for all its complexity, can simply be described as a masterpiece. Performed by The Isabel Voices, the three-part oratorio is an astounding feat. 

As I’ve sat down to write this review, I’ve been struggling with where to start. I’m fervent about giving this performance the praise it deserves yet the intricacies of an oratorio and the accompanying musical vernacular feel unfamiliar to me. However, the story on which Considering Matthew Shepard is based is one the Kingston Theatre Alliance, and myself, feel passionate towards reviewing.

In early February, I sat down with Stephanie Fung, previous editor of the Kingston Theatre Alliance (KTA)’s Performance Blog to ask what’s up with them?!  I met Steph in the summer of 2021, and was immediately drawn in by their simultaneously cool and perceptive nature. They were a mentor for me as I was learning more about theatre criticism in Toronto Fringe’s New Young Reviewers (NYR) Program, and we stayed […]

What is art? On Wednesday, February 7th, I headed on down to the Baby Grand Theatre to catch Theatre Kingston’s production of Bakersfield Mist, written by Stephen Sachs and directed by Jim Garrard. The play follows a 50-something unemployed but previously a bartender, Maude (Rosemary Doyle), as she tries to get her presumed Jackson Pollock painting authenticated—if she succeeds, it can be worth millions.

When I learned that Darrell Christie was starting a new ensemble, I was intrigued, and I was doubly intrigued when I saw Matthew Shepard’s name in the season announcement. After nearly a decade away from choral singing, something about this confluence of elements—a former Cultural Studies classmate starting a new project and an iconic name in queer history appearing as the subject matter—nudged me to return to the choir kid life. 

From the moment I walked in the room, my heart started doing little flips. Everything is pink. Pink chairs, pink table, pink carpet, pink coat rack, the list goes on.  Within the walls of Theological Hall’s Room 106, Queens Theatre Troupe (QTT) has set the stage for their second-ever production: The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine by Robert Morgan, Leah Cherniak, and Martha Ross, and directed by Victoria J Marmulak.  […]

Think of the world’s worst improviser. These folks are far from that, but they can probably act as an amazing awful improvisor. Last Friday night I attended Improv Kingston‘s monthly show at the Tett Centre. Comedians Chris Jackson, Derrick Schoen, Lucie Girard, Jaime Maitland, and Patrick Ireton are there to entertain, led by their teacher Dan Walmsely. The gist of the show is simple—they play a multitude of improv games […]

After a dreamy debut last fall, Queens Theatre Troupe (QTT) has announced their sophomore play: The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine.  Founded in spring 2023 by a group of five Queen’s students, the education-focused club is dedicated to creating space for exploration through ambitious productions of published plays. Amidst a busy rehearsal schedule, Ernest director and QTT board member Victoria J Marmulak was gracious enough to make time for a […]

You’re in your 40s, have three kids, a house, and a stable job. Life is good… Right? Well, maybe not!  Geri Hall and Gary Pearson put on a show, hilariously performing a multitude of sketches focusing on the madness of a middle-aged relationship in Middle Raged. Performed in Kingston for one night only, it appeared at the Grand Theatre on January 26th to an almost sold-out crowd. The duo tackles […]

When you’re kind of a haunted person, it can be hard to talk about your life. Overshoot on the levity, and you’re too glib. Undershoot, and you’re morose. Most of us don’t have the skill to fine-tune our honesty into storytelling that is both playful and heartrending.  Luckily for his audience, James Smith does a damn near perfect job.  Lessons in Temperament is a one-man show written and performed by […]

Jim Garrard calls himself a tyrant, but this season, he’s softening his grip. After announcing his ‘sort of’ retirement in 2015, the playwright, actor, and director has remained a presence in Kingston’s theatre scene, most recently in his TK Fringe performances of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. This winter, Garrard directs Bakersfield Mist by Stephen Sachs for Theatre Kingston, starring Rosemary Doyle and Cassel Miles.  Inspired by true events, Bakersfield […]

Embark on an emotional journey where a sense of adventure and nostalgia resonate throughout. On Thursday, January 18th, I caught opening night of Domino Theatre’s production of The Trip to Bountiful, written by Horton Foote and directed by Rachael McDonald, and was pleasantly surprised. The heartwarming play is a story of longing for home and follows the elderly Carrie Watts (Sandie Cond) as she runs away from her Houston apartment […]

If nobody has asked you to The Prom yet, take this as a sign to find a date. Mixing teen movie aesthetics, Broadway sensibilities, and contemporary social values, Queen’s Musical Theatre presents a high-energy production in the Rotunda Theatre this winter.  Directed by Noah Solomon, The Prom’s spotlight falls on Emma Nolan (Nicole Martin), a teenager in Edgewater, Indiana. Emma has been banned from bringing her girlfriend to the high […]

In the first week of January, while many of us were still crawling out of our holiday haze, Sophia Fabiilli was hard at work developing her latest play: Why It’s Impossible To Raise A Girl. Fabiilli spent a week at the Thousand Islands Playhouse (TIP)’s rehearsal hall, turning the existing script on its head with thoughtful input from actor Zoë Sweet and director Evalyn Parry. Toward the end of the […]

Wilding is one of those hard-working, energetic people who seems to be everywhere, supporting everybody, at any given moment. When we first met last spring, I was immediately impressed with their quick thinking and cheerful, quippy demeanour. It came as no surprise that Wilding’s art form of choice—when they’re not busy making things happen behind the scenes—is improv comedy.  With both of us juggling a million obligations—this week alone, Wilding […]

In 2023, Blue Canoe Theatrical Productions was recognized with a Creator Award at the City of Kingston’s Mayor’s Arts Awards. This didn’t come out of the blue—the youth theatre company, now in its 17th season, has long played an integral role in Kingston’s arts community. I recently spoke with Kim Dolan, Blue Canoe’s outgoing General Manager, about her time leading the organization, its unique qualities, and her hopes for the […]

A timeless story that captures the magic of Christmas in a captivating and uniquely compelling manner. On Sunday, December 17th, I had the pleasure of attending John D. Huston’s A Christmas Carol, presented by Theatre Kingston, to help me get into the Christmas season. Before arriving at the Tett Centre, I had a vague understanding of the classic story created by the brilliant Charles Dickens. I watched the movie as […]

After 180 years, you’d think A Christmas Carol would be as dead as a door-nail.  First published in 1843, A Christmas Carol is one of Charles Dickens’ best-known literary works. The story follows Ebenezer Scrooge as he’s visited by a series of ghosts and is transformed from a misanthropic miser into a gentler, more generous person. A Christmas Carol, which has remained in print for nearly two centuries, has also […]

Imagine going on a trip in the middle of the swamps and getting attacked by a giant snake. Now that would be the perfect time to have a Red Ryder BB gun. A Christmas Story began its run at Domino Theatre on Thursday, November 30th. Adapted by Philip Grecian and directed by Dale Jones, the play follows nine-year-old Ralphie (Blythe Hallford) who dreams about getting the treasured Red Ryder BB […]

A show so hilarious and chaotic, my mouth was left sore from smiling too much. This past Friday night, I made my way over to catch All-Inclusive Comedy, an improv performance by Wilding and Tony Babcock. Wilding and Tony’s enthusiasm is infectious. From the moment they are onstage, they draw all attention. I am referring to them by their first names because as the show progressed, I saw them more […]

After brushing off the sawdust and rinsing milkshake residue out of their hair, students from the DAN School of Drama and Music returned to Theological Hall for a second night of TK Theo Fringe—a showcase of short, fringe-style solo performances presented at Theological Hall in partnership with Theatre Kingston. Following an intense evening of site-specific theatre on Wednesday, I returned, too, and experienced what the second (and last) day of […]

Think of a world where anything is possible; where imagination comes to life. Welcome to Virtual Reality. Single Thread and Electric Company Theatre’s PXR Conference is full of exceptional talks and presentations about Virtual Reality (VR) and exploring the power of VR for immersive and interactive experiences. In my previous article, I discussed my findings attending these presentations and now will touch on some of the PXR experience events I […]

I spent last evening exploring Theological Hall and finding theatre in unexpected places. In partnership with Theatre Kingston, Queen’s students in DRAM 339 present the inaugural TK Theo Fringe, a showcase of short solo works that celebrate the style and format of fringe theatre.  Over the course of the two-day mini fringe festival, I’ll be catching as many shows as I can and writing about them in the little pockets […]

Virtual reality is a relatively unexplored area of technology that can take you to worlds beyond your imagination. This past week I have had the pleasure of attending the PXR Conference run by Single Thread Theatre Company and Electric Company Theatre. It is a ten-day hybrid conference that showcases the best of Virtual Reality (VR) and how it can be used as a tool for interactive experiences. The conference begins […]

About last night…  The Last Night at the Cabaret Solitaire is a musical comedy revue directed by Grahame Renyk. As the DAN School of Drama and Music’s Fall 2023 Drama Major, this high-energy production is a collaboration between over a hundred Queen’s students—30 in the cast and band, and many more behind the scenes.  A show tailored to its ensemble, The Last Night at the Cabaret Solitaire fits these multi-talented […]

What happens when you put aflamed earthlings onstage? Well, they obviously need to perform inflammatory rants. Inflammatory Earthling Rants with Help from Kropotkin is a moving performance by Vermont-based Bread and Puppet Theater. The show is a commentary on the political landscape of today. It touches on broader topics of genocide, government, and the importance of speaking up on major issues while specifically delving into current events such as the […]

Performance and XR (PXR) is a virtual reality conference hosted by Kingston’s Single Thread Theatre Company and Vancouver’s Electric Company Theatre. Spanning provinces and platforms, the conference celebrates digital art making and innovation through XR (extended reality—virtual, augmented, and mixed reality). This week, I’m meeting with Amanda Lin—PXR producer and former editor of the KTA  blog—to learn more about the conference.  This interview has been edited for length and clarity.  […]

Lizzy is a first-time volunteer at a long-term care home. Bea, the overworked nurse in charge, doesn’t hold much regard for the new technique that Lizzy wants to explore: talking to the residents with dementia, and, more specifically, asking questions to help them find their way back to themselves.  Talking Matters by Marina Engelking and Merrill Swain is a tender and informative exploration of dementia that urges viewers to think […]

Bread and Puppet Theater is one of the oldest nonprofit political theatre companies in the United States. Currently based in Vermont, Bread and Puppet is famous for its distinctive visual style and commitment to thought-provoking conversations—as well as its practice of sharing homemade sourdough bread with its audiences.  Bread and Puppet’s latest show, Inflammatory Earthling Rants With Help From Kropotkin, toured the northeastern United States this spring. As they gear […]

Having a choice is the basis of humanity, the purest expression of one’s free will. And what happens if this seemingly straightforward and essential expression is taken away from one’s self?  Blood River is a riveting play written by Kingston-based playwright Chloë Whitehorn and directed by Kingston-born Rosemary Doyle. I attended the world premiere of the show in the Baby Grand Theatre on Wednesday night. It is a play that […]

Segismund (Trevor Procyk) has spent his entire life imprisoned in a cell by his father, King Basilius (Emma Smyth). Now, Basilius has decided to let him live in the palace as a prince—but if anything goes wrong, Segismund will be sent back to his cell and told that it was all a dream. Trippy, right?  Life Is A Dream (Spanish: La vida es sueño) is a play from the Spanish […]

Just in time for horror season, Domino Theatre is back with classic mystery Dial M For Murder. Written by Frederick Knott in 1952 and adapted for film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1954, the play has an enduring legacy as a sinister, sophisticated psychological thriller. Wealthy English socialite Margot Wendice (Leanna Williams) is entangled in a love affair with American crime writer Max Halliday (Dylan Chenier). This doesn’t go over  well […]

Chloë Whitehorn’s new play, Blood River, is set in a world where Roe v. Wade has been overturned and abortion is illegal. The play follows three women—a mother, a daughter, and a reproductive rights activist—as they navigate life where the lines between law and religion have become dangerously blurred.  This interview has been edited for length and clarity. So yes, okay. It is about abortion. But to call Blood River […]

Steampunk, solarpunk, cyberpunk, and sci-fi—when you think of live theatre, these probably aren’t the first words that come to mind. Well, tether your top hats and hold on to your cybernetic limbs: award-winning playwright Brandon Zang is on a science fiction kick, and he’s taking us with him. Zang is the 2023 winner of the Voaden Prize Playwriting Competition, a biennial award presented to Canadian playwrights by Queen’s University. This […]

Job Description The Associate Artistic Producer acts as the second and primary collaborator to the Artistic Producer, and will collaborate on organization administration, scheduling and operations, document and/or policy refinement / creation, grant writing, strategic planning, human resources as well as proposing initiatives that develop both organization and the regional theatre  sector. This is a contract leadership position with potential to shift to employee position in 2024. Key Relationships Responsibilities […]

Have you ever had a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with someone? Did they have such an impact that it changed the course of your life forever? Once is a Tony Award Winning Musical based on the 2007 Oscarwinning film of the same name. In its opening, we are introduced to an unnamed struggling Dublin musician portrayed by Tyler Check. On the verge of giving up on music altogether, fate brings him to […]

Have you ever seen a barber shop which is also a pub turn into a comedy club? Neither have I until last Wednesday.  It was a beautiful brisk Wednesday evening. The sun was setting on Kingston as me and a few friends finished a wine night and started our walk. Morale was high as we headed to Hair of the Dog Barber and Pub for their Monthly Comedy Night. It […]

What began as a mutual admiration between neighbours has blossomed into a collaboration across artistic disciplines. Spoken word poet and storyteller Billie Kearns and visual artist and educator Jill Glatt often run into each other on neighbourhood walks in the Inner Harbour. This fall, they’ve teamed up to present Storytelling and the Land: Who is Belle Island?, a public workshop in preparation for their upcoming exhibition at the Agnes Etherington […]

Like red-tinged leaves, flannel shirts, and droves of students lining up for lattes, Kingston WritersFest has been a fixture in the autumn landscape for as long as I’ve lived in the Limestone City. This week, I sat down with Artistic Director Aara Macauley to discuss this year’s theme—Unbound—and to learn how the festival, which runs from September 27th to October 1st, plans to connect Kingstonians with literature beyond the printed […]

A humorous and intriguing play that will leave one thinking about it for days to come. Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is by Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch, and revolves around Jon, a famous writer and professor, and Annie, a 19 year-old student of his fan of his work. The play is portrayed through Jon’s point of view and throughout the course of the performance his and Annie’s relationship grows […]

If you’ve been to a handful of Kingston’s jazz nights, indie shows, musical theatre productions, or music festivals in the past decade, chances are you’ve heard Michael Broadhead on the upright or electric bass. In the wake of the Labour Day long weekend, I met up with Broadhead to talk about music, labour, and how performing artists can support one another in Kingston’s arts scene.  This interview has been edited […]

Have you ever been curious to follow two childhood friends into their retirement home? Well, now you can. Kind of.   Ron Clark’s A Bench in the Sun is a tale of two old friends who now live in a seniors’ home together. Every morning they meet on their bench in the sun and discuss life’s tumults and vexes with the other. Dialogue is endless and quarrels are persistent as the […]

You just got broken up with. How would you feel? Angry? Betrayed? Bitter?  bittergirl is a musical comedy that was originally a play created by Annabel Fitzsimmons, Alison Lawrence, and Mary Francis Moore. Throughout the musical, audiences follow three unnamed women titled A, B, C, and performed by Autumn-Joy Dames, Kelsey Verzotti, and Laura Caswell, as they each go through a breakup. The three women find companionship in each other […]

On Tuesday, August 15th I was invited to see the first viewing of the Cedar Island Residency performance taking place the following day. I was not told much about the performance, giving me a feeling of nervous excitement. This is the first performance I have ever attended where I did not have much information about it beforehand. The only thing I was told was to meet at the Kingston Marina […]

Feeling curious about seeing a mime roam the ins and outs of a giant translucent bubble? See La Bulle in Kingston this weekend.  La Bulle is a mime show produced by CORPUS Dance Projects and is being presented at the Kick & Push Festival by the Kingston Theatre Alliance and Le Centre Culturel Frontenac.  The show follows a lonely mime, Pierrot (David Danzon / Guy Marsan; the performer at the […]

A deliciously funny show. A Perfect Bowl of Pho is a meta-musical created and written by Nam Nguyen, music composed by Wilfred Moeschter, and directed by Steven Hao. The story is centered around a procrastinating University of Toronto student, Nam, performed by Chris Vergara. The story follows Nam as he struggles to write a musical about… I think you guessed it… Pho.  A meta-musical is a play within a play. […]

An experience I don’t think I will ever forget. One Night Only is a one man show written, produced, and performed by Nicholas Eddie, directed by Sepehr Reybod, and assistant producer is Adrian Chevalier. An audience follows Eddie throughout the night as he is faced with a challenge which can only be completed in the following morning.  This review has mentions of suicide. This show felt like an experience rather […]

Krapp’s Last Tape is a one man show written by the legendary playwright Samuel Beckett and is being performed by Jim Garrard at the Baby Grand Theatre in Kingston. It’s a story about isolation, regret, and accepting one’s fate. Audiences follow Krapp, a 69 year old man as he listens to an audio recording of his 39 year old self.  Krapp is an elderly man who appears to be on […]

A peculiar parlour game, a sauce salesman, a ghost ship, and a little girl behind a door. In Creeping Murmur; Poring Dark, John D. Huston transforms an unassuming hotel conference room into a site of spectral thrills. Though breakfast had barely settled in my stomach by the time I took my seat, I was immediately transported to a late-night world of chilling tales by Huston’s wry, lively storytelling.  Huston presents […]

Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? Like you couldn’t find “your people”? Are You Catching What I’m Throwing is a one man Circus Theatre Show performed by William Alex Larson. The show follows a man as he discovers his passion for juggling. An audience follows him through the highs and lows of this passion and in the bigger picture, the highs and lows of being accepted by society. […]

No, it’s not a typo—The Fronge Festival is a festival within a festival at TK Fringe, and it’s one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in Kingston this year.  The concept is simple and absurd: at each performance, the audience is offered a list of Fringe shows from another Canadian city and gets to decide which ones the Fronge’s troupe of improvisers will ad lib. Director Kyle Warne performs alongside […]

Lovers reacquainted, dance numbers galore, and perhaps some Grease-inspired attributes? It’s Happy Days: A New Musical, based off the TV show Happy Days, with book by Garry Marshall, and music and lyrics by Paul Williams. Produced by Blue Canoe, the young folks of this charming show are leaving their hearts on the stage.  Massimo Recupero starts the show off strong, delivering the first lines of the production with energy ablaze. […]

Intimate and uplifting, The ADHD Project will captivate an audience as Comedian/Storyteller Carlyn Rhamey explores the ups and downs of living her life with ADHD. Through compelling storytelling, she recounts the moment she received her diagnosis, her challenges with bullying, and finally her acceptance of her newly embraced “superpower”.  Before the show starts, instead of waiting offstage, Rhamey talks to the audience. She cracks jokes and welcomes the audience. I began seeing […]

There’s no “I” in RAPP BNGO. There are no prizes, no winners, and no losers. Instead, there’s DJ Seith and his record collection.  Get ready for the mildest party of your life.  RAPP BNGO takes hip hop and bingo and creates a mellow, stakes-free opportunity for people to hang out and listen to music. Each participant gets a bingo card full of words and phrases from rap lyrics (mine included […]

A tragic, humorous, and thought provoking play; gripping attention from the very beginning. Birthmarks is a bittersweet one woman show that follows Kate. As a young woman recounting her life, she is trying to move on from the sudden death of her infant child while also coming to terms with her mother’s place in her life after abandoning her as a kid. Alex Boese is fantastic as the one and […]

Life is rife with heartache, but Blueberry Fever is ripe with humour. Created by Karina Milech and Ben Jensen-Reid, this contemporary show about nothing follows a small group of friends as they navigate adulthood in Toronto.  The play opens with a montage of scenes set to a song—it’s bass-heavy and sexy, with a silky alto voice carrying the melody. It feels like a sitcom intro—one I wouldn’t ever want to […]

In Living With Shakespeare, Jeremy Smith takes a personal approach to a playwright who has loomed over his career for the past thirty-odd years. Beginning as “a shy kid from Nowhere, Ontario” and eventually becoming the artistic director of Driftwood Theatre, Smith recounts the rain storms, lullabies, motorcycle rides, and missed family gatherings that have shaped his Bard-imbued life.  The script, written by Smith and director Steven Gallagher, incorporates beloved […]

Who committed the crimes? No one knows. Welcome to the Disoriented Express. Surely, Sherlock is a witty musical written by Ann Marie Mortensen and Daniel Smith with lyrics and music by Michael Capon. The musical is a parody of the 2017 hit movie, Murder on The Orient Express, and is being performed at the Baby Grand Theatre in the 2023 Kingston Fringe Festival as part of the 2023 Kick and […]

One rainy night, 70-year-old Mary Louise (Janet-Laine Green) invites an Internet friend (Booth Savage) over for coffee. (You can tell they’re in their 70s because they say “Internet friend”.) She wastes no time stripping him of his wet clothes, dressing him in her husband’s hand-me-downs, and interrogating him within an inch of his life. In the time it takes for his things to dry, the situation goes from weird to […]

So, you’re 50 years old and sobbing under a desk at work. Where do you go from here? If you’re Sandra Banman, you’ll crawl out and craft a beautiful memoir. Presented with gentle wit and a generous spirit, Menno-Morphosis is a one-woman show written and performed by Banman and directed by Catherine Hume. It takes a lot to grow up and out of a strict Mennonite family in Manitoba. Banman […]

Kingston’s underground world of goblins and ghouls is home to more monsters than usual this week. Descend into the Kingston Gaming Nexus, if you dare, and follow the eerie carnival noises through a maze of board games to the back of the basement store. Here, you’ll find an unusual sight: Eldritch Theatre has set up shop, and Doctor Pretorious Wuthergloom (Eric Woolfe) is prepared to entertain and educate the masses […]

If you saw a man with a bandaged head carrying a CD player as he dashed down Princess Street this week, don’t worry—it was no one.  By no one, I mean it was Outheis. From Barrie, Ontario, Talk Is Free Theatre (TIFT) presents Outheis, a multi-site immersive theatre experience at the Kingston Grand Theatre. Conceived and directed by Griffin Hewitt, this show features captivating performances by Troy Adams, Taylor Garwood, […]

The Kick & Push Festival opens on a hopeful note with Pandora in the Box at the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning. Transforming the Tett’s Rehearsal Hall into a maze of giant comic panels, this immersive work by cartoonist Lorena Torres Loaiza revisits the story of Pandora from Greek mythology to explore the nature of hope. Through a blend of real-world and virtual spaces, Pandora in the Box follows […]

Recently, I had a chance to sit down with performer Alex Boese and director Michael Catlin to chat about their upcoming play Birthmarks, which will be playing at Kingston Fringe. The play was written by Canadian playwright Alexandria Haber and follows Alex’s character, Kate. Birthmarks follows Kate as she tries to get over a tragic loss in her life while also trying to reconcile the relationship with her mother whom […]

Myths, musicals, Marvel movies, and the Mabinogion: Jesse Vriend is in pondering mode, and I’m along for the ride. It’s a Monday afternoon in early July and we’re sitting at Mallo, a café on Bathurst with ribbons of neon lights on the ceiling and a cute little cactus on the table.  I met Vriend in 2017 through a creative writing course at Queen’s. For a semester, I took great joy […]

What do you do when all your friends are married and you’re perpetually single? Inspired Productions (with Slackwood Productions) explores this dilemma in their inaugural show, Company, at The Spire this week. First produced in 1970, Company is a concept musical about marriage, dating, and divorce by composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim and librettist George Furth. Produced by Mae Whalen with stage direction by Susan Del Mei and Matthew Davis and vocal […]

On my first day in Toronto, I lugged my suitcase along Dundas and sat down at Oxtail Pho to chat with playwright and lyricist Nam Nguyen. Nguyen’s musical A Perfect Bowl of Pho (book and lyrics by Nguyen, music by Wilfred Moeschter) premiered at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2022 and is coming to the Kick & Push Festival this August.  In the meantime, his new show CAEZUS (music by […]

Sarah Waisvisz is a playwright, dramaturge, multi-disciplinary performer, and professor at the Dan School of Drama and Music. Her plays include Monstrous, a solo script about the Afro-Caribbean-diaspora experience and mixed-race identity, and Heartlines, a two-act play about queer-Jewish activists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. I reached Waisvisz over Zoom recently for a short but lively conversation. We spoke about her upcoming play Double Helix, her work as a professor, […]

An exceptional union of community and arts is a phrase I would use to describe Skeleton Park Arts Festival (SPAF). The Festival took place in Kingston from Wednesday June 21st to Sunday June 25th with the bulk of the festival happening on Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25 in Skeleton Park (shocking). I was unfortunately unable to attend the Wednesday to Friday festivities but I did attend on Saturday […]

“A cavalcade of contemporary artworks, visualizations, and soundscapes inspired by our connection to water,” as described by Hydra: The Spirit of Water’s website. Calliope Collective‘s Hydra was performed at Kingston Mills Lock Station which is on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat. Hydra is a multi-art show with beautiful large-scale art, floating giant puppets, music, circus acts, and community. It encourages the need to honour […]

Sewing together tumult and tenderness, A Stitch follows Sandra and her husband Roy, who suffers from dementia. The show begins when their morning is disrupted by a criminal on the loose, Jean, who breaks into their house to escape the police, and begins holding them hostage. The show shines in portraying Roy’s (Jason Bowen) dementia. He delivers his lines exceptionally—the short pauses to think and the stuttering sold his character. […]

The theatre is dark. A single video game controller sits under a spotlight in front of a projector screen. With no rules, and in no established order, audience members take turns leaving their seats and approaching the stage. One at a time, these brave players take control of asses.masses. Over several hours, a story of revolution, carnage, reincarnation, and collective care unfolds.  Presented by the Festival of Live Digital Arts […]

How would you feel if someone invaded your home—a place meant for comfort and security? Home is a solo performance starring Beau Dixon, performed at the Isabel Bader Centre and was a part of the Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA). In Home, Beau Dixon recalls his personal experience of a home invasion and how it changed him. He describes and recreates important moments of his life, but we are […]

Imagine being in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb dropped. Now imagine having no way to hear it. Scored in Silence is an excellent solo show, starring Deaf performer, Chisato Minamimura, and was performed as part of the Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA) at the Isabel Bader Centre. The performance recounts World War II and the effects of the atomic bomb on Japan, but more specifically how it affected the […]

“VOTES FOR WOMEN” read the posters, props, and pre-show backdrop at the Kingston Grand Theatre. The Lancashire Lass is a new musical by composer/lyricist/librettist Leslie Arden. Commissioned by the Dan School of Drama and Music in 2019 and workshopped in 2021 and 2022, the show had its official premiere this year in the Watershed Festival. Directed by Tim Fort, The Lancashire Lass recounts the women’s suffrage movement in 20th-century Britain […]

“All families are dysfunctional,” proclaims the poster for Assumption: a Comedy. “Some are just better at hiding it.”  Assumption is a new play co-written by Jo McAlpine, Christie Jefferson, Cathy LeSage, and Anna Sudac. Presented by the Not So Amateur Amateurs and directed by Anna Sudac, this play was brought to life under a unique set of circumstances. Starting with a spontaneous idea by McAlpine and Jefferson to co-write a […]

Leslie Arden is a renowned Canadian composer, lyricist, and librettist. In 2019, she was commissioned to write a new musical, The Lancashire Lass, for the DAN School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University. First shown in an online preview in 2021, and then in concert in 2022, The Lancashire Lass is having its fully staged debut at this year’s Watershed Festival on May 26th and 27th at the Kingston […]

This conversation with Sarah Emtage and Shannon Kingston is the second installment of a two-part interview. To learn more about these playwrights and read the beginning of the interview, click here. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.  Something that I found interesting about Shortwave 2022 is that the three of us—quite coincidentally, I swear this is the first time we’re sitting down as a group—had similar threads […]

Sarah Emtage is a poet, playwright, sculptor, and library technician in Kingston. She is the author of the radio play The Sound Castle (2020) and its two-part sequel, Jabberwocky and The Listeners (2022), which were produced for the Shortwave Theatre Festival. Shannon Kingston is a Kingston-born playwright currently studying children’s media at Centennial College. Her radio play Garden Of Edith (2022) was produced for the Shortwave Festival, and her previous […]

At Hilda’s house, nobody uses the front door. Set in 1956, Hilda’s Yard follows an afternoon of mild chaos as empty nesters Hilda and Sam Fluck find their adult children hopping the fence in an unannounced—and uninvited—return home. Jokes are made, relatives are nagged, and heartfelt conversations are had. Hilda’s Yard, a comedy by Norm Foster, premiered in New Brunswick in 2012. This month, it appears at Kingston’s Domino Theatre […]

This review mentions sexual violence. You can tell a show is going to be a riot when the venue posts a list of what not to bring. If you’re going to the Brockville Arts Centre this weekend, their website has a long catalogue of forbidden items, including rice, dry toast, toilet paper, open flames, confetti, and supersoakers. If this list sounds familiar, you might already be humming the “Time Warp.” […]

I have a terrible secret: until Friday night, I had never seen Funny Girl. Not the show, not the movie. I’d never even borrowed the CD from the library, which I did with every other cast album I could get my hands on as a show tune-saturated tween. I have a foggy middle school recollection of hearing Lea Michele sing “Don’t Rain on My Parade” in Glee, but that’s it. […]

Job Description The Performance Blog is a primary resource for audience members, artistic collaboration, critical dialogue, and industry contacts. Our platform consolidates events, news, artists, and organizations in the Southeastern area in an accessible and accountable manner that the region has never seen before. Led by the Editor, the writing team is looking for passionate individuals who are committed to questioning who and what criticism is FOR. Responsibilities Requirements Eligibility […]

Smoky, sensual, and unsettling—welcome to Cabaret. This weekend, St. Lawrence College, showcasing students from the Music Theatre Performance program, presents the classic musical in all its doomed, debauched glory. Set in interwar Berlin, Joe Masteroff’s Cabaret (music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb) depicts the insidious creep of fascism into everyday life. Based on the play by John Van Drulen, which in turn is based on the work […]

“I’ve never felt comfortable performing anything super direct, like a normal love song. But a song about an inanimate object can find an oblique way into real feelings. These songs take very minor things and put them in big, mythical terms. I like that challenge—what’s the smallest thing you can write about and still make it compelling?” This is Arden Rogalsky, songwriter and lead performer of Kingston folk-rock collective Princess […]

What is the Critic Looking For? What a loaded question! Let me ask you one. What makes great theatre? I’ll even tell you the answer.  Artists.  You want artists to be there. Artists, technicians, administrators, engineers, carpenters, bartenders, ushers, whatever their job title, you want these masters of their craft there. You want them in there doing what they love to do; making theatre happen. Ideally, you’ll find artists who […]

An immersive student production transforms the Isabel Bader Centre’s studio theatre into a site of divine reckoning. Branden Jacob-Jenkins’ Everybody is a contemporary adaptation of the 15th-century morality play Everyman. A popular genre in medieval and early Tudor theatre, morality plays typically feature personifications of abstract concepts alongside angels, demons, and an ordinary human protagonist. In Everyman, one man—representing all of humanity—goes on an allegorical journey through the afterlife, addressing […]

The perennial City of Wine offers its first full bloom with Harmonia, a tale of forbidden love between a goddess and a mortal. Harmonia is the first in the nine-play cycle by local playwright Ned Dickens, which the Grapevine Theatre Project plans to produce as a series over the next five years. After an enormous effort by a network of over 300 theatre lovers, Harmonia is the magnificent fruit of […]

1922: Catherine, Frances, Charlotte, and Pearl are the four shining faces of the factory workers at the Radium Dial Company. For eight hours a day, they paint tiny numbers on pocket watch after pocket watch, laughing and talking as they dip their brushes in radium-laced paint.  When she first joins the company, Catherine is put off by her coworkers’ habit of licking their brushes to make the ends pointy, but […]

It’s a classic clash of generations: Canadian high school grad Tanya arrives in Ireland and is flabbergasted by her grandmother’s seemingly backwards lifestyle. Mary, Tanya’s Nan, is set in her ways— she prefers to cover the electric stovetop with a tablecloth and cook her meals on a fire, so-called progress be damned. Over a long summer filled with uphill bike rides, intercultural misadventures, and cups of tea with a mysterious […]

Last weekend, I sat down with playwright Rosemary Doyle to learn about her writing process. We were joined at the kitchen table by a vivacious three-year-old who had endless questions for me (who am I, why did I ring the doorbell, why does my skirt have sparkles, can I twirl, can I watch her twirl, too?!). Faced with this hard-hitting preschool journalism, my conversation with Doyle was conducted in quick […]

A combination of shadow puppetry, singing, hurdy-gurdy drones, cackles, moans, and good old-fashioned solstice sorcery brings a crowded living room to near silence on a cold December night. This is Birdbone Theatre’s Broom Dance, a show that has enchanted me twice this winter. The first time was at the Department of Illumination’s Firelight Lantern Festival in November, followed by a house show in Kingston’s Skeleton Park neighbourhood just before the […]

Job Description The KTA is looking to hire a Theatre Critic for the Performance Blog. The Theatre Critic is responsible for attending and reviewing 1-2 shows in the Kingston area per week. They will work very closely with the Editor of the Performance Blog to discuss articles, edits, and timelines.  Responsibilities Requirements Pay As an independent contractor, pay will come as a stipend of $550 per month with the expectation […]

Like many, the idea of an online theatrical experience doesn’t excite me like it did pre-pandemic.  The anticipation of being involved with new technology has been dimmed by having to creatively engage with it out of necessity rather than curiosity for the last two years. This was the unfortunate attitude that I held when I went into the PXR (Performance and Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality) Conference. Immediately I felt […]

The KTA would like to release an open letter to discuss our goals for the performance blog.  The blog is a space for reviews, interviews, and opinion pieces surrounding the arts that we hope will engage with the community of Kingston. We strive to spark dialogue that can enrich theatre and provoke valuable conversation. Theatre is—and should be— constantly growing. It is a passion of ours to communicate about the […]

At the Domino Theatre, a by and for family Christmas meditation on what it means to believe is showing. Miracle on 34th Street as it exists onstage was adapted from the 1947 film of the same name. The premise of the show sees a stranded Kris Kringle (Phil Perrin) as he tries to spread Christmas spirit around New York City, encountering the unlikely trio of Doris Walker (Jennifer Tryon), her […]

Mel Brooks’ film The Producers was his 1967 directorial debut. Starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, the story followed fading Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Mostel) as he and accountant-turned-producer Leo Bloom (Wilder) attempted to put on the worst Broadway show of all time. The Broadway musical adaptation of the film, and subsequent movie musical, stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Brodrick, following the same plot. Put on by The Kingston Meistersingers, […]

Let’s talk audio plays. There’s an obvious challenge here: Keep an audience engaged through only sound. Under-do it: you’ve lost their attention. Over-do it: tumultuous confusion. Finding that happy medium is really where a show sells itself. Now, one begs the question, does Shannon Kingston’s Garden of Edith find that sweet spot? …Yes. With beautiful precision. Presented by First Ditch Collective, the premiere of Garden of Edith begins with a […]

Craig Walker’s These Deeds is one of those shows that feels rewarding as you watch it. Historical fiction as a genre has this charming quality about it—ever feel “in” on the plot when a historical figure pops up in a Tarantino movie? That feeling is what Walker is able to draw out of the audience. The play follows Walker’s fictional characterizations of author Bram Stoker (George Masswohl), actor Sir Henry […]

Effortlessly effervescent and fantastically funny, Time Flies, an Evening with Ives had me stifling my laughter from beginning to end. In the small—but effective—studio of Bottle Tree Productions, I was so pleased to be in such an intimate setting for this performance and at a run time of only one hour, I was desperate for more.  The performance consists of three vignettes and two transitional monologues (performed by Kyla Todd). […]

Upon entering Kingston’s Grand Theatre, I felt I was terribly mistaken.  Throngs of people were lined up in every direction. It wasn’t the crowd I was expecting, mostly older folk. Had I not done my pre-show research on the right show? As I scanned my ticket the box office attendant asked, “Are you Colin James?”  I nervously replied, “No, I’m Freddy Van Camp.” As it turns out, Colin James is […]

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.  Erin Ball identifies as a white, Mad (from the Mad Pride Movement), Disabled treaty inhabitant. She is a double below knee amputee and circus artist based in Katarokwi/Kingston. She is the director of Kingston Circus Arts and is the co-founder of […]

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.  This interview is with Tracey Guptill: a movement based actor, stilt walker, and collaborator. Along with establishing anARC Theatre, and its coLABoratory method for Research-Creation, she co-created When I get There as a part of her Masters in Environmental Studies at […]

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.  This interview is with Alyssa Vernon. Alyssa is a Queen’s University graduate in Gender Studies, with History and English teachables. As an educator, Alyssa strives to continually advocate for marginalized students and believes in the power of art as resistance, paired […]

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.  This interview is with Aisling Murphy. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Aisling is a playwright, critic, dramaturg, and academic. Aisling is a staff reporter at the Toronto Star, the senior editor at Intermission Magazine and president of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association. […]

I was nervous when I strolled through City Park and I saw a haphazard setup of black boxes and forest-themed shower curtains. But, the Lakeside Players production of Robin Hood charmed me from start to finish. The well-known fairytale format was both honoured and upended for a modern audience. The writing spoke to the entire crowd, appealing to even the youngest. It was somehow modern and poetic; delectable to the […]

5 Q’s, 5 Femmes is a short series facilitated by writer Kemi King, interviewing five femme identifying artists; getting to know a little bit about them and their craft.   This interview is with Jill Glatt, a Katarokwi/Kingston-based illustrator, printmaker, arts educator, and French teacher with the Limestone District School Board. She has developed and delivered programming for the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, Kingston Arts Council, Centre Culturel Frontenac, […]

Who knew that ducks, friendship, and existentialism could coincide into a single theatre performance? These elements came together in a heartfelt conversation between two men in a recent performance of The Duck Variations. bEST Theatre Company’s The Duck Variations that played at the Grand Theatre as a part of the Kingston Fringe, produced by the Kick & Push Festival, was an existential and meandering conversation between two men on a […]

Return of the Megafauna created by Bad New Days is a physical theatre piece that was a part of the 2022 Kick and Push festival. The piece is contextualized through the company’s understanding of post-humanism and de-extinction, where the images of the future are utopic rather than dystopian. De-extinction is defined as the process of generating an organism that either resembles or is an extinct species.  I encountered the piece […]

“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?”- Thomas Merton Presented at Theatre Kingston’s Fringe Festival, Color and Light’s Sailing to the Moon follows a young, wandering man named Tom (Thomas Cherney) who is trying to understand the value in pursuing monastic life in a forest. Injuring his foot on his journey to the monastery, […]

What do we owe our parents? And what do theatres owe their audiences?  Kim’s Convenience by Ins Choi is a play loved by many in the greater Toronto area, and after the success of the TV adaptation on CBC, it has gained national attention. The story is an endearing family comedy following a day in the life of Mr. Kim: a convenience store owner who immigrated from Korea to start […]

Lovers of Clue, and Murder by Death will be sad to know that they missed out on  Kingston Fringe’s The Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno presented by The Not So Amateur Amateurs. The story is one you’re likely familiar with. Think Agatha Christie or “closed circle” stories like And Then There Were None. But what makes it exceptional, is the ensemble of young artists that made it happen!  The play […]