Kingston Theatre Alliance Archive

I Wish ‘Gone’ Would Never Go

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

Shrimp cocktail.
Top 40 hits of the 1990’s.
The shady dealings of the 1%.
An unhinged rendition of I am The Greatest Star.

All of these elements and more can be found in Gone, presented by Toronto-based writer and performer Amber Mackereth. A romp in the anxieties of the global citizen, this work is unlike anything else playing at the Kingston Fringe.

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Never Swim Alone, or when male egotism catches up with itself

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

Never Swim Alone is a Canadian classic that just needs a little more reinvention than what the script calls for. My understanding of the work is that it’s meant to be a critique of the ways in which men have been socialized, yet the play as it stands does not offer anything more than making toxic masculinity known.

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Everybody gets one…chance at proving they’re good at improv.

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

Too Much Information Improvised was a part of the 2022 Kingston Fringe, produced by the Kick & Push Festival. It is performed by two real life exes, Paddy MacDonald and Steph Haller. The allure of the work is the fact that they used to be in a romantic relationship with one another, so the expectation is that maybe there is fighting, and lots of tension. It was a lovely surprise that there was not, like none at all, unless the performance called for it.

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From Young Artists to Young Audiences—Once Upon a Time: A Play with Music

  • Bottle Tree Productions
  • Festival
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston
  • TK Fringe

While the show is clearly intended for a younger audience, there is an undeniable charm in Anne Marie Mortensen’s writing and the performances from the teenage actors. 

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In conversation with Clayton Lee and Michael Rubenfeld from ‘Ways of Being’

  • Artist
  • Festival
  • FOLDA
  • Interview
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Spiderwebshow

Ways of Being was an interactive performance for two different groups of audience, in two different cities simultaneously. Returning to Kingston as a part of FOLDA 2022, the work transformed me into both the performer and audience, spectator and entertainer. And as someone interested in the human condition, Ways of Being gave me the space to explore and understand, “How do we become the people we are at any given moment? […]

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A white wall covered by brightly coloured paintings of various sizes.

Now Hiring: Producer of SWIRLS

  • Industry
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Single Thread Theatre Co
  • Spiderwebshow

Project Description: SWIRLS: a series of workshops held around Kingston as a collaborative setting for meaningful engagement to improve artists’ digital literacy and enhance their capabilities in using AR/VR as an art form. In-person and virtual workshops will bring together a wide array of artists working within different artistic disciplines. The workshops will be experiments in providing learning opportunities while creating a context that makes for creative sparks to happen. […]

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An image of a yellow locker with a piece of orange construction paper with the words "NOW HIRING" written in letters cut out from a magazine. Underneath reads "ASSOCIATE THEATRE CRITIC, DUE MAY 22" in writing.

Now Hiring: Associate Theatre Critic

  • Industry
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance

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. Job Description The Associate Theatre […]

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Through (cyber) space and time – Ways of Being

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

On a Saturday morning, I was handed a chair. By the afternoon, I was sitting on the floor. Every audience member arrives with something different, and Clayton Lee and Michael Rubenfeld are asking for it. Ways of Being, the last addition to this summer’s Kick & Push Festival, is a performance project in-progress “made in the moment, with whoever is in attendance.” Two artists, two time zones, two audiences—how lucky […]

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The Mystical Machinery of Mosher Island

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

WARNING: This review contains spoilers, but you can play Mosher Island first here. From the ancient events of Olympia and its outstanding legacy, to every bustling grade school recess, to the unfathomably powerful computers in everyone’s pockets these days, it’s always been apparent that humans simply adore games.  Admit it! You absolutely DO got games on your phone (See meme to the right). Theatre’s strength as an artistic medium is […]

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Re-Experiencing the Self at the Cedar Island Lodge

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

For the first time in a while, I was able to understand what it means to be in the present. On August 20th, I received a special invitation from the Kick & Push Festival to attend an award ceremony in a concrete gazebo standing in the middle of the beautiful Cedar Island, with large trees and hills joining the party.

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Dungeons, Dragons, and Drama!

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

Roll Models succeeds on its charisma saving throw! Roll Models developed by The ArtFolk Collective, partnered with The Kick & Push Festival, is a new theatrical work focused on bringing the fantastical world of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) to the stage. The improvisational story takes a new shape every night as the Dungeon Master (DM) Tyler Check begins the show by asking an audience member about a recent adventure they […]

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A reimagined classic that hits the bullseye

  • Festival
  • Kick & Push Festival
  • Kingston Theatre Alliance
  • Lakeside Players
  • Review

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 […]

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