Tag Archives: dennis

Tales of an Urban Indian

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I’ve heard a lot of good things about Barrie’s Talk is Free Theatre so I was very happy to be able to catch one of their shows on tour in Toronto.  The show is Tales of an Urban Indian and it’s playing in the basement of Hope United Church on the Danforth.  I think the show originally toured on a converted bus which would explain the set up; which is a narrow space with a row of chairs either side (actually two rows on one side) so the space seats about thirty five.  It’s been around since 2009 and has toured across Canada, the US and overseas nad, despite the things that have happened on the “Reconciliation” agenda since then it still feels fresh and timely.

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Don’t look down

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Duncan Macmillan’s play People, Places and Things opened last night at Coal Mine Theatre.  It premiered in London in 2015 and has now been adapted to relocate the setting to Toronto and to customize the movement elements to the small, intimate space at Coal Mine.  It’s a play about addiction, addiction treatment, theatre and how we construct and cope with “reality” (whatever that is).  It’s long, intense, disturbing and, ultimately, very thought provoking.

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Martyr

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ARC’s production of Marius von Mayenburg’s 2012 play Martyr opened at the Aki Studio last night.  It’s presented in an English translation by Maja Zade and directed by Rob Kempson.  I think it’s more than a just a direct German to English translation.  names have been changed for instance and there are definite shifts in directorial approach from the Berlin production.  I think the best way to understand what this is all about is to start with the original German version and how it may have looked to a Berlin audience and then look at how time, space and directorial decisions may affect audience reception.

1. Nabil Traboulsi and Adriano Reis_MARTYR_ARC 2023 Photographer_ Sam Moffatt

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Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Poppea

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In 2017 Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the English Baroque Soloists, the Monteverdi Choir and a rather distinguished group of specialist baroque singers toured semi-staged versions of the three main Monteverdi operas, which were also recorded for video. Being a bit skeptical about the idea of videoing semi-staged performances I decided to take a look at L’incoronazione di Poppea (because it’s my favourite of the three) before committing to the trio. Bottom line, despite some stylish singing, good acting and excellent playing I can’t really see the point. There are good fully staged versions of all three operas available on video and, for me, especially watching at home, it’s hard for a semi-staged version to fully engage my attention.

1.neropoppea

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