Theatre Kingston — Kingston Theatre Alliance

Recently, I had a chance to sit down with performer Alex Boese and director Michael Catlin to chat about their upcoming play Birthmarks, which will be playing at Kingston Fringe. The play was written by Canadian playwright Alexandria Haber and follows Alex’s character, Kate. Birthmarks follows Kate as she tries to get over a tragic loss in her life while also trying to reconcile the relationship with her mother whom […]

It’s a classic clash of generations: Canadian high school grad Tanya arrives in Ireland and is flabbergasted by her grandmother’s seemingly backwards lifestyle. Mary, Tanya’s Nan, is set in her ways— she prefers to cover the electric stovetop with a tablecloth and cook her meals on a fire, so-called progress be damned. Over a long summer filled with uphill bike rides, intercultural misadventures, and cups of tea with a mysterious […]

Last weekend, I sat down with playwright Rosemary Doyle to learn about her writing process. We were joined at the kitchen table by a vivacious three-year-old who had endless questions for me (who am I, why did I ring the doorbell, why does my skirt have sparkles, can I twirl, can I watch her twirl, too?!). Faced with this hard-hitting preschool journalism, my conversation with Doyle was conducted in quick […]

Craig Walker’s These Deeds is one of those shows that feels rewarding as you watch it. Historical fiction as a genre has this charming quality about it—ever feel “in” on the plot when a historical figure pops up in a Tarantino movie? That feeling is what Walker is able to draw out of the audience. The play follows Walker’s fictional characterizations of author Bram Stoker (George Masswohl), actor Sir Henry […]

Who knew that ducks, friendship, and existentialism could coincide into a single theatre performance? These elements came together in a heartfelt conversation between two men in a recent performance of The Duck Variations. bEST Theatre Company’s The Duck Variations that played at the Grand Theatre as a part of the Kingston Fringe, produced by the Kick & Push Festival, was an existential and meandering conversation between two men on a […]

“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?”- Thomas Merton Presented at Theatre Kingston’s Fringe Festival, Color and Light’s Sailing to the Moon follows a young, wandering man named Tom (Thomas Cherney) who is trying to understand the value in pursuing monastic life in a forest. Injuring his foot on his journey to the monastery, […]

Lovers of Clue, and Murder by Death will be sad to know that they missed out on  Kingston Fringe’s The Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno presented by The Not So Amateur Amateurs. The story is one you’re likely familiar with. Think Agatha Christie or “closed circle” stories like And Then There Were None. But what makes it exceptional, is the ensemble of young artists that made it happen!  The play […]

A one woman, one robot, one act show set on a space station, R.E.D. is the frugal producer’s dream show. But the cracks start to show almost immediately.

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.

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.

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.

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.