The ancient Greek figure of Medea likely makes your skin crawl with discomfort—or maybe causes you to shiver with morbid curiosity. For how could a woman, scorned nevertheless, be pushed to the extreme of killing her own children? Euripides’ play, Medea, features such a story, where the titular character’s heartbreak[Read More…]
Tag: theatre
Puppets, blood, and Southern charm collide in ‘Hand to God’ from Players’ Theatre
Walking out of Players’ Theatre on Tuesday, Nov. 26 after the inaugural showing of Hand to God, it would be hard to miss the floored yet delighted reactions of audience members. The phrase “fucking badonkers” echoes off the high ceilings of the University Centre—and quite frankly, it’s a fairly apt[Read More…]
‘Yerma’ A plea for motherhood or relevancy?
The stage lights open on a young couple celebrating their new house. Yerma and John decide they want a child. They bicker as much as they laugh; the cracks in their relationship have already taken shape. Two years go by, and the cracks have become oceans drowning any possibility of[Read More…]
Staging Freedom: ‘Two Birds One Stone’ teaches empathetic understanding
Two Birds One Stone, directed by Murdoch Schon, is a lesson in listening and a reminder that friendship must not be scoffed at when seeking a viable framework for peace. It’s the first show in Teesri Duniya Theatre’s 2024-2025 season: Staging Freedom. Playwrights Rimah Jabr, a Muslim Palestinian, and Natasha[Read More…]
Players’ McGill Drama Festival showcases the best of student theatre
From exploring dusty old houses in A Farce About Time Travel to a complicated reunion with old friends (or more than friends) in Coping Mechanisms, the McGill Drama Festival (MDF) had something for everybody. With prizes handed out for Best Script and Best Directing, the festival’s only real loser was[Read More…]
Catching up with Shakespeare
In 1592, the bubonic plague hits London. It isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. Theatres—including the Globe—close for almost half a year. William Shakespeare writes King Lear. In 2020 (cautioned groan), Jessica B. Hill is slated to play two Shakespearean heroines at the Canadian Stratford Festival:[Read More…]
“The Road to Hell” is paved with quirky duos
Before I saw “The Road to Hell,” nobody would tell me anything about it. The play is modern and relatively unknown, so a cursory Google Search reveals very little. I learned that it consists of two one-act plays, with two actors in each act. A new, mysterious play with a[Read More…]
In Defense of the Cinema: why your local movie theatre matters more than ever
Sparks have been flying in the film industry lately—but not in the romantic sense. Since May 2, thousands of screenwriters across the United States, represented by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), have declared a strike against major studios and streaming platforms. The issue on the table? What they describe[Read More…]
‘Ithacan Idol Presents: The Odyssey’ vibrantly reimagines the classic tale
On Feb. 2, audiences at Théâtre Sainte-Catherine attended the opening night of Ithacan Idol Presents: The Odyssey, this year’s rendition of the McGill Classics Play. Since 2011, the McGill Classics Play program has showcased annual student-led English performances of ancient Greek and Latin texts, in addition to offering public lectures[Read More…]
TNC’s ‘Girl in the Goldfish Bowl’ is hilariously eccentric
What’s the common denominator between the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and a mother seeking to abandon her family? The death of a goldfish. At least, this is what the precocious Iris tries to convince us of in Tuesday Night Café’s (TNC) production of Girl in the Goldfish Bowl. With[Read More…]
