Festival — Kingston Theatre Alliance

This might not be the first time on stage for Yuriv Popov and Yana Menov—the founder and creative director of Studio Reflection, respectively—but it is their first time performing a piece that is 100% theirs. After translating playwright Igor Yakimov’s The Turing Test from Russian to English, the two get to be their own directors, actors, and designers. With over 50 custom-made video clips, sound clips, and even perfectly timed […]

Over the past few years of the Theatre Kingston Fringe Festival I have noticed a trend; there always seems to be one new musical brought to the festival that ends up being one of those shows I hear people discussing in the lobby for other performances at this unique and intimate Fringe. In 2023 it was Surely, Sherlock, last year it was The Cape As Red As Blood, and this […]

“I have good news for you, some of you have been coming to the festival for years, this year we have six good plays.” These were the words Festival Director Michelle McNichol chose to open the second and final night of this year’s Come Play By The Lake One-Act Festival. I have the pleasure of writing about the final two performances of the festival: NUTZ by Kate Barker and I’ll […]

Tribute to Wildflower: How to Read a Bouquet  A dimly lit stage with lively jazz playing in the background welcomes the audience to a night of reflective and personal stories. To the right, a sign reads “Connie’s Flowers,” and in the center, a table with various props sets the scene of a charming flower shop. The story about to unfold is one of sisterhood, loss, perspective, and new beginnings. In […]

Content Warning: ‘The Fall after Midsummer’ mentions murder, violence, and discusses an emotionally abusive relationship. Although this review does not discuss these topics in depth, they are general themes in the performance. 

The best part about summertime in Kingston is there’s always something to do, and the worst part is there’s never enough time to do it all. Whether you were busy with the Princess Street Promenade or simply seeking shelter from the heatwave, you might have missed this year’s Skeleton Park Arts Festival (SPAF). If you weren’t able to make it out to McBurney Park this past weekend, we don’t want […]

The tenth day of the tenth month. What better time to read about the Kick & Push Festival’s tenth season?  Although summer may be long over by now, the KTA has just finished wrapping up the necessary paperwork that must come with the annual Kick & Push Festival. As my colleague and Artistic Producer of the Kick & Push Liam Karry recently closed the books on this year’s busy run, […]

What parts of yourself are you hiding? What do you filter out? Is it safe to be heard? Listen, I’ll be honest—things weren’t going too well for me last Friday. After forgetting my glasses, taking the bus to the wrong venue, and discovering that the lone ballpoint pen at the bottom of my purse had run dry, I almost gave up on seeing What Brings You In.  Luckily, the Kick […]

Hysterical Historical Improv delivers on its promise of making history hysterical. From local group Improv Kingston, local history comes to life in a way you haven’t seen before. Dan Walmsley directs, writes, and performs, with the help of additional performers Jon Britton and Henry Korba-Babcock (as well as occasional promised special guests, although none appeared in the performance I attended).  The premise of this “historical improv” is that Walmsley has […]

It’s the last show of the 2024 Kick & Push Festival—Basement Girl, a play about PhD student Jovana navigating her new life in Canada while dealing with some eerie sounds in her apartment. Director, playwright, and actor behind Jovana, Bojana Babić was kind enough to sit down with me this past week for a Zoom interview about the show.  This interview has been edited for clarity and length.  Could you […]

A stage set with only a wooden cross draped in lingerie, Christian Slut puts the sexual content right back into a Christian upbringing. The show is a one-person “confessional” (not the Catholic kind), written and performed by Erik Karklins, about their experiences as a self-identified slut while also being a devout Christian. They tease (literally) out the nuances between these two seemingly conflicted identities, critiquing restrictive religious doctrine. Despite its […]

Artistic work that’s been a part of the Kick & Push Festival for several years now, the Cedar Island Residency returns for 2024 and this year’s creations will be shared today. By collaborating with Parks Canada to make this residency possible, the work on Cedar Island began just under one week ago on August 12th. With a busy past few days of creation, myself and B. Solomon—a creator in the […]