Photo of Haley Sarfeld

Haley Sarfeld

Current Contributor

Haley Sarfeld is a singer, songwriter, poet, playwright, composer, collager, cruciverbalist, voice actor, and theatre critic living in Katarokwi/Kingston. She recently completed her MA in Cultural Studies at Queen's University. Her debut radio play, Half Past Lunchtime, aired on CFRC in 2022 as part of the Shortwave Theatre Festival. These days, Haley is working on The Lindworm's Cabaret, an upcoming musical adaptation of a folk tale about love, gender, and onions. Photo by Cecily Taylor.

Articles by Haley

Illustration of a hand holding leaves and a small animal approaching the leaves. The background is green.

Who is Belle Island? Billie Kearns and Jill Glatt on being Local

  • Artist
  • Interview

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 […]

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Photo of Aara Macauley smiling and holding a microphone.

Beyond books: Kingston WritersFest 2023 is ‘Unbound’

  • Artist
  • Interview
  • Writersfest

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 […]

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Headshot of Michael Broadhead

Raising the bar: music and labour with Michael Broadhead

  • Artist
  • Interview

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 […]

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Poster for 'Creeping Murmur; Poring Dark". A creepy mansion is pictured. Text reads: "John D. Huston Creeping Murmur; Poring Dark "I nearly jumped out of my skin" CBC Winnipeg ****1/2"

Spirited storytelling: ‘Creeping Murmur; Poring Dark’

  • Festival
  • Fringe
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

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 […]

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Poster for 'The Fronge Festival' Texts reads: "the fronge festival August 3-13 Improvised plays from six Canadian Fringe Festivals tickets at kingstongrand.ca"

The unforgettable Fronge Festival

  • Festival
  • Fringe
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

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 […]

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Poster for 'RAPP BNGO'

Not your grandma’s bingo game: ‘RAPP BNGO’

  • Festival
  • Fringe
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

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 […]

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Poster for 'Blueberry Fever'. An image of blue frozen yogurt is against an orange background. Text reads: "A New Play Created By Karina Milech & Ben Jensen-Reid Blueberry Fever"

Sweet and chill: ‘Blueberry Fever’

  • Festival
  • Fringe
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

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 […]

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Poster for 'Living with Shakespeare". Animation of a man looking shocked and staring at Shakespeare who is sunken into a chair, drinking soda, and reading. There is garbage and a mess all around him. Text reads: "Living with Shakespeare by JEREMY SMITH and STEVEN GALLAGHER"

Driftwood Theatre’s love letter to Shakespeare

  • Festival
  • Fringe
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

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 […]

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Poster for 'Sometimes I Love You, Always'. Text reads: "The Kick and Push Festival Art Sanctuary Presents a Basement Production of a veces te quiero siempre Sometimes I Love you Always Written and Directed By: Booth Savage Starring Janet-Laine Green With Booth Savage "You know, you really shouldn't let just anyone into your home. These days you can never tell." THURSDAY AUG 03 8:00 PM VENUE 2 CONFEDERATION FRIDAY AUG 04 4:00 PM VENUE 2 CONFEDERATION SATURDAY AUG 05 2:00 PM VENUE 2 CONFEDERATION SUNDAY AUG 06 4:20 PM VENUE 2 CONFEDERATION"

A muffin you can’t refuse: ‘Sometimes I Love You, Always’

  • Festival
  • Fringe
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

One rainy night, 70-year-old Mary Louise (Janet-Leigh 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 […]

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Poster for "Menno-Morphosis" A drawn figure is seen with butterfly wings against a blue background. Text reads: "MENNO-MORPHOSIS How to become a secular mennonite in 500 years or less. Written and performed by Sandra Banman Directed by Catherine Hume."

A mesmerizing memoir: ‘Menno-Morphosis’

  • Festival
  • Fringe
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

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 […]

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Poster for 'Here there be Monsters' A man in a striped jacket wears a top hat with grimacing face paint on. Text reads: "DOC WUTHERBLOOM HERE THERE BE MONSTERS"

There’s magic in store with ‘Here There Be Monsters’

  • Festival
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Review

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 […]

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Poster for 'Outheis' A man is seen with a cloth in his mouth that has been wrapped behind his head Text reads: "OUTHEIS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY GRIFFIN HEWITT JULY 25 -30, 2023 TALK IS FREE THEATRE"

No one’s home? ‘Outheis’ on the streets of Kingston

  • Festival
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Review

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, […]

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