Review: (Toronto / Theatre) Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)

(L-R) Nicholas Porteous, Lesley Robertson, Cydney Penner (photo by Scott Gorman)

A Theatrical Gem. 
Chamberlain's production is a perfect alchemy of old and new, of comedic and poignant. 
by Lisa McKeown 
@lisammckeown

When I entered Hart House Theatre I was filled with gleeful anticipation. Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is a play with a special place in my heart, as it was one of the first contemporary plays I fell in love with when I first saw a production of it in high school, at Toronto's Upper Canada College. A few years later I was lucky enough to get to see the play with none other than the author herself, Canada's own Ann-Marie MacDonald, in the lead role as the relentlessly self-deprecating academic Contance Ledbelly. Hart House's current production had a lot to live up to. 

The multi-award winning play, directed by Carly Chamberlain, is well deserving of the hype - both of the play and this production. Constance Ledbelly, (Lesley Robertson) is  "an overlooked academic trying to prove her theory about two of Shakespeare's best-known plays" - a theory, more specifically, about "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" - two tragedies that don't follow the traditional tragic tropes. And then it happens, Constance falls down the rabbit hole - or, in this case, the trash can - into the world of these two Shakespearian plays. And what she discovers there is something essential to living a good life, but also frustratingly elusive: a true sense of self-worth.

Review: (Toronto) The Wedding Singer

80s Redux
by Lucy Wells

Just the thing, I thought, to take the edge off the first week back in the office after the holidays: a musical set in the Greatest Decade for the Use of Lasers in Pop Music! The Wedding Singer is a recent re-working of the 1998 film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, here performed in the casual, cozy setting of Hart House Theatre.

I was there on opening night. It was clear that not everything had quite ‘gelled’ yet in the production, but I suspect that with another performance or two under its belt, the show will run more smoothly. The set, which makes heavy use of platforms on wheels, is a bit distracting: each scene change (and it’s a remake of a movie, so you can expect rather a lot) requires people and time to roll things around the stage, which gets tiring to watch after a while. For a show set in the 1980s (and believe me when I say references abound), the costumes didn’t quite fit: I hate to disappoint you, but you won’t see any 80s bridal gowns in this show. The main impediment to my enjoyment of the show was the mic system in the theatre. Voices were generally over-amplified for the space, so that the ensembles sounded shout-y; as well, there was far too much of cutting out and interference. With any luck, the crew will have the sound problems fixed.

Review: (Toronto) Twelfth Night

Whence Ev’rybody Knows Thy Name
by Spencer Malthouse

It’s just a little pub frequented by nobles and fools alike, where bawdy hijinks and serendipitous romance intermingle. Hart House Theatre’s latest interpretation of Twelfth Night evokes the humour and camaraderie of the archetypal local pub.

This production succeeds in blending slapstick with some sweet romance. Viola (Darcy Gerhart) finds herself in Illyria. She disguises herself as a boy in order to work for Duke Orsino (Liam Volke) with whom she falls in love. Duke Orsino ardently loves Olivia (Arlin Dixon). Olivia rejects him but falls in love with Cesario (who is Viola as a boy). Confusion, hilarity, and homoeroticism ensue.

Review: (Toronto) Bent

Jed Farris (photo credit: Daniel DiMarco)

Love Behind the Wire Never Quite Blooms

by Christian Baines

Gay love in the trenches is a common enough theme. Gay love in a concentration camp is a harder sell, but Bent makes a good attempt at it. Its first act in particular is loaded with tension, focus, and a clear, chilling narrative drive. 

The Night of Long Knives has officially erased queers from Hitler’s vision for Germany – among them, a handsome one night stand picked up by a drunken Max (Liam Volke), much to the dismay of his dancer boyfriend Rudy (Jordan Gray). Now discovered and forced to flee Berlin, the two struggle to secure the paperwork for flight to Amsterdam. And as their relationship begins to disintegrate, the prospect of freedom looks more and more remote. Eventually, the Nazis catch up with them, forcing Max to secure his own survival, before finding love in the most unlikely and gruesome of places.

Review: (Toronto) Robin Hood

Daniel James (photo credit:
Daniel Di Marco)

Not Civilized – English
This new Robin Hood is uneven, but entertaining

by Stuart Munro

@StuartMunroTO

The tone is set early on in Hart House’s new production of Robin Hood: The Legendary Musical Comedy when the Voice of God explains that crusaders have been off in the Holy Land committing acts of murder, rape, pillage, and other noble deeds. A chorus of singing peasants then explains that they live in “Poor, poor England. England is Poor. We live in England. That’s why we say poor, poor England . . . ,” lyrics that walk that fine line between too much exposition and comedy gold. The songs may often fall flat, but the comedy in this production, thankfully, always works.

Robin Hood is a sometimes inventive, but mostly straightforward retelling of its namesake’s other incarnations. Robin of Locksley returns from the crusades to discover that Prince John, in league with the local sheriff, is brutally taxing the poor. Robin recruits a band of Merry Men, displaces the prince, and wins the hand of the fair Maid Marian. There are some unexpected twists and turns along the way (which often involve humorous discussions about various appropriate subplots) but everything ends as it should.

Review: (Toronto) Night of the Iguana

David Ferry (photo credit: Jaclyn Zaltz)

The Tennessee Waltz
Hart House delights with Williams
by Gregory W. Bunker


Tennessee Williams’s Night of the Iguana may be a rather pessimistic view of how to handle life’s twists and turns, but it is hard to be anything but optimistic about this Hart House production. Upon the fade-in of upbeat, softly static ‘40s music, the audience is treated to a superbly designed cabana scene (Scott Penner) complete with cleverly screened rooms, a well-used hammock, and a middle-ground view heading down to the beach. It is in this rustic, charming setting that director Jeremy Hutton unravels Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon: a down-and-out American “man of God” who struggles to come to terms with his past and, finally, his nature in the sweltering heat of Mexico.

Review: (Toronto) Cabaret

Michael-David Blostein (Photo credit: Daniel DiMarco)

The Storm is Now

Cabaret proves it is current

by Stuart Munro

Show girls. Authors. Gender bending. Nazis. All part of the territory in Kander and Ebb’s classic piece, Cabaret, which opened Friday night at the University of Toronto’s Hart House Theatre.

Set in the golden days of the Weimar Republic right before the Nazi’s rise to power, Cabaret tells the story of Clifford Bradshaw (played by Keenan Viau), an American author come to Berlin to find inspiration for his novel; and Sally Bowles (played by Courtney Lamanna), the star of Berlin’s infamous Kit Kat Klub.

Review: (Toronto) Macbeth

(l-r) Susan Q Wilson, Claire Acott, Annemieke Wade

The Sound and the Furies

Lighting, sound and the Witches thrive in Hart House’s Macbeth

by Laine Newman

From the first moment of Macbeth, the space is electric. Strobe lights burst across the stage in rushes of lightning with shrill noises rising to a crescendo culminating in deafening silence. 

Lightning flashes and the three weird sisters suddenly appear within a mesmerizing set created by Melanie McNeill. Their haunting eerie voices filling the space. While the three witches (played by Susan Q Wilson, Claire Acott and Annemieke Wade) were captivating in their movement and execution of their lines, the occasional use of amplification and echoes was unnecessary, overpowering scenes that didn’t require the extra trappings.