Aiden Robert Bruce — Kingston Theatre Alliance

In January of 2024 Queen’s University became a hot topic across the country as news broke about the university’s multimillion dollar operating budget deficit. As the university grappled with how to handle its financial difficulties, the DAN School of Drama and Music (DSDM) has become a hot topic of its own amongst Kingston’s arts community as the classes, staff, and students have been noticeably impacted by these cuts. The sudden interest in what has until recently remained a rather autarkic community has led to some misinformation and a great deal of speculation as those both inside and outside the DSDM try to discern not only what is going on, but also how to help.

Welcome back to the Script Suggestion Series, where I take the opportunity to abuse my privilege as a theatre critic by getting paid to read and discuss plays from my very own bookshelf. This past summer I read Robert Icke’s Oedipus and was absolutely taken by the powerful adaptation. With that production just about to open on Broadway at the time of writing this article, I’ve been craving some more […]

Welcome back to the new Script Suggestion Series; I’ve recently pulled another play off of my ever-growing shelf, so now it’s time to introduce it to you, our readers, and share a few thoughts on the piece. The most difficult thing about having hundreds of options for what to review is that you have to choose one, so you force yourself to come up with small justifications of why one […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

A wedding is widely regarded as the “happiest day of your life” but the stains of actually achieving that blissful status often turn the festivities sour. Bonnie (Emily Lukasik) and Brad (Henry Beasley) are throwing a stag and doe in preparation for their wedding. Unfortunately, after a terrible storm, Rob (Kyle Brown) and Mandy (Romi Shraiter) have had to relocate their wedding, and the only venue in town that can […]

Jake MacNeil (Pat Larkin) has long been in charge of the A.G. MacNeil woolen mill, but now is in the early stages of dementia. As Jake’s mind fades, so does his company, leaving his children Judith (Liz Simpson) and Ned (David Baker) to grapple with how to salvage their father’s life’s work. With an offshore company offering to buy the business, the future of the mill as well as the […]

When the TK Fringe began this year and I received my press pass I found myself thinking: “How much can I abuse this power?” Each of the KTA’s three summer critics were assigned five shows to review, so I knew not everything would be covered and I would not be assigned to see every show I was interested in. So rather than simply abuse the power of the press pass […]

A beautiful wedding has been ruined by the murder of the groom. The crime has eight suspects, and rather than bother a judge with the issue, Vic Vanderspank (Shanique Peart), the evening’s host, has assembled a collection of jurors (the audience) to decide by vote. The jury is not voting on who is guilty though: the trial is broken up into rounds with someone being voted off as innocent each […]

Whether you are familiar with the original novel by Kenneth Grahame, the stop motion film, the Disney animated short film, or the more recent 2016 musical, it is hard to deny The Wind in the Willows as one of the greats in children’s literature. The adventures of Mole (Liv Hendy) and Rat (Essie Latimer-Scahill) as they try to help the infamous Toad (Kai Kerr) out of his nasty habits have […]

Being a teacher is difficult: parents demanding the world for their children regardless of the effort being put in on the student’s end, a complete lack of social life because of all the time needed for marking, and to top it all off there’s the endless torment of your unenthusiastic pupils. Samantha Twiggs (Eleanor Daly) embodies all of these struggles and shows what happens when just about everything goes wrong for […]