From the category archives:

STAGE

THEATRE

Obscenely Funny

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Several Scenes Involving a Decomposing Corpse, Café Cleopatre

by Sarah Fletcher
24.08.2010

At the fundraiser for Several Scenes Involving a Decomposing Corpse at Café Cleopatre, I found myself seated next to a decrepit, decaying mannequin in pearls, as disturbingly pornographic renditions of the Golden Girls played on a projector. The actual play, showing at the self-same venue through this week, delivered on my expectations as a bizarre [...]

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THEATRE

FEC-ing Funny

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Montreal Improv Theatre

by James Gartler
20.08.2010

If you’ve ever spent an evening being entertained by any of Montreal’s improv gods, you’ve likely asked yourself, “How do they do it?” Rejoice then, mortals, for the gates of Olympus are opening to all those eager to learn the tricks of the comedy trade.

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THEATRE

Joke, No Joke

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Kim Noble, Zoofest

by James Gartler
31.07.2010

During the recently concluded 2nd edition of Zoofest, there was one show so overwhelmingly perplexing that instead of laughing about the jokes told on-stage, audience members walked out dazed, uncomfortable and even debating the legitimacy of the content. The show in question is – of course – Kim Noble Will Die.

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THEATRE

Une pièce qui en vaut la chandelle

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L’Avare, Festival Juste pour rire

by Mélanie Grondin
09.07.2010

Vous êtes-vous déjà demandé comment les gens réussissaient à voir une pièce de théâtre avant la venue de l’électricité? Shakespeare in Love de John Madden montre un théâtre à ciel ouvert où les acteurs tirent profit de la lumière du jour pour présenter leur pièce. Cyrano de Bergerac de Jean-Paul Rappeneau et Beaumarchais, l’insolent de [...]

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THEATRE

Fascinant mais hermétique

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Xajoj Tun Rabinal Achi, Ondinnok, eXcentris

by Mélanie Grondin
24.06.2010

Imaginez un instant que vous assistez à une messe catholique pour la toute première fois sans que vous sachiez quoi que ce soit de la religion catholique. Vous saurez sûrement en apprécier certains aspects — la musique, peut-être, l’encens, les fresques —, mais savez-vous pourquoi les gens s’agenouillent, s’asseyent et se lèvent ainsi? Comprenez-vous le [...]

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THEATRE

Something Like Jazz

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The Jazz Singer, Segal Theatre

by Anna Fuerstenberg
18.06.2010

The play opens with the choir of a synagogue on a balcony of a very costly set, while the rest of the cast on the stage is dancing and singing something like jazz. This liturgical music mash is one of the best moments in the show, symbolizing the hero’s conflict and origins in the most [...]

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THEATRE

Postmodern Shakespearean Buzz

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The Roman Tragedies, National Monument

by Anna Fuerstenberg
29.05.2010

Hold on to your hat. There is not a single gizmon gimmick or technological buzz that is left out of this trilogy of plays based on Shakespeare’s Roman plays. There is a moment when Antony seems to be playing with an iPad. There are multiple screens onstage where actual news is being played to remind [...]

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DANCE

FTA Offers A Full Card

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Highlights, Festival Transamériques

by Tao Fei
27.05.2010

Montreal’s biggest dance theatre festival, Festival TransAmériques, asserts itself among the city’s slew of summer events with a hearty, adventurous fourth edition with several exceptional dance offerings.

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THEATRE

Standards de Boris Vian

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Et Vian! dans la gueule, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde

by Mélanie Grondin
18.05.2010

Couper une pièce de théâtre en cinq et laisser de côté. Dans un grand bol, mélanger poèmes, chansons et extraits de nouvelles jusqu’à consistance homogène. Ajouter la crème d’acteurs, puis verser le mélange sur la pièce réservée. Cuire au four pendant deux heures. Servir chaud.

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THEATRE

In Need Of Salvation

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Mission Drive, MainLine Theatre

by Alex Woolcott
12.05.2010

Mission Drive, the latest offering from Rabbit in a Hat Productions, is a pretty self-indulgent piece of theatre. But maybe that was the point. The premise, after all, is a modern rendering of the medieval practice of buying indulgences, a popular pastime in which sinners were allowed to buy forgiveness from the church. Martin Luther [...]

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THEATRE

Bringing PET To Life

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Trudeau Stories, Centaur

by Marianne Ackerman
11.05.2010

The enigma of Pierre Elliott Trudeau is a bug Canadians will never fully get out of our system. His presence redefined a somewhat dowdy country in the eyes of the world, leaving us with a collective anxiety about whether we quite measured up. Brooke Johnson has captured this strange ambivalence in a beautiful one-woman show [...]

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DANCE

Title-Rich, Meaning-Poor

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DIS/(SOL/VE)R, Centre Pierre-Péladeau

by Tao Fei
08.05.2010

Just when you thought the age of bad post-modern titles was really, really over, veteran Canadian choreographer Christopher House returns to the Danse Danse series with Dis/(sol/ve)r, a recent work for Toronto Dance Theatre. The name is misleading, puzzling even (as is the involvement of a dramaturge), because the hour-long dance is an exceedingly legible [...]

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THEATRE

Enchanting With Child-like Reservations

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Andersen’s Inkwell, Geordie Productions

by Anna Fuerstenberg
05.05.2010

In order to appreciate the full impact of Andersen’s Inkwell, the current offering by Geordie Productions, I took my seven-year-old friend Massimo along. He is quite literate and had never before gone to the theatre. The D.B. Clarke is just the right size theatre for a first outing, and I thought this play was a [...]

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THEATRE

Le silence est d’or

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Une partie avec l’Empereur, Théâtre Jean-Duceppe

by Mélanie Grondin
30.04.2010

Combien de despotes sont devenus dictateurs grâce à leur charisme? Seraient-ils devenus des chefs aussi puissants sans leur habileté à charmer les foules, à les influencer et à les commander? Sans leur aptitude à se faire aimer — du moins, au début?

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THEATRE

Unmasking Ritual Tigers

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Tucked Up in the Mountains, Gallery Ethecae

by Adam Kelly
28.04.2010

Frances Mckenzie likes to work alone. Coming from the British Columbia interior, there are some clear influences of solitary living in her new performance/mask/puppetry piece Tucked Up in the Mountains. That’s not to say that she doesn’t also like working in a creative collective. For this work she has brought together some of her creative [...]

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