Nicole Fairbairn

Angelwalk Theatre and Winnipeg Studio Theatre have brought a delightful show to the Toronto Centre for the Arts.  Ordinary Days does not have an elaborate set, it is basically two levels with some interesting panels and a bunch of cubes that are used for multiple purposes.  It also does not have fancy costumes.  The...
Read More »

Alligator Pie is simply one of the best shows I have seen this year and I never thought I would say that about a production based around children’s poems.  There are excellent productions and then there is theatrical magic—this is magic.  This is the kind of play that will inspire children to love theatre...
Read More »

I would never have considered myself a fan of Beckett, but perhaps I had just never seen a well-done production because I thoroughly enjoyed Soulpepper’s take on Endgame. This is the second time the company has staged Endgame.  It was first mounted in 1999 and ended up winning the Dora Award for Best Production. ...
Read More »

Tear The Curtain! written by Jonathan Young and Kevin Kerr was originally commissioned by Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre and draws loosely from the history of the Stanley Theatre, which was originally a movie cinema and later became a live theatre house. It is hard to define what Tear The Curtain! is about because it...
Read More »

The Royal Comedians is an uneven show.  László Marton’s ambitious direction is a feast for the senses through fair chunks of the show but it is peppered with stretches of dullness. The cast explodes on to the stage with searchlights and lavish costumes which made me sit up in my seat. I am not...
Read More »

I wanted to love The Crucible but for me the show didn’t really start to take off until the second act and by that point it was too late.  I wanted to feel the hysteria and anxiety bubbling under the surface in act one so the explosion in the second act makes sense.  The...
Read More »

Neil Simon is arguably one of the greatest living comedic playwrights.  His works are produced endlessly.  It is actually very difficult to do Simon well because the writing is so good that an actor or director’s misstep is glaring.  Soulpepper serves up a thoughtful evening with their production of Sunshine Boys. Sunshine Boys is...
Read More »

  Soulpepper’s production of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow is a summer must see.  Under the expert direction of David Storch you are in for an exhilarating and entertaining journey. Speed-the-Plow takes you inside the world of the American movie business.  The wheeling and dealing, the dirty deals and the all consuming desire to make money. ...
Read More »

I have seen several versions of Rent and it is one of my favourite musicals so I was excited to see what Lower Ossington Theatre Company would bring to this production.  I have consistently been blown away by the extraordinary vocal talent that this company showcases and this musical is no exception.  Most of...
Read More »

Home, written by David Storey is not action packed—in fact the show takes place on a nearly bare stage with the actors mainly stationary for the duration of the play, but the contents of this material are rife with emotion and surprising turns.  Apparently the playwright wrote all his plays in two or three...
Read More »