2025 Theatre

Rogers vs. Rogers (Crow's) was my favourite play of the year overall. Amazing performance by Tom Rooney, directed by Chris Abraham, and adapted for the stage by Michael Healey. Abraham and Healey worked together to deliver The Master Plan. What I liked about both productions was the humour and satire in capturing relevant, local, transformative events. Some say this makes it difficult for the plays to travel to other jurisdictions, but I think the themes apply regardless. Plays like this keep me loyal to Crow's. What I also appreciate about Crow's is their use of the 'video floor/ video wall' to set the scene... it really helps with transitions and layering text, bringing an extra element.

My favourite director this year was Robert Lepage. The Far Side of the Moon (Can Stage) and Macbeth (Stratford) were both so incredibly staged. Set design is always one of my favourite elements, and his designs expand my perspective and feel like they are taking me to new dimensions.

We were lucky enough to attend a lot of theatre this year, the majority at Crow's. I can't say I always love the plays, but I do appreciate the calibre of the productions and taking creative risks with difficult subjects. I'll likely renew my subscription for the coming season.

2025

• Wights (Jan / Crow's) World Premiere
• I sat through Wights righteousness and relentless diatribes hoping things would improve. Most reviewers seemed to agree there was too much shouting and too much going on.
• 15 Dogs (Feb / Mirvish /CAA Theatre)
• I read the novel and was curious to see how the cast would pull off their canine characters. Well played. 
  
• Trident Moon (March / Crow's)
• Provocative staging of an imagined scenario taking place during Partition; it made me curious to learn more about the history of 1947.
• Did they try to save money by not using microphones and shouting a lot? I actually missed quite a bit of the dialogue as actors stepped on each others lines and some were so heavily accented. Surtitles would help.
• You Can't Take it With You (April / Scarborough Players)
• Love the dedication of amateur theatre.
• Flex (April / Crow's)
• My favourite of Crow's spring season was Flex; I was disappointed to see the theatre so empty.
• Team dynamics and a look at the added pressures of women in sport - perfectly illustrated when a player becomes pregnant.
• I wasn't sure what to expect, with basketball being played and the audience watching in the stands. Fantastic! Whether the basketball is sunk or not at the end dictates the ending, a nice twist.
• Comfort Food (June / Crow's)
• Some inter-generational conflicts around the ethics of food really became a metaphor of the relationship challenges between a single mother and her teenage son. Fresh bread gets baked during the performance, filling the theatre with a comforting aroma. At the end of the play, audience members get offered a slice of the bread, which wa a nice touch. If only there had been a stronger resolution between the two characters.
• Dangerous Liaisons (September / Stratford)
• Entertaining with the sexual intrigues and manipulations of the French court - the image of the guillotine dropping at close of the play was overwhelmingly effective. Echoes into this century.
• Macbeth (September / Stratford)
• Putting this classic into motorcycle gang rivalries and driving powerful bikes on stage effectively modernized the message. Timeless.
• Octet (October / Crow's)
• Clever musical about social media but a missed opportunity. The script could have been updated to reflect impact of Internet during Covid and recent developments in AI. Melodies themselves weren't all that hummable but it was an interesting device to have all lines sung; put a nice spin on individual voices and Greek choruses. 
• The Veil (October / Crow's)
• I actually felt a bit ripped off as there were so many great and grisly props lying about that never came to life. Expected a bit more horror in the telling, but still a great one man play.
• Far Side of the Moon (November / Can Stage)
• Wow! Amazing visual design. A bit of stage trickery made the actor really seem as if they were weightless in space. Seamless transitions & incredible set design. 
• Christmas Market (December / Crow's)
• Managed to portray predicaments of migrant workers in a way that brought deeper insight into their personal situations. Appreciated the diversity of the situations and points of view presented.
• Rogers vs Rogers (December / Crow's)
• Favourite of the year! Tom Rooney had no understudy for the entire run. I thought the play would hesitate to take risks due to fear of lawsuits, but it didn't flinch. From the program: "make no mistake, this is a satirical work of fiction - facts have been nudged, conversations invented, and reality adjusted wherever it proved inconvenient." Everything rang quite true, especially the facts shared about the Competition Bureau and falling competitiveness in Canada. Any coincidence with turning a blind eye to corporate giants' questionable tactics purely chance.