Tag Archives: Theatre

“The Matchmaker” – Dawson 3rd Studio students give it all they’ve got – and it’s quite a lot!


I love going to the theatre – you just never ever know what will strike your funny bone – bring a smile to your face – or tears to your eyes.

What I truly love to see, however, is heart and soul on the stage. When the performers do their very best to convince me that this is their very best – I’m pleased, entertained, fascinated, and enthused.

And Dawson Year 3rd Studio Students delivered.

http://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/2012-2013/3rd-studio-the-matchmaker

The pay as you go performance of “The MatchMaker” I attended was packed. Every seat in the lovely Dawson theatre was taken. The sets were definitely at Dawson standards – they managed to convince you that you changed location – by just moving bits and pieces around. My favorite ‘directing’ bits were the interludes while the crew moved furniture in the background. In one interesting piece of theatre business – the cast grabbed suitcases, brought them to the ‘train station’ and the proceeded to use them as seats. Some sound effect later – they were off – jiggling down the line – going from the country into the ‘big’ city. Great bit of business – and carefully timed to cover up the set changes.

The performances, as can be expected of studio students, were far from professional quality – but what they lacked in polish, they made up in a keen desire to please the audience.

Like many ‘amateur’ performances I’ve seen and enjoyed – the cast grew stronger and stronger as the evening progressed – and the rousing final act was a delightful farce – enjoyed by everyone. (Thanks Adrienne for the spell check!)

Next  up at Concordia is the 4th Studio students in “The Cone People”.

http://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/2012-2013/4th-studio-the-clone-people

After just a few years of training – these guys and gals are good. And like their less experienced fellows – generally bring to the stage an enthusiasm for being there that can be lacking in the performances of more jaded professionals.

Prices are great too.

Yo Tohu – Stripped down Cirque – but so much fun!


I’m such a sap for the Circus – both old school (with animals) and new school (acrobats, jugglers, and the like). Which is why Pista del Tango was such a disappointment. How dare you ruin the Circus for me?

Thank goodness for Tohu. I always assume that everyone knows what I’m talking about when I say Tohu – but based on the lack of audience on Thursday (2/27/2013) night, I’m guessing that maybe I need to start off with a – how to find the Tohu.

Where/What is Tohu

Start by checking out their website – there’s both an English and a French version – you can get tickets, check the dates of different performances, and get a list of all the free stuff that happens there. I can personally recommend just about anything that they put on – I’ve never had a bad time – and frequently had a great time. This is NOT Cirque de Soleil, despite the physical closeness – those tall buildings to the right as you drive in are the Montreal headquarters of the Cirque de Soleil – and clearly there’s money and financing cross-overs. But Tohu is clearly independent – and rather feisty about that.

http://www.tohu.com

Festival Mondial Du Cirque De Demain

This is the third or fourth time I’ve seen these guys perform – and it is always a huge pleasure. Truly some of the best young (and not so young) performers from around the world come to Montreal as part of this group. There is no pretense at a story, or a theme, or even much of a set. Instead – this is a presentation by 9 different performing teams – each one of which has one at least one award – and in some cases – several awards. So we’re talking the best of the best at what they do. And what they can do is nothing short of astounding. We were 4 – and each of us had a different top act. My husband’s personal favorite was the Starbugs – 3 nutty guys – clowns with tremendous physical abilities. I just couldn’t stop laughing. One highlight – the fake ‘fight’ that started with the 2 guys in ‘contact’, and continued as they got further and further apart. What a hoot. My daughter loved the Chinese juggler/plate spinner who managed to take spinning objects to an entirely new level – and ended his act by pulling a ‘dragon’ out of his basket and spinning that! Another favorite was the Trapeze artist – who did things on a trapeze including several multiple spins high above the audience, unattached to the trapeze at all, that I’d never seen before.

Then there were the 2 male contortionists. I can’t find words to describe their act – except to say that sometimes they looked completely normal, and other times left me sitting with my mouth completely open in stunned surprise.

I particularly like the first act – a quick presentation by the students in the circus school. A teaser to encourage people to get tickets to their graduation performances in April – something I totally recommend that all my followers – and all their friends – do immediately. There are 2 different productions – they split the class in half, and each group gets their group of performances. I’ve done both – and never been sorry.

Finally – I wouldn’t do a fair review of this wonderful evening if I didn’t mention the guy (huge) and girl (tiny) team. The guy essentially tossed his partner around like she was putty – and she let him do it! Her grace was extraordinary, and his control when tossing her was so light and easy – you could easily fool yourself into thinking – I could do that. Word to the wise – Nope, you probably can’t.

Positive Stuff: Cafe at Tohu – little known but completely wonderful place to grab a grilled cheese sandwich, a bag of delicious popcorn, or even a Latté before a performance, Free stuff before the performance – in this case – a pile of circus toys that you could try out – including a tightrope to walk and plates to spin, and inexpensive parking – Just $5. Negative Stuff: Don’t count on the scenery and costumes to blow you away – that’s not the point, There’s not a bad seat in the house – but there are some side seats that are best avoided, and it ends late if there’s an intermission.

Go – Enjoy – Tell’m the Soup Lady sent ya.

Innocence Lost – The Steven Truscott Story


I admit it – I didn’t know anything about Steven Truscott before watching this play today at Centaur Theatre here in Montreal. But man – now I want to know more.

It’s a completely fascinating story about justice gone completely haywire in 1959 when a 14-year-old boy is accused, found guilty and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl. The story is told from the point of view of one of the other children in the story – 13-year-old Sarah. The timeline from the discovery of the body to the sentencing is under 3 months – but the impact of what happened continues to still be felt today – over 50 years later.

The stage set is very minimal, but the acting is so believable that it is easy to get lost in the story – to feel the outrage, frustration, and justifiable bewilderment of the people involved. The director, talented Roy Surette, pulls out all the stops to make the tiny cast playing a multitude of parts both believable and sympathetic. Among many other cute bit of stage business is the use of ribbons, building blocks and load binding belts to draw a map of the town, complete with river, bridge, and roads. Very well done.

The bad news – the run at Centaur is over today. The good news – the play is going on the road. Next stop – Ottawa, Ontario and the National Art Center.

http://nac-cna.ca/en/englishtheatre/event/2673

So all is not lost. If you live in the Ottawa area – or if you can manage a visit there before March 16, 2013 – do try to include getting tickets to this outstanding piece of theatre. And if you don’t live or visit Ottawa – no problems. You can read about the case on-line here:

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/truscott/

I guarantee that you will not be bored…