539 stories by "Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic"
Circus show by 7 Fingers at CAA Theatre uses performers' relations as inspiration for their top-notch, wow-factor feats.
The Vancouver-born actor passed his audition 'with flying colours' to pay the title role in the Toronto production of Broadway smash Dear Evan Hansen.
With Cirque du Soleil and 7 Fingers opening shows here this week, and Champions of Magic next week, Karen Fricker looks at the appeal of this style of entertainment.
A piece of advice for audiences is to pay attention right off the top, as information provided then informs everything that follows.
Songs, jokes and meta-jokes in an intimate space are just what this time of year needs, writes Karen Fricker.
Powerful direction and design choices, a committed solo performance and well-advised brevity make a strong impact.
After several weeks of controversy, Buddies in Bad Times is back to the business of its 40th anniversary season with a welcome revival of this 2012 hit.
Petty, who's staging The Wizard of Oz, sees pantos as a response to the negativity coming from the U.S. while Torr, whose Torrent Productions is presenting Cinderella, touts pantos for bring…
Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of the hit film is too long, yet it gets better as it goes along, thanks to an impressive cast of young talent who play their own instruments, writes…
There is a disconnect between the wild imaginative power of Monkey's adventures and the limited material means through which they're conveyed, writes Karen Fricker.
R.H. Thomson is in bravura form as McLuhan, but play's female actors are sorely underused, writes Karen Fricker.
Middletown, now at Toronto's Streetcar Crowsnest, shows off authorial voice found, the writer says, after exhausting work on Wall Street.
Michael Rubenfeld took mother Mary Berchard, a daughter of Holocaust survivors, to Poland to work some things out in their relationship. He came back with a documentary play.
Director Ken Gass's new approach with female actors of varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds comes across as projecting the experiences of others.
YPT's version of the beloved musical also takes a welcome approach to casting, with Vanessa Sears playing Mary with winning crispness, writes Karen Fricker.
Surprise, uncertainty, even risk are part of the experience for those who take the theatrical voyage that begins in Barrie, Ontario and ends in London, England three days later.
Journalists Jesse Kline and Jesse Brown find the theatre production about the liberal/conservative ideological divide is an accurate microcosm of what passes for civil discourse today.
The story is a microcosm of something billions of members of the human race have gone through, but which Western society still tells us is not appropriate for polite conversation: what it's …
Despite its unflattering portrayal of a Jewish family fighting over an inheritance, Rabbi Edward Elkin tells Karen Fricker he sees merit in Bad Jews.
The play is acutely topical, even though it's been in development for nine years, writes Karen Fricker.
Marco Ramirez's powerful play is based on the real-life story of boxer Jack Johnson, who became world heavyweight champion in 1910, sparking race riots.
Anosh Irani crams a lot of deep themes into his cricket-themed play, but the humour falls flat and the production feels unfinished, writes Karen Fricker.
Jukebox musical's story of the Motown hitmakers stuffs a lot of events and songs into show dominated all the same by the music " especially the talents of the performers.
XENOS, Akram Khan's last full-length work as a solo dancer came together with help of star Canadian writer Jordan Tannahill. It runs from Oct. 18 to 21 at the Bluma Appel Theatre.
New theatre leadership at Soulpepper and beyond are part of trend in Canadian theatre, one with a chance to connect with new audiences and artists.
