2016 marks the fourth year of the original sketch comedy troupe Bring Your Own Juice (BYOJ)’s of bringing unabashed silliness to a relatively stodgy campus atmosphere. The group, consisting of 10 student members, delivered a preview of their upcoming show at Players’ Theatre that was an absurd, surreal, and entertaining representation[Read More…]
Theatre
Race and RENT: A look at racial representation within the McGill theatre community
The poster for the Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society’s (AUTS) most recent production, RENT, might have unsettled those who know the original musical well. Their first question would likely be: “Wait, why is everybody white?” RENT is a musical that centres on the lives of poor artists in 1980s New York[Read More…]
High infidelity: McGill Savoy Society’s “The Merry Widow” brings a classic into the modern era
Opera is an art form that has been in jeopardy for at least the last few decades. With a near complete lack of any notable new operas since the early 20th century, the entire genre is in danger of becoming stagnant without the intervention of passionate fans who are willing[Read More…]
The life not lived: “The Secret Annex” uses alternate history to examine the Anne Frank mythos
What if Anne Frank had survived? What would her life and struggles consist of after enduring the most well known genocide of the past century, possibly of all history? This is the alternate universe that writer Alix Sobler portrays in The Secret Annex, directed by Marcia Kash. With a cast[Read More…]
Improv Montreal’s VICEGRIP is a fresh take on a played-out trope
The lobby of Improv Montreal resonates 'cool.' It’s immediately clear that it’s designed for audiences to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. There’s a sense of calm that almost feels anachronistic, something that’s far too difficult to find in the most classically cool venues. It definitely sets the scene for[Read More…]
Players’ Theatre’s production of “Dinner!” offers a feast of life and death
The ideal audience member of Players’ Theatre production of Dinner! is someone who played with their food as a child, and sat in on philosophy lectures as a first year wondering how the hell this applies to real life. Dinner!, written by Moira Buffini and first premiering in 2002, follows[Read More…]
Exploring other worlds: The McGill Classics department reimagines 2500-year-old play Hekabe
The Ancient Greek tragedy Hekabe, also known as Hecuba, takes place on the sandy shores of Thrace after the fall of Troy. The Trojan queen Hekabe has been captured as a slave and kept at a camp, destined for a life of unending despair. Eerie in the most fascinating way,[Read More…]
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly offers an immersive experience
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly opens with the beeping of life support, and a comatose figure; right away the audience knows that what follows will be as hard-hitting as it is intimate. Like the novel and film version of the same name, Tuesday Night Café (TNC)’s stage adaptation of[Read More…]
The darkness of Othello revealed in Opera Montreal’s Otello
Few stories are as tragic or as devastating as Shakespeare’s Othello, a drama that questions truth and character at its core. Guiseppi Verdi’s interpretation of the drama is equally haunting, with a satisfying balance of choral, solo, duet, and quartet pieces that highlight the complexities of the story. The libretto[Read More…]
Falling in love with the opera at L’elisir d’amore
Opera McGill’s January production of Donizetti’s Italian comic opera L’elisir d’amore is a light-hearted tale of love and alchemy, all centred around the aching heart of a pitiable young man and the conniving acts of a foreign swindler. The talent of the Conductor, Patrick Hansen, and the Stage Director, François[Read More…]
