News & Reviews — Kingston Theatre Alliance

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. 

There is no more nuance in this production, no deeper message, nothing else of note. If you are looking to see ‘The Music Man’ as it was staged originally in 1957, you’re in luck. There weren’t really any risks taken or boundaries pushed, and sometimes that’s what audiences are looking for, fine! But I would’ve been happy to see this talented creative team take on something that has the potential to be more relevant.

Something is brewing at Agnes Etherington’s former home. Correction: something is rising, proofing, marinating, braising, and burning at the Agnes.

If you’re like me, you’ve never been to a variety show, but what I’ve learned is that they’re really just talent shows for grownups. But unlike the ones from grade school, these acts are polished, professional, and perhaps… a little promiscuous.  I was able to catch drag artist Dare de LaFemme’s third and most recent show in Gananoque at the Royal Theatre Thousand Islands on July 2nd. The evening was […]

It is always the moments that derail an activist’s life that are remembered the most, and Hey Viola is a reminder that Viola Davis was a real person. It is also the most entertaining history lesson I’ve ever had.  This Thousand Islands Playhouse production (co-created by Krystle Dos Santos and Tracey Power, dir. Power) is a transformative experience filled with history, music, and advocacy. Transporting audiences to 1950’s Harlem, New […]

If you didn’t catch it at The Grand Theatre, the recent run of Kong’s Night Out showed that a lot can happen in a hotel room in New York City on the eve of a Broadway performance. This Domino Theatre production utilized a fixed set, and used this constraint as a method to explore complex narrative structures. The performance gave form to the world of Broadway in the 1930s and […]

Drawing inspiration from artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and situations of action painting, Corbett’s gestural method was engaging to watch and experience as an audience member. By loosening the boundaries that often exist between mediums in art, the performance invited the audience to think of the crossovers that can happen when mediums collide.

Told through the literal lens of digital technology such as phones and computers, the internet and social media play a critical role in communication and evidence.

The performance of You Should Have Stayed Home, directed by Michael Wheeler, was a component of the Festival of Live Digital Art (FoLDA) and as a work it explores the tensions and political possibilities inherent in virtual reality.

The Maydee Box, created by Murdoc Schon and Rebecca Cuddy, was presented at this year’s Festival of Live and Digital Art in the Isabel Bader Center’s Art and Media lab. The work is an audio, visual, and tactile piece in the real world, but amplified by augmented reality. Advancing the physical world through a smart device, Schon and Cuddy have used this technology to present the actual performance of the […]

There is a conventional expectation of what a Western opera performer and performance should look like. With expensive sets and costumes and elaborate orchestrations, it is an artform who’s high-brow reputation is the only part I’m familiar with. But Musique 3 Femmes’ presentation of SOLO at this year’s Watershed Festival, the “tour-de-force double bill for solo voice” actively subverted the Eurocentric tradition inherent to opera allowing the songs and stories […]