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Archive for April, 2011

Review: The cosmonaut’s last message to the woman he once loved in the former Soviet Union

Posted by art On April - 27 - 2011
Art, Featured, Jen Handley, Reviews, Theatre

Tom Barnett and Tony Nappo. Photo: Bruce Zinger

The cosmonaut’s last message to the woman he once loved in the former Soviet Union
By David Greig
Directed by Jennifer Tarver
Featuring Tom Barnett, Raoul Bhaneja, Fiona Byrne, David Jansen, Tony Nappo and Sarah Wilson
Runs until May 14 @ Bluma Appel Theatre

By Jen Handley

One of the big challenges of putting on a play about human beings that can’t connect with each other is that it’s hard to get them to connect with the audience.  In The cosmonaut’s last message to the woman he once loved in the former Soviet Union, playwright David Greig begins with a fascinating premise: two cosmonauts are marooned on a broken space capsule with nothing to do but desperately try to re-establish communication with the world, at first with their damaged technology, and eventually with their desperate imaginations. But the cosmonauts are only one part of the story; Greig recreates new versions of their situation in the everyday lives of characters down below. Read the rest of this entry »

Review: Kaeja d’Dance’s 20/20 Vision

Posted by art On April - 17 - 2011
Art, Dance Review, Featured, Reviews, Tina Chu

Jericho, performed by Norway's Ut i Scenekunsten and choreographed by Allen Kaeja.

20/20 Vision by Kaeja d’Dance
Choreography by Allen and Karen Kaeja
Collaborators: Edgardo Moreno (Composer), Elysha Poirier (Media)
Featuring Karen Kaeja, Courtnae Bowman, Zhenya Cerneacov, Mairéad Filgate, Stéphanie Tremblay Abubo and special guests Ut i Scenekunsten (Norway)
April 12-16 @ Enwave Theatre

By Tina Chu

Kaeja d’Dance’s anticipated 20/20 Vision opened last Tuesday night at Enwave Theatre in celebration of the company’s 20th anniversary. A future-spective instead of a retrospective, 20/20 Vision presents a thrilling glimpse into the future of Kaeja d’Dance, and while it satiates the expectations for the showcase, the performances of 20/20 Vision also build anticipation of what is yet to come for the renowned company.

The creative project of partners, Karen and Allen Kaeja, 20/20 Vision presents four pieces, two of which are choreographed by Karen and two by Allen.

The show begins with a piece about waiting. The Visitor features Karen’s engrossing choreography and a vigorous performance from interpreter Stéphanie Tremblay Abubo. Read the rest of this entry »

Preview: The Simian Showcase

Posted by art On April - 8 - 2011
Art, Interview, Kerry Freek, Previews, Theatre

MONDO’s art department doesn’t often have the opportunity to geek out as much as its neighbouring departments, Comics and Film. It’s just our luck, it seems, that tonight Monkeyman Productions, the self-described “geekiest theatre company in Toronto,” will present four new plays in its Simian Showcase, running at the Imperial Pub until April 16. Videogames, time travel, LARPing, and steampunk culture—it’s all covered. Art department editor Kerry Freek talked with two of the directors over gmail chat earlier this week.

Neil Silcox

First up, Neil Silcox, director of Camilla Maxwell’s Chun Li.

MONDO: How’s the production going? Are you ready for opening night?
Neil:  Yeah, I’m feeling really good about it. We had our Tech/Dress last night and it went over really well with the people who hadn’t seen it before.

MONDO:  Great! What exactly attracted you to “geek” theatre? I’ve seen you in other shows (Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night) and this seems like a bit of a jump away from Shakespeare.
Neil:  That’s a part of what drew me to it. I found myself in—not exactly a rut, let’s say a groove. The top or my resume just kept saying Hart House, Hart House, Canopy, Hart House, Hart House, Canopy. I really loved working with those people, but I thought I needed to diversify. So anyway, one day I’m sitting on the subway and Marty Choderek [one of Monkeyman’s founding members] plops down beside me and we got to talking about Monkeyman and I asked if they were looking for directors. Read the rest of this entry »

Event: Research Intersections Within Practice: Artists and Librarians

Posted by art On April - 4 - 2011
Art, Event Review, Reviews, Tina Chu

Research Intersections Within Practice: Artists and Librarians
Organized by Effie Patelos and Tammy Moorse
March 16 @ the AGO

By Tina Chu

Presented by the Ontario Chapter of the Art Libraries Society of North America, this panel brought together the minds of Adam Lauder, the W.P. Scott Chair for Research in E-Librarianship at York University’s Scott Library; Amy Marshall Furness, the Special Collections Archivist at the E.P. Taylor Research Library and Archives of the AGO; Ian Carr-Harris, Artist and Professor at OCAD University; Eric Schwab, Manager of Digitization and Preservation at the Toronto Public Library, David Poolman, Artist and Professor at Sheridan, and Lisa Steele, Artist, Vtape Founder and the Visual Studies Graduate Program Director at the University of Toronto. Read the rest of this entry »

Review: Art of Time Ensemble’s The War of the Worlds

Posted by art On April - 4 - 2011
Art, Featured, Jen Handley, Reviews, Theatre

Nicholas Campbell in The War of the Worlds. Photo: John Lauener.

Art of Time Ensemble’s The War of the Worlds
Starring Nicholas Campbell, Don McKellar and Marc Bendavid with foley artist John Gzowski
Directed and conducted by Andrew Burashko
Music composed and arranged by Don Parr
March 31 – April 3, 2011 @ Enwave Theatre

By Jen Handley

“And if someone rings your doorbell,” murmured Don McKellar to a mesmerized audience on Thursday night as The War of the Words came to a close, “Remember, it’s not Martians—it’s Hallowe’en.” And although the performance was utterly convincing, it pretty much proved that whimsical point. That’s because this War of the Worlds isn’t just a restaging of the classic Orson Welles Martian invasion radio play, it’s a staging of the staging of it. Art of Time’s production manages to tell the story not just of an alien invasion, but also of a bid for notoriety that was both an artistic and professional gamble, and, in doing so, the ensemble adds a second cast of heroes to the original play without changing a word. Read the rest of this entry »

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MONDO is a non-profit, weekly, Toronto-based, online magazine that focuses on arts, culture, and humour. We’re interested in art of all kinds (music, theatre, visual art, film, comics, and video games) and the pop culture that we inhabit.The copyright on all MONDO magazine content belongs to the author. If you would like to pay them for more content, please do. To contact MONDO please email us at editor@mondomagazine.net

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