Review: (Montreal) Where the Blood Mixes

(photo credit: Mateo Hernandez)

the bitter winter seeps in through the cracks
Teesri Duniya forces us to pay attention
by Jessica Wei

Canada's a fairly unassuming country. We're known for confusing politics, casual beers, icy temperatures and warm smiles. However, any true Canadian – especially anyone who lives in Quebec – knows, when it's hot, it's sweltering and when it's cold, it numbs to the bone. Some of our history is like that, too. We love our proud moments in history: the invention of insulin, the Battle of Vimy Ridge,  passing universal health care in '62, our tumultuous road to victory during the Summit Series in '72 against the Soviets, the entire Vancouver Olympics in '08 (including our tumultuous road to victory in Men's Hockey)... warm, friendly, glowing moments engraved on our currency, celebrated in our newspapers on anniversary years, boasted in our textbooks. 

But the bitter winter seeps in through the cracks. Those are times we just don't comment on the weather. If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all, and most of us just don't say anything at all. 

Review: (Montreal) Taming of the Shrew

Rasmussen and McCooeye (photo by Antoine Yared)

First there is the problem of the play

Can our critic get over the fact that Shrew is "egregiously outdated"?

by Jessica Wei

Sometimes you have to regard Shakespeare as your octogenarian grandfather at family dinners who likes to get bourbon-drunk and spout remarks less than 21st century politically correct that you kind of have to just smile and shrug through, like, “I'm pretty sure she was actually Japanese, and probably not a communist, necessarily, but then again you've been through a war and, y'know, can't teach an old dog new tricks, sooooo.....”

My point is, it is very difficult to enjoy Taming of the Shrew. It has its uncomfortable lulls. The political message hasn't quite transcended the five hundred years since it was written. Women with sharp tongues don't need to be “trained” anymore, especially not by gold-digging courters who have to run a business arrangement through rich old papa before sliding into first base. This is just a fact, and when one is slouched in a lawn chair at Mount Royal Cemetery, trying to enjoy this egregiously outdated play, one needs to first get over the fact that in Elizabethan England, sexism just didn't really exist.

Review: (Toronto) Parfumerie

Patricia Fagan and Oliver Dennis (photo: Cylla von Tiedemann)

A Bit O' Christmas Cheese

The return of Parfumerie is a welcome one

by Jessica Wei

You gotta have a bit of cheese during the holiday season. Pretty A-line dresses and fur stoles, brown paper packages, snow softly falling outside a frosted windowpane, attentive shopkeepers offering perfume samples, men in three-piece suits and boys in newsy caps – Christmas conjures up a 1940s dreamworld. Parfumerie, now playing at Soulpepper Theatre, brings that dreamworld to life. Or at least, to stage, where you can forget about real life for a while. 

Review: (Toronto) Hallaj

Beatriz Pizano, Stewart Arnott, Carlos González-Vio, Steven Bush, Bahareh Yaraghi (photo: John Lauener) 

The Truth of the Known

You may not agree with Hallaj

by Jessica Wei

Political plays, if done well, are never not tricky. They should have each audience member debating their way out of the theatre, either to each other or in their heads. There should be at least six (6) seconds of, “Hmmm, did I enjoy that? Do I agree with that?” before one makes up their mind about the show they just saw. By all counts, Hallaj is well done. 

Review: (Toronto) Topdog/Underdog

Beyond the merely enjoyable

The beautiful and real Topdog/Underdog

by Jessica Wei

In psychology, Topdog vs. Underdog generally refers to a mind game that people play with themselves as a way of dealing with anxiety. Topdog describes the responsible side of the individual, the voice that drops words like, “should” and “ought” to keep the subject aligned with the norms of society. The  Underdog is the self-protective devil on the left shoulder, making excuses and sabotaging the demands of its opponent. 

Review: (Toronto) The Bundle

Bond's Bundle

After some bumps Ryerson pulls the audience in

by Jessica Wei

Captivating, that was Ryerson's production of “The Bundle” by Edward Bond. From the audible gasp from the audience right at the end of the first act straight to curtain call, it was impossible to turn away.