Last Sunday, Blair and I went to see Dedicated to the Revolutions at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. I can not tell you how excited I was to see this show. The thing is that this company, Small Wooden Shoe, is one of the most innovative and refreshing companies in town. They take ideas; they screw around with them, and take you on a ride.
They are looking at 7 revolutions that have shaped our modern world. These include the invention of the printing press, the industrial revolution, Darwin’s theory of evolution and the information revolution.
Perhaps you are asking: “What is it exactly? Is it performance art? Theatre? A musical? Experimental? How can I categorize it?” DO NOT BE AFRAID – but be very intrigued. During our interview, Artistic Director and Performer Jacob Zimmer said he can only best describe it as “Lecture-Demo Theatre”. In the hour and a half or so you are in the space, you are taken on a performative explanation/exploration of the many shifts in our world that have led us to the time we live in.
Their enthusiasm for the subject is infectious. I dare you not to leave there more curious about the world around you. I also dare you not to leave humming a tune or two. This is an excellent way for us as humans to ponder where we are.
Who knows what the next revolution will be? Maybe Vlogging…
Is there anything better than sitting down to a delicious meal with friends or family and enjoying the amazing flavours of the food sitting infront of you? We don’t think so. On Wednesday, Katherine and I sat down with Chef Jamie Kennedy at the Gilead Café to talk about the Slow Food Movement, why buying locally produced food is important to the economy and the environment and the new Thursday night Local Food Movement Dinner Series at the Gilead Cafe. It was an inspiring chat - and there was so much to be said that we decided to include the full interview as a separate video.
We had some time to kill before heading over to the Berkeley Street Theatre to see Une maison face au nord, so we took off to the Distillery District which is just down the street from the Gilead Cafe and grabbed a delicious turkey chili to fill up on from the Brick Street Bakery. We took some time to chat and catch up and split a delicious cookie as desert.
At 8pm the curtain was raised on Théâtre français de Toronto’s latest production:
OSCILLATING BETWEEN FAMILY DRAMA AND A COMEDY OF MANNERS,A North-Facing House takes on some serious subjects, such as the rural exodus, the integration of immigrants, and generational conflict, all of which are dramatized with the author’s humour spicing up the text. Between a son pursued for money laundering, a young Guatemalan worker, and an elderly Pole, a man in his twilight years (played by Guy Mignault) feels at a dead end despite the kindness and good sense of his wife (played by Louisette Dussault). He sees the heritage that he created and the country of his dreams inexorably losing its sense and future. Far from witnessing the collapse of a microscopic world, something quite different happens, which allows us to tackle questions of spirituality confronting today’s reality. Jean-Rock Gaudreault, whose work TfT first presented in 1999 with La Raccourcie, has since become a definite pillar of Canadian francophone theatre.
We got the chance to chat with one of the stars of the show and TFT Artistic Director, Guy Mignault. It’s not easy being the Artistic Director and one of the actors in the show, but Guy did a fantasitc job - along with the rest of the cast.
It was a beautifully warm-ish day in Toronto on Wednesday - perfect weather for a skate down at the waterfront at arguably one of the best rinks in the city, the Harbourfront Natrel Rink (it is also the city’s largest rink!).
Katherine and I took off after work, threw on some skates and took to the ice - something Katherine hadn’t done in almost 7 years! We had a blast skating around and enjoying the music being pumped into the cool evening air. It was a perfect way to finish off a long day of work.
All that exercise made us hungry so we decided to chow down on some delicious Thai food at Spice Thai Cafe across the street from Harbourfront. But on our way over, we wandered through the York Quay Centre to check out some of the free public art on display at the various galleries. There is some great pieces on display which you can see in the video.
Dinner was delicious and inexpensive (always a bonus) and the wait staff were as pleasant as always. But we were on a schedule as we had to get over to the Fleck Dance Theatre to see That Night Follows Day, part of the World Stage Festival. The show was conceived by the group Campo in Belgium and is only here until tomorrow (Saturday). Here’s a brief description:
You feed us. You wash us. You dress us. You sing to us. You watch us when we are sleeping. You make promises that you think we won’t remember.
Featuring a cast of 16 children between the ages of 8 and 14. That Night Follows Day is the creation of revolutionary theatre maker Tim Etchells of the UK’s Forced Entertainment.
From the acclaimed theatre company that brought Toronto audiences Aalst, That Night Follows Day examines the systems of parenthood, upbringing, discipline, care and welfare that define the worlds of children and adolescents. A play with children written for adults, That Night Follows Day playfully yet poignantly highlights how adults project their worlds onto the lives of the children around them.
This original production promises to be one of the most talked-about of Toronto’s theatre season.
It’s a really amazing piece of theatre - not your typical dramatic piece of text. We got a chance to speak to two of the actors in the show to get their perspective on what the show meant and their experiences.
That rounded out an excellent evening. There’s so much to see and do at Harbourfront year round, and a lot of it is free (which is amazing!). We certainly advise you to take a walk, bike, TTC or, if you must, drive down to the waterfront and explore the hidden treasures awaiting you.
In an effort to warm up these cold winter days, That Night In Toronto takes a trip down to The Hideout on Queen St. West to catch up with the Mob Barley’s and The Railers - a Bob Marley Cover band featuring Darren Dumas of The Salads fame and Chris Collins, lead singer of The Cheap Suits.
Friday February 6, 2009 was Bob Marley’s birthday. Born in 1945, Bob would have been 64 if he were alive today.
It was a great night of great covers. The crowd loved it - and hopefully you will too! If you want to see the Mob Barley’s, you should check them out at The Sound Academy on February 28, 2009!
Katherine joined up after seeing Ubuntu at the Tarragon Theatre and gives a little review and info on it towards the end of the episode.
It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to put up a new post, but finally, here it is - the first episode of 2009!
Katherine and I took to the cold last Friday night to witness the first performance of the new Close Act show titled PI-LEAU. Close Act has been in Toronto before a few years ago with another show, but they out did themselves with this underwater exploration and struggle between good and evil. The show opened the 14 day festival, WinterCity - a favourite among Torontonians at this time of year.
Not only does the city embrace the cold and snow for these two weeks, we also gorge ourselves on food during Winterlicious. Many restaurants book up quickly so if you want to take advantage of some of the amazing world-class cuisine Toronto has to offer at affordable prices, best to book now!
What are your thoughts on WinterCity? Do you embrace the cold, or hibernate for 6 months?
So Blair and I have been super busy and we have plans coming up, so you will see an episode soon enough! In the meantime, check out the video above. It is the first one that I did on my own, and with the slowness of my computer, might be the last for a while. I went to the launch of the second issue of Bad Day Magazine at Studio Gallery . You can check out the art until mid-November there, so please check out the gallery’s website for hours and such things.
I have been working nuts hours these days, but I still got to see Scratch at Factory Theatre. If you are a woman/girl/lady person, you must see this play. It will bring you back to when you were a pre-teen/teen and no one ‘got’ you, and you were really going through lots of ’stuff’. If you are a man/boy/gentleman person, you should see it too.
For next week, there is tons going on…. almost every night is booked. I’ll try to take pics and stuff and tell you about it next week.
Tuesday - Rest (maybe make a bean salad for lunches)
Wednesday - The night I have been waiting for!!!! Trouble the Water as part of the first Doc Soup of the season (as you will find out soon viewers, I am the hugest fan of Hot Docs Fest and Doc Soup series) then…. SHARON JONES and the DAP KINGS at Kool Haus! Blair will be there too, but I am sure Sharon won’t let us take pics. If you don’t know Sharon Jones, click on her name anywhere on this blog and the internets will take you to her. She is a massive talent - soul to the limit! Best band ever too!
Thursday - I have rehearsal, but there’s lots going on in the city
Friday - I am seeing The Black Rider at Tarragon but for the rest of you it is Halloween. (you will also learn that Halloween is not my scene and I do everything I can to avoid it. I hate halloween.)
12 hours. What a night! We started our journey at 6:30pm at City Hall and our heads didn’t hit the pillow until 6am the next morning …
There is so much to cover from this years Nuit Blanche in Toronto. So much in fact that it’s best if you watch the video! But here are some of the highlights that we saw on our travels:
Zone A:
Stereoscope, City Hall
An amazing installation turning the windows of City Hall into a giant ping pong game and lighting canvas
Conversation #2, 900 Wellesley Street
12,000 books laid together to create a beautiful sculpture. The different coloured spines even created moasic images wrapped around the sculpture.
Zone B:
r u part of the art?
An interesting mobile installation - subscribe to a texting service and receive updates throughout the night with various things to do like sing the song from The Muppets (Menamena do do dee do do …). We didn’t see many other people doing it, but it was fun to randomly do stuff during the night.
Le Labo, Distillery
A very calming video/sound installation (for the first while we were there) at Le Labo or Le Laboratoire d’art - a “francophone media and integrated arts lab offering opportunities in production, training & showings.”
Higgs Ocean, Distillery
While they weren’t part of the ‘official’ Nuit Blanche schedule, this installation in one of the alleyways of the Distillery, was a highlight for us as it featured many elements from our youth - Lite Brite, a Big Bird lamp, and old films on video projectors! Unfortunately we couldn’t find any info on the group online - so if you guys see this posting, let us know where to find you!
Zone C:
Overflow, Liberty Village
A smaller scale installation by Michel de Broin of a waterfall coming out the window of a 3 storey building and crashing into discarded furniture on the ground.
Imagine Peace, Liberty St. & Jefferson Ave.
Yoko Ono continues to spread the message of peace with this installation. The public is given tags to write a wish on and the hang on the trees lining the street creating weeping willows of wishes, as it were.
4 days left until at 6:52pm on Saturday October 4th, Toronto awakens for an all night contemporary art thing called Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. If you haven’t been yet … where have you been!? For the past two years, the popularity of this phenomenal free chaotic art frenzy has exploded - hundreds of thousands of Torontonians take to the street and experience art in Toronto like never before.
For those of you who have never been, Katherine and I have put together a little guide - 7 tips on how to survive Nuit Blanche and make the most of your night.
We are prepping for an all night vlogging thing and we want you to be a part of it. We’ll be heading from Zone B to A to C on our bikes. If you want to join us along the way and be a part of our evening, email us at info@nightintoronto.com and we’ll let you know where we are. You can also send us some tips if you know of a great installation we should feature on TNIT!
After we catch up on our sleep, we’ll be posting a vlog from each zone so be sure to sign up to our RSS feed to see the results! Oh, and we’ll also be teaming up with our friends at Dear Toronto to do some cross vlogging - should be a lot of fun.
Katherine and I met at City Hall to check out what installation was in the Rotunda. We found a great piece from Vietnam - 300 (out of an original 1,303) painted lanterns by school children about how they viewed the country. Some of the paintings were amazing for such young children! The piece was only on for a few days, and we weren’t allowed to film it, but Katherine took some great photos!
Then it was out to Nathan Phillips Square to take a look at the art on the square. Some people might not know that we have a Henry Moore sculpture right there! And how many of us have taken the time to actually read about the Peace Garden (how many of you knew there WAS a Peace Garden)? From the City’s website:
The Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square consists of a simple cube with a pitched roof, an eternal flame, a pool and stone platform walls. The roof has a damaged appearance, which signifies conflict and evokes the theme of civilization’s frailty.
The eternal flame appears to support the structure, symbolizing the hope and regeneration of mankind.
Former Mayor Nathan Phillips presented the sundial located in the Peace Garden to the citizens of Toronto. It is inscribed with the words, “In appreciation of the opportunity to serve.”
The sundial, which was installed on Nathan Phillips Square in 1969, was designed by G.R. Johnson (in consultation with City Property Commissioner H.H. Rogers and architect John C. Parkin) and fabricated by F. Caruk, Master Welding Limited.
On March 5, 1984, during the City’s Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) celebrations, then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau turned the first sod for the Peace Garden’s construction.
In September of the same year, His Holiness Pope John Paul II lit the eternal flame with an ember from the Memorial for Peace in Hiroshima, Japan. The Holy Father poured a vial of water from the rivers that flow through Nagasaki into the pool.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II formally dedicated the Peace Garden in October, 1984.
Then it was off to the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre to see Avenue Q - but on our way over, we decided to investigate the flying Canadian Geese at the south entrance to the Eaton Centre. The piece, called Flight Stop, is by internationally renowned Toronto artist Michael Snow. This is another wonderful piece of art which many probably take for granted. But it’s a rather significant installation as there was some interesting controversy surrounding it.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat at Sushi Q in the Eaton Centre food court (to tie us over), we made our way over to the Elgin to pick up our tickets to Avenue Q. Before the show, we checked out another installation on the Palladian level of the Elgin by Theatre Museum Canada (yes! We have a theatre museum - it just doesn’t have a physical home … yet). They have some lovely costume and set designs on display at the moment. Make sure you check out what’s on display next time you’re there.
Here’s a quick peak at a song from Avenue Q:
It’s a hilarious show! We laughed and cried (from the pure joy of some of the songs). But then drama struck … you’ll have to watch the video to find out what kind of drama exactly …
Have you missed us Toronto?! While it seems like forever since we’ve been on the air (well, it does for us) - we’re back! Katherine has moved into her new abode in the West end and I’m … well, still here. I was in Montreal for a few days over the long weekend, but I digress.
Last night we took to Queen St. West to partake in this years Summerworks Festival. We began our night at the Gladstone Hotel with 7 mini shows (we saw 3 of them) - all of which are under 15 minutes max. The shows take place in some of the rooms on the 2nd floor of the Gladstone which makes for some very intimate and interesting theatre - definitely worth checking out, in my opinion. AND, it’s PWYC (Pay-What-You-Can) … so for only $5 you could go see some really great new Canadian work!
Our next stop took us to the Factory Theatre where we took in the opening performance of Until June by Jane Maggs - a gritty new work about the relationship between two sisters. A great performance by the cast and wonderful writing by the relatively new Maggs.
Starving, Katherine and I headed west along Queen and grabbed a bite to eat at one of our favourite restaurants - Fresh, by Juice for Life. We gobbled down some delicious vegetarian food before heading over to our final destination of the night - The Theatre Centre - to take in some music and talk to Michael Rubenfeld, the Artistic Producer of the Summerworks Festival.
New to the festival this year is the Music Series - nightly performances by some great indie artists in Toronto including Matthew Barber, The Bicycles, Claire Jenkins as well as the two performers we saw, Julie Fader and Peter Elkas. Both performed great sets which we enjoyed thorougly. Sarah Harmer even made an appearance playing drums for Julie and we saw Ron Sexsmith in the audience!
At about 12:50am, we decided to call it quits as we were both exhausted and full to the brim of culture! It was an excellent evening. And thankfully, you too can still check out some of Summerworks as it’s on until August 17 (this coming Sunday)! Check out their website for more information on upcoming events …
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