Theatre Kingston — Kingston Theatre Alliance

Rather than tumbling into a fantastical wonderland, this Alice fights against reality as she struggles with the unexpected loss of her husband, Ever. Aside from the shared name, Alice & the World We Live In has no relation to Lewis Carroll’s famous character. Written by Alexandria Haber and directed by Rosemary Doyle, this powerful two-person show stars Helen Bretzke as Alice and Sean Roberts as Ever. He appears to Alice […]

The classic saying is, “The show must go on!” Well, so must the review… sort of.  With our small team at the KTA, unfortunately when one of us is struck with sickness, there’s a bit of reworking to be done. This was the case last week, just as we were about to review Theatre Kingston’s production of Boy Beatle. However, we luckily managed to work out a short interview through […]

Lucy Darling means glamour in the true sense of the word—as in both elegant fashion and spellbinding mystique. The stage persona of Carisa Hendrix, Miss Darling is a self-described female magician and “classy bitch,” hosting a sophisticated yet scrappy 1950s Hollywood look complete with a smooth drawling accent. Darling is highly recognized for her efforts, as a 15-time Award-Winning Entertainer featured in the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley’s […]

A tight 45 minutes of magic served with a citrus twist. Hailing from Ouro Preto, Brazil, Ewerton Martins—better known as El Diablo of the Cards—is a globetrotting magician and card-carrying clown. His last local appearance was at TK Fringe in 2019, where audiences were enraptured by his devilish charisma and skillful sleight of hand. This year, El Diablo is back to kick off Theatre Kingston’s summer programming with two performances […]

Lucy Darling is a world-renowned socialite whose dazzling stage magic and improvisational comedy will be gracing Theatre Kingston next weekend.  While Ms. Darling was much too busy to meet me for an interview—and, really, can you blame her? She has places to be!—I recently had the opportunity to speak with Carisa Hendrix, the performer and magician behind the persona. After a delightful potation of Lucy Darling YouTube content, I met […]

What is art? On Wednesday, February 7th, I headed on down to the Baby Grand Theatre to catch Theatre Kingston’s production of Bakersfield Mist, written by Stephen Sachs and directed by Jim Garrard. The play follows a 50-something unemployed but previously a bartender, Maude (Rosemary Doyle), as she tries to get her presumed Jackson Pollock painting authenticated—if she succeeds, it can be worth millions.

Jim Garrard calls himself a tyrant, but this season, he’s softening his grip. After announcing his ‘sort of’ retirement in 2015, the playwright, actor, and director has remained a presence in Kingston’s theatre scene, most recently in his TK Fringe performances of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. This winter, Garrard directs Bakersfield Mist by Stephen Sachs for Theatre Kingston, starring Rosemary Doyle and Cassel Miles.  Inspired by true events, Bakersfield […]

A timeless story that captures the magic of Christmas in a captivating and uniquely compelling manner. On Sunday, December 17th, I had the pleasure of attending John D. Huston’s A Christmas Carol, presented by Theatre Kingston, to help me get into the Christmas season. Before arriving at the Tett Centre, I had a vague understanding of the classic story created by the brilliant Charles Dickens. I watched the movie as […]

After brushing off the sawdust and rinsing milkshake residue out of their hair, students from the DAN School of Drama and Music returned to Theological Hall for a second night of TK Theo Fringe—a showcase of short, fringe-style solo performances presented at Theological Hall in partnership with Theatre Kingston. Following an intense evening of site-specific theatre on Wednesday, I returned, too, and experienced what the second (and last) day of […]

I spent last evening exploring Theological Hall and finding theatre in unexpected places. In partnership with Theatre Kingston, Queen’s students in DRAM 339 present the inaugural TK Theo Fringe, a showcase of short solo works that celebrate the style and format of fringe theatre.  Over the course of the two-day mini fringe festival, I’ll be catching as many shows as I can and writing about them in the little pockets […]

Having a choice is the basis of humanity, the purest expression of one’s free will. And what happens if this seemingly straightforward and essential expression is taken away from one’s self?  Blood River is a riveting play written by Kingston-based playwright Chloë Whitehorn and directed by Kingston-born Rosemary Doyle. I attended the world premiere of the show in the Baby Grand Theatre on Wednesday night. It is a play that […]

Chloë Whitehorn’s new play, Blood River, is set in a world where Roe v. Wade has been overturned and abortion is illegal. The play follows three women—a mother, a daughter, and a reproductive rights activist—as they navigate life where the lines between law and religion have become dangerously blurred.  This interview has been edited for length and clarity. So yes, okay. It is about abortion. But to call Blood River […]