The show will go on, beleaguered performing arts companies hope — but mostly outdoors by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

With the latest COVID-19 stay-at-home order in Ontario preventing theatre companies from even rehearsing or recording content, organizations are cautiously planning late spring or summer sho…

In the 1930s a Black actor from Canada played God in a hit Broadway play — now another Black actor is bringing him back to audiences by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Richard B. Harrison made a living touring North America reading Shakespeare and poetry until ‘The Green Pastures’ came along. Actor Walter Borden and director Jeff Culbert want to make s…

As shows like ‘Come From Away’ and ‘Hamilton’ play to full houses in Australia, the rest of the theatre world watches and waits by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Some of the world’s most successful musicals are hitting Australian stages thanks to that country’s COVID-19 measures. In Toronto, where theatres are still closed, arts organizations are…

‘A year ago, I would not have applied for this job’: Karine Ricard on becoming the first Black leader of a professional Francophone theatre compan by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Ricard, who takes over the helm of the Théâtre français de Toronto in July, joins a number of other recently appointed female Black theatre leaders in Toronto, including Weyni Mengesha at…

Drag performer Taylor Mac has a Christmas treat for you: a livestreamed version of variety show ‘Holiday Sauce’ by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

TO Live and Buddies in Bad Times are among the international organizations supporting ‘Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce — Pandemic!’ — a vaudeville-style revue of musical numbers, film, …

How Toronto’s Harold Green Jewish Theatre brought the world together for ‘A Global Hanukkah Celebration’ concert by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

From Berlin to Sydney, Toronto’s co-artistic directors David Eisner and Avery Saltzman bring together a dozen Jewish theatres from around the world to link up in seasonal concert

Students connect with online play’s real-life pandemic plot by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Theatre Direct’s new online show pulls young audiences in with its Zoom-style staging and post-show talkback.

Stratford fest creates deliciously ridiculous online soap opera to get us through a COVID-19 winter by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Freshly created web series ‘Leer Estates’ is just one highlight of theatre fest’s new digital subscription service, also a Shakespearean game show and films of famed stage productions …

First came the pandemic, then the Black Lives Matter uprising: Toronto’s theatre industry has to find a way to address both by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

What will the future hold for theatre in Toronto? It has to extend beyond how to stage live productions again during COVID-19 to the very structure of organizations, to who’s making theatr…

Playwright Tomson Highway on why artists need to fight evil by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

The Cree playwright, whose ‘The Cave’ is part of the online Luminato Festival, says ‘the greater the challenge the greater the fight,’ whether it’s anti-Black racism, climate chang…

Watch: In the musical ‘In Real Life,’ characters communicate online. When COVID-19 struck, life imitated art on Zoom by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Thanks to technology and the perseverance of all involved, Sheridan College put on a workshop production of the show this month, with rehearsals and a performance all happening online, write…

Disaster insurance keeps the Shaw Festival going by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

As theatres across Canada close their seasons due to COVID-19, a policy update three years ago keeps the Shaw’s staff employed and rehearsing

An actor who nurses. A drag queen who teaches. These artists are finding ways to hustle during the COVID-19 outbreak by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

‘She lived a number of different lives’: the push and pull behind ‘Summer: The Donna Summer Musical’ by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Show in Toronto reunites team behind ‘Jersey Boys.’

‘Hamilton’ stars want more noise from Toronto audience by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

The actors in the top roles from ‘Hamilton’ talk about how they got here and the noise they’d like to hear from their Toronto audience.

‘Sunday in the Park With George’ is a Pulitzer Prize-winning musical — and it’s never had a full production in Toronto by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Opinions vary as to why. Is it the challenges of the staging, a second act that some consider weak or the fact it’s about artists and making art?

‘Lady Sunrise’ offers moving portraits of isolation and psychological struggle by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

While the play is full of loss, the meta-story behind it is that of empowerment: nearly all the lead creatives and the entire cast are Asian-Canadian women, writes Karen Fricker.

What do you do when the love of your life fails you? Vivek Shraya turned it into a solo show by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

‘How to Fail as a Popstar’ is about how the author, visual artist, filmmaker and trans activist failed at what she wanted more than anything: to make it as a pop musician. But she’ll a…

At ‘You and I,’ it’s OK if theatregoers wander onstage during the performance by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

The play at Young People’s Theatre is for children 12 to 30 months old — or ‘explorers,’ as playwright Maja Ardal likes to call them.

Critics who aren’t Indigenous, Black or people of colour aren’t invited to ‘bug.’ Yolanda Bonnell explains why by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

The Indigenous theatre artist says “bug” is an artistic ceremony, which she says “does not align with colonial reviewing practices.”

Harry and Meghan as a Second City sketch? A look at how the comedy group improvises its shows by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

What’s the method behind the Second City magic? We put these questions to the director of “She The People.”

Sex, pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth: Hannah Moscovitch explains why she put some of her most intimate experiences into her plays by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

‘Many women have the exact same set of experiences that I do. No one talks about it,’ Moscovitch tells Karen Fricker. And, yes, it’s been scary, but she plans to keep putting personal …

Measha Brueggergosman and Jully Black forged a relationship through adversity — now they’re bringing their bond to the stage by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

The R&B and opera divas star in ‘Caroline, or Change’ and reflect on friendship, hardship and the generations of Black women who have come before.

A barn-burning performance by Daren A. Herbert is the highlight of Soulpepper’s ‘Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train’ by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

The Toronto production has all the signature elements of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s work, but the other performances are not as full-tilt as Herbert’s, writes Karen Fricker.

Fast, bloody and maybe confusing: This ‘Julius Caesar’ is very 2020 by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

An expertly designed play and a deeply intense viewing experience, this take on Shakespeare might baffle those who don’t know the play.

‘Talking about fury’ gave rise to ‘The Guilty Feminist’ podcast, in Toronto on Sunday by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Comedian Deborah Frances-White says her podcast — coming to the Danforth Music Hall on Sunday — suits a ‘time of revolution.’

Canadian Stage is slaying its deficit and making ambitious plans by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Venerable theatre company has made big strides erasing its deficit — now it can make ambitious plans

Capitalism and average people’s crises of conscience provide the heart of new Toronto play by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Monologues illustrating the tension between how we live and what we believe form most of ‘Consumption Patterns,’ opening Jan. 8 as part of the Next Stage festival.

A terrific cast brings the whimsy of Bikini Bottom to life in ‘The SpongeBob Musical’ by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Although two and a half hours is long for an entertainment this unsubtle, writes Karen Fricker.

Bend It Like Beckham’s co-creator explains what the film and musical are really about by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

It’s about negotiation between generations, Gurinder Chadha tells Karen Fricker ahead of the opening of Bend It Like Beckham onstage in Toronto.

In Young People’s Theatre’s ‘Pinocchio,’ the boy of wood transforms emotionally and spiritually as well as physically by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic