From the category archives:

STAGE

Intimate Soirée

Petits Canapés en Salle de Montre, Danse Danse, La Elastica

by Rebecca Galloway
20.05.2013

I went into this not knowing quite what to expect. Aside from the fact that all the publicity material was in French (and my comprehension is – erf – on the patchy side), it was also fairly cryptic. “Prenez un verre et faites vos choix de tête-à-tête,” the e-flyer proclaimed. Okay, like one-on-one performances? Sure, I can get into that.

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THEATRE

Sherlock Stoned

Sherlock Holmes with Jay Baruchel, Segal Centre, to May 28

by Jim Burke
15.05.2013

It would hardly have taken the world’s greatest detective to deduce that Hollywood pulling-power, in the shape of local boy Jay Baruchel, combined with the brand name recognition of Conan Doyle’s immortal creation, would make Sherlock Holmes a surefire hit. Guttingly, the death of playwright-performer Greg Kramer just before rehearsals began have made this not just a major cultural event for the city but a celebration of the life and talent of one of its most mercurial theatre artists.

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DANCE

Method and Madness

Cheap Lecture + The Cow Piece; Counting to One Hundred + One Flute Note, Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion, Usine C

by Cerys Wilson
14.05.2013

Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion were in Montreal this past weekend for a blink-and-you’ll miss-it run of Cheap Lecture and The Cow Piece, followed by Counting to One Hundred and One Flute Note. Packaged by Usine C as Quatre Créations in two nights, the individual works seemed shakily whole – a feeling reinforced at the close of each by Burrows and Fargion’s look of bemused surprise that they had, once more, pulled it off.

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THEATRE

Happy 79th

Sherlock Holmes, with Jay Baruchel, Segal Centre to May 28

by Byron Toben
11.05.2013

NDG’s own Jay Baruchel is apparently the 79th actor to portray Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes of 221B Baker street, London. And 79 is not too many, because this premiere production of the late Greg Kramer’s play is stupendous.

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DANCE

Bang On

ÉCLATS – Vitrine Festival CanAsian, MAI, May 5, 3 pm

by Rebecca Galloway
04.05.2013

I have to confess, the last time I went to a dance show with the word “butoh” in the press kit, I spent the second half of the evening mentally composing my grocery shopping list. The white makeup, the interminable slow-motion choreography… Frankly I’d rather eat a bag of hair than sit through two hours of that.

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THEATRE

Sell Your Soul to See This Play

Faust, Directed by Alison Darcy, Scapegoat Carnivale, Segal Centre, to May 5th

by Anna Fuerstenberg
03.05.2013

Readers Theatre is common in the United States. It’s a style of theatre where the actors do not memorize their lines, but use various other forms of expression to convey the story. I once saw the best interpretation of The Ballad of a Sad Café in Colorado done in this style. Still, I was unprepared for the sheer delight of Scapegoat Carnivale’s production of Faust at the Segal Centre Studio.

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THEATRE

Reflecting on us While Thinking of YU

Thinking of Yu, Imago Theatre, Centaur, to May 5

by Byron Toben
30.04.2013

In 1921, Luigi Pirandello electrified the theatrical world with Six Characters in Search of an Author. In 1989, three real young Chinese protesters (two named Yu) were tortured and jailed for throwing red paint at an image of Mao in Tiananmen Square. In 2012, three fictional characters in Canada, reflecting on these events, found their author in Montreal playwright Carole Frechette.

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DANCE

Three Dances, Two Hands

Danse Danse, Usine C and Danse Carpe Diem

by Cerys Wilson
26.04.2013

With only a few performances left in its run, Michele Anne de Mey and Jaco van Dormael’s spectacular Kiss and Cry at Usine C is not to be missed. De Mey has worked frequently with fellow Belgian choreographer and dancer Anne Teresa de Keesmaeker, who performed in Montreal last spring during the FTA festival. Here, the full range of de Mey’s fluency, elegance and wit is concentrated in her hands, and in the hands of fellow performer Gregory Grosjean, the four acting out the work’s five love stories on a set of Playmobil dollhouses and toy train sets.

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THEATRE

A Multimedia Gem

Gold Mountain, Théâtre aux Écuries, to April 27

by Byron Toben
23.04.2013

On the heels of Brian McKenna’s important documentary, The Secret World of Gold, about gold wheeling and dealing, comes this little gem, via Liverpool, wherein the mythical Gold Mountain has long been a dream for generations of poor Chinese labourers.

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THEATRE

À l’ombre du soleil

Le diable rouge, Théâtre Jean-Duceppe, jusqu’au 18 mai

by Mélanie Grondin
18.04.2013

Je crois pouvoir affirmer, sans trop me tromper, que presque tout le monde connaît le nom du cardinal de Richelieu, et ce, grâce au livre Les Trois Mousquetaires ou à l’une de ses nombreuses adaptations cinématographiques.

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STAGE

The Importance of Being Palestinian

Because everything is political whether you like it or not

by Eman El Husseini
17.04.2013

“Palestinian is that a religion?” “Palestinian? That’s Jewish right?” “You’re really funny for an Arab! Heck you’re even funny for a woman.” These are some of the hilarious comments I get in my career as a stand-up comic. As a Palestinian woman in comedy, I’ve landed some opportunities I didn’t necessarily deserve. I also didn’t get gigs I did deserve. And, what do you know, I’ve gotten gigs just on the merit of being funny.

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DANCE

One Step at a Time

Collective Individual, Thirst/Clarity, MAI, to April 6, 8 pm

by Cerys Wilson
06.04.2013

Mary St-Amand Williamson and Zohar Melinek performed Collective Individual on Friday night, a careful, discreet new work that explores the physicality of revolution. Presented in conjunction with Le Printemps du MAI, Collective Individual is part of a two-week program focused on politically engaged art.

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DANCE

Captivating and Captured

Autorretrato, Maria Pagés Compania, Danse Danse, to April 6

by Cerys Wilson
05.04.2013

For a brief three-day run, Maria Pagés and company perform Autorretrato, a self-portrait of its star Flamenco dancer. On Thursday night, the theatre of the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier was packed, with many in the crowd shouting out words of encouragement and praise as dancers executed steps with dynamic finesse. These excited audience members helped bridge the gap between the imposing stage and the seats below, bringing an unscripted intimacy to the work that furthered its personal theme.

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THEATRE

Deux par deux rassemblés

Quartett, de Heiner Müller, Théâtre de La Chapelle, jusqu’au 13 avril

by Mélanie Grondin
04.04.2013

Hier, j’ai appris à quel point la mise en scène peut être importante dans la présentation d’une pièce. En effet, le texte peut être bien écrit, le jeu des acteurs peut être impressionnant et les décors peuvent être frappants, mais la pièce peut demeurer laborieuse si la mise en scène ne lui rend pas service. C’est le cas de la plus récente présentation de Quartett, de Heiner Müller, jouée au Théâtre de La Chapelle par Les songes turbulants et mise en scène par Florent Siaud.

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DANCE

Strange Fruit

The Light Between, Fondation de danse Margie Gillis, Danse Danse, to March 30

by Cerys Wilson
28.03.2013

Veteran dancer and choreographer Margie Gillis returned to the stage Tuesday night with The Light Between, a collaboration with fellow dancers Marc Daigle and Paola Styron, choreographer Holly Bright, and painter and sculptor Randal Newman. Gillis, combining lightness of step with a thrashing upper torso, again showed herself to be a dancer of great sensibility. Her signature Rapunzel-esque hair, gathered in a long, swinging braid, moved, at times, like an extra appendage.

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