The ancient Greek figure of Medea likely makes your skin crawl with discomfort—or maybe causes you to shiver with morbid curiosity. For how could a woman, scorned nevertheless, be pushed to the extreme of killing her own children? Euripides’ play, Medea, features such a story, where the titular character’s heartbreak[Read More…]
Theatre
AUTS’ ‘Company’—is marriage “till death do us part” or “death please do us part?”
Ah, romance of the 21st century: Dates have been replaced by “chill sessions,” careful affections have been eclipsed by convenient and meaningless interactions, and the world spins backwards on its axis. But is it really that simple? Has a general pandemic of apathy infected us, or is there something deeper[Read More…]
‘The Light in the Piazza:’ A call for hope
Love and acceptance—our primal desires—are laid bare in Opera McGill and McGill Symphony Orchestra’s opening night production of Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza. The story explores love and hope through the intercultural romance between Clara, an American, and Fabrizio, an Italian. The plot is layered and complex, yet[Read More…]
Puppets, blood, and Southern charm collide in ‘Hand to God’ from Players’ Theatre
Walking out of Players’ Theatre on Tuesday, Nov. 26 after the inaugural showing of Hand to God, it would be hard to miss the floored yet delighted reactions of audience members. The phrase “fucking badonkers” echoes off the high ceilings of the University Centre—and quite frankly, it’s a fairly apt[Read More…]
‘Yerma’ A plea for motherhood or relevancy?
The stage lights open on a young couple celebrating their new house. Yerma and John decide they want a child. They bicker as much as they laugh; the cracks in their relationship have already taken shape. Two years go by, and the cracks have become oceans drowning any possibility of[Read More…]
Staging Freedom: ‘Two Birds One Stone’ teaches empathetic understanding
Two Birds One Stone, directed by Murdoch Schon, is a lesson in listening and a reminder that friendship must not be scoffed at when seeking a viable framework for peace. It’s the first show in Teesri Duniya Theatre’s 2024-2025 season: Staging Freedom. Playwrights Rimah Jabr, a Muslim Palestinian, and Natasha[Read More…]
Players’ McGill Drama Festival showcases the best of student theatre
From exploring dusty old houses in A Farce About Time Travel to a complicated reunion with old friends (or more than friends) in Coping Mechanisms, the McGill Drama Festival (MDF) had something for everybody. With prizes handed out for Best Script and Best Directing, the festival’s only real loser was[Read More…]
Black Theatre Workshop’s ‘Diggers’ is a tribute to essential workers
In a town, on a hill, within a graveyard, there are two gravediggers. Solomon (Christian Paul) and Abdul (Chance Jones) live, breathe, and work the graves, day in and day out, weathering torrential rains, pandemic, and death. They are overworked. They are tired. They continue to dig. Solomon and Abdul[Read More…]
Catching up with Shakespeare
In 1592, the bubonic plague hits London. It isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. Theatres—including the Globe—close for almost half a year. William Shakespeare writes King Lear. In 2020 (cautioned groan), Jessica B. Hill is slated to play two Shakespearean heroines at the Canadian Stratford Festival:[Read More…]
‘Legally Blonde’ features stellar vocal performances, a great sense of humour, and a whole lot of pink
This year’s Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society of McGill (AUTS) production of Legally Blonde came with a huge warning label. A week before opening night, the cast learned that asbestos had been found in Moyse Hall. The director, assistant director, and stage managers were left scrambling for a new location, and[Read More…]
