Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Review: Shifting Ground's Ride the Cyclone is heartfelt, overloaded

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 10d

Review @intermissionmag.bsky.social Shifting Ground's Ride the Cyclone hits the carnival bullseye when it comes to heart and fun, but just misses the top prize by expanding the cast and reducing the original’s compelling creepiness. #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/ride...

Director 郝邦宇 Steven Hao hits the carnival bullseye when it comes to heart and fun, but just misses the top prize by expanding the cast.

Review: MJ: THE MUSICAL at Ed Mirvish Theatre

1 2

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 13d

#Review: MJ: THE MUSICAL at Ed Mirvish #Theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...

It’s the eve of Jackson’s Dangerous tour, which is spiralling out of control as he demands more technology and works his dancers to the bone, searching for an elusive perfection that will top anything...

Review: WAITING FOR GODOT at Coal Mine Theatre

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 13d

#Review: WAITING FOR GODOT at Coal Mine Theatre is Al(exander Thomas) and Ted (Dykstra)'s Existentialist Adventure #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...

Coal Mine’s dedication to text and its intimate quarters mean that you don’t need to shell out for Broadway to get closer to Godot.

Review: ENORMITY, GIRL, AND THE EARTHQUAKE IN HER LUNGS at Nightwood Theatre

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 14d

I appreciate the Globe pushing back on this. <3

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 17d

@nightwoodtheat.bsky.social inaugurates their new space with Chelsea Woolley's Enormity, Girl, and the Earthquake in Her Lungs, a fierce choreopoem that never lets up in presenting the fragmenting experience of trauma. #theatre #theaTO #review
www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...

Woolley’s moving and layered script, developed over years in Nightwood’s Write From the Hip program, is like a firehose of neuroses, a constant barrage that drenches you with a mind that never shuts o...

Review: 'Octet' vibrates with sublime vocal beauty at Crow's

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 17d

Review @intermissionmag.bsky.social: Put down the phone: 'Octet' vibrates with sublime vocal beauty @crowstheatre.bsky.social #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/octe...

Dave Malloy’s intricate a cappella compositions are the hymns and confessionals in a show about a support group for internet addiction.

Interview: Emily Paterson of BUTCH/FEMME at Theatre Passe Muraille

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 20d

Interview: Emily Paterson of BUTCH/FEMME at #Theatre Passe Muraille explores Toronto's disappearing sapphic spaces #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...

Emily Paterson’s BUTCH/FEMME opens Theatre Passe Muraille’s 2025/2026 season after receiving top honours at the University of Toronto Hart House Drama Festival.

Review: Soulpepper's 'The Welkin' careens from comedy to tragedy

1 1

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 25d

#Review: Marvellously daring (though a little overstuffed) Soulpepper, @crowstheatre.bsky.social and @thehowlandcompany.bsky.social 'The Welkin' careens from comedy to tragedy in a compelling production #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/the-...

An effective staging by Weyni Mengesha and a large cross-section of the city’s most powerful actors make for compelling viewing.

Review: THE ELEPHANT GIRLS at Red Sandcastle Theatre

3 3

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 25d

Today is the last day for Margo MacDonald's THE ELEPHANT GIRLS at Red Sandcastle, the story of London's all-women gang of the 1920s. MacDonald's compelling performance and snappy script are worth watching. www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti... #theatre #theaTO

“It was all a game,” sneers Maggie Hale (Margo MacDonald), lead “enforcer” of THE ELEPHANT GIRLS, the notorious gang of women that swept through London in the 1920s.

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 27d

Oh, I'm sure. It's only the beginning... (I think it was Fringe 2023 or 2024 when MyEntertainmentWorld started making it a game to see how many program photos they could take with the back of my head in them. Must have been at least 20.)

New/Mode | Make your voice impossible to ignore

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · 27d

Hi from the back of my head in this photo 😆

1 1

Reposted by Ilana Lucas

Kathryn Mockler @themockler.bsky.social · Aug 30

Carney plans to cut 15% to the arts. Here is a letter template to send to politicians to oppose this.

nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...

nwmd.social

2 20 28

Reposted by Ilana Lucas

Grand Theatre @thegrandlondon.bsky.social · Aug 26

INTRODUCING: ON Criticism, an incubator for theatre criticism offered by Intermission Magazine, the Grand Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Talk is Free Theatre, and Tarragon Theatre.

Announcing ON Criticism: The 2025/26 Theatre Critics Lab

Four southern Ontario theatres are collaborating with Intermission Magazine to continue advancing the field of theatre criticism.

Review: 'The Great Comet' dazzles in Mirvish transfer

1 3 2

Reposted by Ilana Lucas

Derrick Chua @derrick-chua.bsky.social · Jul 29

Really feels like a particularly sad last few weeks for Canadian theatre, with the loss of yet another great artist that affected so many people, on stage and off. Rest in peace Joe Ziegler. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

📸 Cylla von Tiedemann

2 7

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 25

Though my qualms with Malloy's script persist, the
@mirvish.bsky.social transfer of @crowstheatre.bsky.social
'The Great Comet' won me over with an ecstatic, upscaled performance that rocks the (bigger) house. It's one heck of a vibe. #theatre #theaTO

Intermission @intermissionmag.bsky.social · Jul 25

REVIEW: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 dazzles in Mirvish transfer

"The upscaled edition is slightly different, but it’s still a rave in multiple ways, with lived-in performances making it seem at times even more immediate than at Crow’s."

www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/nata...

The upscaled edition of this Crow's Theatre and Musical Stage Company co-production is slightly different, but still a rave in multiple ways.

1 4

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 24

Let me be clear--I still very badly want to dramaturg the heck out of the script. But the production is so fun that I un-grumped myself this time.

Review: ROMEO AND JULIET at Canadian Stage

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 23

Okay, so I'm not the only one who had gripes about (while enjoying) the original production who found my qualms dissolving at the Royal Alex. They really nailed it here.

1 2

Reposted by Ilana Lucas

Stratford Festival @stratfest.bsky.social · Jul 21

It is with deep sadness that we mark the passing of actor Michael Blake, our dear friend and much valued colleague.

Michael was one of the most gifted actors of his generation. He played an extraordinary variety of parts and did so with an ability and ease that was rare.

4 9 19

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 22

Review: ROMEO AND JULIET at Canadian Stage provides powerful performances, puzzling thematic and textual choices #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...

What did our critic think of ROMEO AND JULIET at Canadian Stage?The romantic tragedy and big emotions of Shakespeare’s famous tale of star-crossed lovers are difficult to successfully present in an ag...

Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 4 at Toronto Fringe

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 13

It's the last day of Toronto Fringe! Go see some theatre. #FringeTO #theaTO #theatre I saw it after the media deadline, but I want to shout out Oh! I Miss the War, which has a show at 5pm today and is more than worthy of your time. www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...

What did our critic think of TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 4 at Toronto Fringe?

Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL Review Roundup Featuring ACTING LESSONS and More

2

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 11

More #FringeTO reviews #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti... and www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...

What did our critic think of TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 1 at Toronto Fringe?

Reviews: Toronto Fringe Festival 2025

3

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 11

#theatre #theaTO I've been posting #FringeTO reviews like mad and then forgetting to put them on my socials. First, six for @intermissionmag.bsky.social: www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/toro...

This collection of Toronto Fringe Festival capsule reviews will be updated throughout the festival with writing from 20 different critics.

Review: JOIN CANADA, EH? at Lighthouse Artscape

3

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 1

At JOIN CANADA, EH?, celebrate Canada Day by supporting Canada's number-one export: comedians. #theatre #theaTO #comedy www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti... @joincanadaeh.bsky.social

JOIN CANADA, EH? reminds us to be grateful for Canada's number one export: comedians. With all this geopolitical chaos in our own backyard, laughter is hard to come by, especially at these exchange ra...

Interview: Laura Anne Harris and Ronit Rubinstein Talk Toronto Fringe

Ilana Lucas @ilanalucas.bsky.social · Jul 1

I interviewed Laura Anne Harris and Ronit Rubinstein about their shows at Toronto Fringe and "Griefapalooza 2025" #FringeTO #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...

BroadwayWorld talked to Harris and Rubinstein about why they created shows where the audience determines the order, how we make emotional connections to objects, and what constitutes “good grief.”