Jeff McGilton — Kingston Theatre Alliance

Cindy Ci and Jeff McGilton are speaking on a video call to discuss the production of ‘Mercy’ they had watched two nights prior.

While some pieces of theatre find their footing in fiction, others find meaning and shape in the staging of true events. In the last stretch of this past Black History Month, an example of the latter came in the telling of an essential piece of American and Canadian Black history. JOSIAH, co-created by director Charles Robertson and sole performer Cassel Miles, was a multi-disciplinary dip into the life of Josiah […]

[TLDR is an abbreviation for ‘too long; didn’t read’, usually followed by a brief synopsis] If the pandemic has taught us anything in the last year and a half, it has been how to adapt. While an inability to gather has seen the closing of countless theatres, some companies have turned to the internet as a means of staying afloat. By broadcasting performances and moving programming online, digitizing became a […]

Prior to logging onto Zoom to watch a live performance of DAN Studio Series: Odyssey, I considered how the DAN School of Drama and Music student festival played a part in my undergraduate experience. In addition to developing friends and connections throughout my years at Queen’s University, these experiences saw the honing of skills in acting, writing, and collaborating. Created and produced entirely by undergraduate students, the DAN Studio Series […]

“Write what you know. And what you don’t know, research.” Playing the young and bold Tia, Makambe K Simamba speaks these words and thunder ripples across the darkened theatre. It is with power and conviction that she stares down her fictional screenwriting superior, and with a warning that finds relevance even outside the story world. Everyone is shaken with the implications. This is my second time seeing a performance of […]

It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon when I asked my father to join me for some caramel corn and a matinee performance of Thom Currie’s Back in ’59, the Thousand Islands Playhouse show that is Mashed Potato-ing its way through a sold-out run (or in our case, available via streaming online). Despite not being present for all the toe-tapping and in-seat jiving I’m sure accompanies the live productions, we found […]

Somewhere in the vast Prince Edward County (located west of Kingston and spanning roughly 1,050 square kilometres), a tented proscenium theatre stands before sprawling fields and a signature red barn. In addition to offering a decadent cheeseboard or glass of vino from one of the county’s many wineries, this space also recently offered a contemporary dance festival, and with no less flavour. Performed at The Eddie Hotel and Farm’s BMO […]

Hear ye, hear ye! Calling all medieval tale lovers and outdoor theatre enthusiasts, does The Kick and Push Festival ever have a show for you! Deep in the thick forests of City Park, the Lakeside Players (creators of last year’s Cyrano de Bergerac) present another lively tale, or rather a small collection of them, in their fanciful production of Robin Hood. Developed by Jake Rennie and Andrew Cameron (who, in […]

PAPILLON uses the unexpected to create new meaning and keep things feeling fresh. In a world filled with unpredictability, it can feel like at times the only constant is change itself. Exploring this concept onstage can lead to different forms of improvisation, which tests performers and adds to the live-ness of a performance. For PAPILLON, a high-powered, experimental movement piece that was presented at the Storefront Fringe Festival and supported […]

Delivering commendable storytelling and attention to detail, Through the Fairy Circle offers something for all ages. While the grassy stretch we have come to know as Wolfe Island offers the people of Kingston a beautiful daytrip, a sandy beach and one heck of a bakery, one performance at the Storefront Fringe Festival sees it also serving as theatrical inspiration.

As the play finds its narrative structure in Maria’s three-card reading, I find it suitable, being a Tarot reader myself, to provide a three-card response.