THE BEAR AND THE PROPOSAL: Worth the Trip

THE BEAR AND THE PROPOSAL: Worth the Trip

This production is so unlikely and, in many ways, so successful. In her adaptation, writer and director Estelle Shook uses the Chekhov farces The Bear and The Proposal to explore the historical relationships between Indigenous and settler characters in the North...
MEASURE FOR MEASURE: A Disastrous Misinterpretation

MEASURE FOR MEASURE: A Disastrous Misinterpretation

Measure for Measure is about brutal sexual coercion. But, in his adaptation, director Jivesh Parasram frames the play as broad comedy — and he thinks he’s doing abuse survivors a favour. In the story, Duke Vincenzio is concerned about the number of brothels in Vienna...
CATS: For a Show I Don’t Like, I Liked It a Lot

CATS: For a Show I Don’t Like, I Liked It a Lot

Cats would probably like Cats: it’s a shiny bauble that keeps moving around and doesn’t require you to think at all. Cats could probably happily spend a couple of hours, plus intermission, watching Cats. I am not a cat and have never been impressed by Cats — the...
THE SCHOOL OF ROCK: Joy Arrives

THE SCHOOL OF ROCK: Joy Arrives

It takes a while for The School of Rock — the musical itself, more than the  production — to find its groove. Or maybe it just takes a while for it to find my groove. If you asked the creators of School of Rock, the musical or the non-musical movie upon which it’s...
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS: Some Errors, Some Comedy

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS: Some Errors, Some Comedy

Watching this production of The Comedy of Errors is kind of like waiting in a two-hour lineup for a 15-minute ride. The show doesn’t really pay off until the very end. Before that, it burbles along pleasantly enough, but it’s weirdly shapeless. So what’s going on? A...