It is no surprise that McGill, a school of academia and research, is reputable for its political groups, newspapers, and environmental activism. Yet, comedy often fades into the background almost unnoticed. How ironic is it that in Montreal, a city that’s home to the Just for Laughs headquarters and festival,[Read More…]
Theatre
Back to Bukowski’s future
In an age dominated by tweets and texts, it is quite easy to forget—or at least be distanced from—the chaos and warfare that ravages the world today. Kim Kardashian ‘breaks’ the Internet while Russia breaks international laws. Dresses change from white to blue on Facebook while the situation in Syria[Read More…]
Round Dance: The circle of sex
If there’s a single universal truth to social interaction, it’s that people will say anything if they think it will convince the person they like to sleep with them. It was true in 1920 when Arthur Schnitzler’s play La Ronde debuted in Berlin to a shocked and offended crowd, and[Read More…]
The write stuff
Hemmingway once wrote, “Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.” The lives of poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, as portrayed in Tuesday Night Café’s production of Dear Elizabeth, put that idea into practice. With a couple of brief exceptions, the sole pair of actors in the play are[Read More…]
All Aboard the H.M.S. Pinafore
Founded in 1964, the McGill Savoy Society was created in memory of Arthur Sullivan and William Gilbert, a lazy social climber and a failed lawyer who built the Savoy Theatre to serve as their stage. This year, the troupe vividly brings to life the witty Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore,[Read More…]
Sketches of a comedic dream taking shape
David Tichauer may have just caught his big break. After nearly a decade of writing, performing, and honing his craft, the comedian and McGill-graduate has received word that the CBC wants him and his creative partner, Ned Petrie, to turn their monthly live quiz show into an original television series.[Read More…]
Dialogue at the great divide
Those who have spent any considerable amount of time in Montreal are aware that the issue of multilingualism is more than simply one of communication. It’s a complex narrative of social history, political debate, and the search for individual identity—all inexorably linked to the myriad of personal histories that inform[Read More…]
Peer Review: Players’ Theatre Round Dance
When watching student productions, it’s easy to ignore the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating a single show. From lighting and set design to casting and directing, every element of these productions is under the control of individual students. Off stage, many of these same players simultaneously spend their[Read More…]
Windy City for the win in AUTS’ Chicago
Part of the thrill that comes from live musical theatre is knowing that something could go wrong at any moment, but rarely does. The best theatre uses this to its advantage, radiating a sense of jubilant spontaneity that wriggles its way into the audience’s hearts and leaves them humming the[Read More…]
A night at the opera
As part of their 2014-2015 season, l’Opéra de Montréal produced Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah, a biblical tale of lovers’ deceit and the might of God. Sung entirely in French, Samson and Delilah tells the story of the Hebrew Samson (Endrik Wottrich), who used his God-given strength to free[Read More…]
