News & Reviews Archive

Headshot of Remira Pryce. She is on a patio. She is smiling at the camera with her eyes closed.

“It’s a Launching Point for So Many People”: Remira Pryce talks Blue Canoe

  • Artist
  • Blue Canoe Productions
  • Interview
  • News

Once upon a December—a few days before the opening of Blue Canoe Productions’ winter musical, Anastasia—I sat down with Remira Pryce to talk about community theatre and youth-led arts. It had been close to twelve months since Pryce stepped into her role as Arts Managing Director at the local youth-led theatre company, and she was eager to reflect on the past year and to chat about plans for the coming spring.

Read More About “It’s a Launching Point for So Many People”: Remira Pryce talks Blue Canoe
Performers on stage. Some wear school uniforms and some wearing cheerleading uniforms. The front and centre performer is overjoyed and jumps gleefully.

Big Performances are Big Fun in QMT’s ‘Heathers: The Musical’

  • Queen's Musical Theatre
  • Review

Queen’s Musical Theatre (QMT)’s Heathers: The Musical has all the makings of a killer production: biting wit, belty numbers, and a cast that brings the house down, but the Baby Grand just can’t contain this much teen angst.

Read More About Big Performances are Big Fun in QMT’s ‘Heathers: The Musical’
A group of nine are smiling for a photo in a black box theatre. They are group close together and one holds flowers.

Despite Close Quarters, ‘Family Container’ Cannot Be Contained

  • Review
  • See More Wake Up
  • Theatre Kingston

Terra (Jarena Lee) has fallen on hard times. Her case worker, Liz (Sierra Zawacki), is asking her to leave her current home at a women’s abuse shelter to make room for new tenants. Meanwhile, her abusive ex (Jonathan Campbell) has just been released from prison, she is meeting with a problematic potential landlord (Matthew Davis), and she is single-handedly raising her five children—Mya (Yashia Allen), James (Iffy Maduabuchi), Anaella (Reese […]

Read More About Despite Close Quarters, ‘Family Container’ Cannot Be Contained

Kingston Meistersingers Put It All on the (Chorus) Line

  • Kingston Meistersingers
  • Review

Few musicals capture the highs and lows of being a performer quite like Michael Bennett’s A Chorus Line. Set during a grueling Broadway audition, the show follows a group of dancers fighting for a coveted spot in the titular chorus line. Instead of a typical audition, the dancers are pushed beyond their resumes, answering deeply personal questions about their lives, dreams, and struggles. Through monologues and musical numbers, each dancer […]

Read More About Kingston Meistersingers Put It All on the (Chorus) Line
In a staged setting of a classroom, a teacher lies on a carpeted floor with one hand in the air and her feet lifted slightly off the ground.

“Class Struggle” Has a New Meaning in ‘Parent’s Night’

  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

Nicole is overworked, underpaid, and at her wits end when she has to meet with two parents of students in her grade three class. Enter John, a worried upper middle class father recently separated from his wife and is concerned about his son’s grades, and Rosie, a mother working multiple jobs to support her husband who struggles with drug addiction and her daughter. Chaos quickly unfolds as the parents panic […]

Read More About “Class Struggle” Has a New Meaning in ‘Parent’s Night’
A couple sit on a bench with the backs to the camera. They're on a stage and behind them are staged trees and imagery of the northern lights.

‘Almost, Maine’ is Almost Perfect 

  • Domino Theatre
  • Review

Love is never simple—and in Domino Theatre’s production of Almost, Maine, directed by Sandie Cond, it’s often downright messy. This heartfelt and frequently hilarious exploration of falling in and out of love is set in the fictional small community of Almost, Maine. The play spans eight individually titled vignettes that unfold over the same ten-minute period, giving us glimpses of touching, romantic, and heartbreaking moments. Strangely, by the end of […]

Read More About ‘Almost, Maine’ is Almost Perfect 
Poster for Theatre Kingston's production of 'Big Ticket'. The poster has a close up image of a hand holding a toy truck. The poster has a headshot for both starring cast members of the show. The poster notes the show's title, company, playwright, starring cast, director, lighting credit, sound designer.

‘Big Ticket’ Brings Laughs and Refuses to Tow the Line

  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

After having her car towed for the fifth time, Annie (Susan Del Mei) decides not only to get her car back, but to personally change the system and avoid future incidents. Caught in Annie’s crusade is gauche tow truck driver, David (Reece Presley), who is just doing his job, which he describes as fulfilling “…penalties for citizen misconduct.” Theatre Kingston presents Jim Garrard’s Big Ticket in the Baby Grand as […]

Read More About ‘Big Ticket’ Brings Laughs and Refuses to Tow the Line
Two people stand in front of a white room divider. Light appears to come from behind the divider making the people appear as though they are shadows. One reaches out to shake the other's hand. The other has put their hand out only slightly.

A Rich Reimagining: ‘Snow in Midsummer: The Silence’

  • Review
  • Yu Theatre Society

I love reimagining classics, but usually I know the source material that is being reimagined. This was not the case for me when I went to see Yu Theatre Society’s production of Snow in Midsummer: The Silence, a 50-minute long mime/dance show based on the 13th-century play The Injustice of Dou E by Guan Hanqing. How would I be able to appreciate someone else’s adaptation when I don’t know the […]

Read More About A Rich Reimagining: ‘Snow in Midsummer: The Silence’
Poster for Kingston Meistersingers' production of 'Bonnie & Clyde'. The poster shows the title, music credit, book credit, and lyrics credit, with the slogan: 'Kingston's most wanted musical!'

Put Your Hands In The Air For ‘Bonnie & Clyde’

  • Kingston Meistersingers
  • Review

They’re young, they’re in love, and they’re in possession of stolen firearms. The Kingston Meistersingers are stealing hearts this season with Bonnie & Clyde, a fast-paced musical based on the story of real-life crime duo Bonnie Parker (Rachel Savlov) and Clyde Barrow (Rowan Engen).  Parker and Barrow’s infamous exploits and violent deaths in the 1930s sparked enduring public interest, inspiring numerous adaptations in the nearly hundred years since their heyday. […]

Read More About Put Your Hands In The Air For ‘Bonnie & Clyde’
Image of a Virtual Reality world. There is a clear blue sky with very few clouds. Lovely green grass below the sky with large, full maple trees that have reddish-orange leaves.

A VR Journey: PXR 2024 is Here

  • PXR Conference
  • Review

Virtual Reality has been on the rise as a new medium in the theatre industry for a few years now, but is it ready to take the forefront? Last weekend I had the honour of attending the 2024 PXR Conference for the second year running. This time around, I attended Journey to Octopulis: Improv or Die, hosted by Unknown Theater, and Mary Shelley Lives Here, hosted by Hummingbird Interactive. Both […]

Read More About A VR Journey: PXR 2024 is Here
Poster for Queen's Theatre Troupe's production of 'Hedda Gabler'. Poster includes theatre company name and logo, location, dates, director, and producer. The background is white-themed.

Modern Drawing Room Drama and Feminine Ennui in Queen’s Theatre Troupe’s ‘Hedda Gabler’

  • Queen's Theatre Troupe
  • Review

Depicting the titular woman’s dissatisfaction with her recent marriage and position in life, the famous Hedda Gabler, written by renowned playwright Henrik Ibsen, was published in 1890 and first staged in 1891. Hedda (Rachel Fenos) has married George Tesman (Aaron Alum), an academic devoted to his work, who is blissfully ignorant of her real feelings about their union. The one-room drama follows her interactions with friends and neighbours as she […]

Read More About Modern Drawing Room Drama and Feminine Ennui in Queen’s Theatre Troupe’s ‘Hedda Gabler’
Poster for Theatre Kingston's production of 'Alice & The World We Live In'. The poster has Theatre Kingston's logo in the top left, "24/25 season" in the top right, the show title in the centre with the playwright, director, cast, costume and set designer, and lighting designer noted below. On the bottom of the poster are the dates and times of shows, location of shows, Theatre Kingston website link, box office link and phone number, two Kingston Theatre logos, and logos from supporters. The background of the poster is the back of a girl with long blonde hair looking off into a valley.

Far from Wonderland, ‘Alice & the World We Live In’ Bumps Up Against Reality

  • Review
  • Theatre Kingston

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 […]

Read More About Far from Wonderland, ‘Alice & the World We Live In’ Bumps Up Against Reality