Drama Archives - Queen's Journal

Mr. Burns shines unconventionally and unapologetically

Written on March 6, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play is an amalgamation of confusion and catastrophe that illustrates the importance of stories in a post-apocalyptic world. The play is the second of two “major” productions put on each year by the Dan School of Drama, and was performed at the Isabel Bader Centre on Wednesday,...

The King's Town Players take on The Odd Couple, Female Version

Written on January 28, 2020. Posted in Arts.

With its raunchy comedy and themes of dysfunctional friendship, The Odd Couple, Female Version delights audience. The King’s Town Players’ own production of The Odd Couple opened at the Kingston Yacht Club on Jan. 23,and will be playing every weekend until Feb. 8. The Odd Couple, Female Version tells...

Review: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof hits production snags

Written on January 21, 2019. Posted in Arts.

Leaving the house in the middle of a snowstorm isn’t the most enticing idea. On Saturday evening, a committed audience did just that, venturing to Portsmouth to see Domino Theatre’s opening weekend production of Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. While the play is supposedly one of William’s...

Transference and the art of randomized storytelling

Written on January 19, 2018. Posted in Arts.

Transference challenges the notion that rehearsal is necessary to put on a successful show. Slotted across three performances with four different actors per show, the self-described experimental theatre project seems like a paradox: it’s a carefully controlled environment for spontaneity. This experiment...

Transference takes the stage

Written on March 3, 2017. Posted in Arts.

When I walked into a room of around 25 people in Theological Hall, it became clear that the first performance of Transference was going to be a very intimate experience. The producers, Scott Forster, ArtSci ’16, and Andreea Ionescu, ConEd ’17, who’ve paradoxically forfeited all control over their...

It's the end of the world as we know it

Written on February 16, 2017. Posted in Arts.

After the year of 2016, it may come as no surprise that a play about the end of the world is now playing at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. Written and directed by Kat Sandler, ArtSci ’08, The End of the World Club (TEWC) features an ensemble cast of students from the Dan School...

Drama queen and comedy machine

Written on February 3, 2017. Posted in Arts.

“Nothing kills me more than when people make art that doesn’t really say anything. I’m just like ‘bye’,” Rachel Manson, ArtSci ’17, said in an interview with The Journal. Amen. The first three things you need to know about Manson are that first, she’s an improv master, second, she swears like a sailor,...

Open forum addresses cancellation of Othello

Written on November 18, 2016. Posted in Arts.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Dan School of Drama and Music hosted just fewer than 200 students and faculty members in an open forum in Convocation Hall regarding Queen’s Vagabond’s cancellation of their Othello production. Originally set to open this month, Queen’s Vagabond’s production of Othello was...

Othello warrants conversation, not retaliation

Written on November 11, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Queen’s Vagabond’s artistic choice left students of colour in the dark and it’s a decision that can’t be ignored. Student theatre company Queen’s Vagabond released a statement last week announcing the suspension of their production of Shakespeare’s Othello. The decision follows a torrent of backlash...

The Servant of Two Masters serves up laughter and love

Written on November 4, 2016. Posted in Arts.

On Thursday, the Dan School of Drama and Music opened their fall major, The Servant of Two Masters. With a talented cast plucked from the newly-renamed school, the audience was transported back to eighteenth century Venice for a hilarious exploration of marriage, love and making a quick buck. Originally...

Queer Ecologies: Breaking down walls

Written on September 30, 2016. Posted in Arts.

On Saturday, Toronto-based artist, performer and researcher Alvis Choi, otherwise known as Alvis Parsley, delivered a bewildering yet brave piece of theatre to an intimate crowd of 25 people at the Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts. The performance was part of a two-day performing arts event...

To be or not to be

Written on September 23, 2016. Posted in Arts.

Shakespeare is irreplaceable vs. Time to shake things up Shakespeare is irreplaceable Clayton Tomlinson, Contributor William Shakespeare is the pinnacle of achievement in English drama and is widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of the English language. His plays...

Curtains raised on new musical theatre program

Written on September 23, 2016. Posted in News.

Every day, music echoes through the halls of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. On Thursday though, voices were raised to celebrate a new, multi-institutional program. Queen’s and St. Lawrence College (SLC) announced on Sept. 22 that the two institutions have collaborated to create...

Are you there, Queen’s theatre? It’s me, Nina.

Written on March 31, 2016. Posted in Arts.

Last year, I was given the opportunity to see a play to review it for an arts magazine on campus. The play was decent. Nothing too rave-worthy and nothing too disparagingly bad. It was typical and unsurprising. In my review, I wrote about the good and the bad, and came to the conclusion that...

Students struggle to access Isabel

Written on March 24, 2016. Posted in News.

Students attempting to use spaces at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts often face large fees — at times hundreds of dollars — despite the centre’s mandate to enhance students’ skills in the arts. The Isabel was intended as a learning space to foster the creativity of students in fine...

A one-woman show

Written on February 2, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

Ruth Oketch has the kind of infectious smile that makes it almost impossible not to smile back. Though only in second year, she appears confident and self-assured, and has already achieved a great deal of success in a number of campus plays and musicals. Read more at QJLongform.com.

Student actor and playwright sets the stage for a prolific career in theatre

Written on January 12, 2016. Posted in Arts.

There aren’t many Queen’s students who can rightfully call themselves professional theatre artists, and although Sean Meldrum doesn’t always admit to it, he’s one of the few. Now in his final year at Queen’s, Meldrum is both an actor and a playwright. He’s been cast in Canadian playwright Judith Thompson’s...

Re:Vers-ing sexual relationship norms

Written on October 20, 2015. Posted in Arts.

Amidst the hot summer months, a handful of Queen’s students banded together to start a riot — more specifically, the Riot Theatre company. Riot Theatre, a workshop-focused theatre company that produces student-written pieces — poetry, plays, storytelling or other creative pieces — opened their first...

SparQ Labs replace Gordon Vogt Studio Theatre

Written on September 29, 2015. Posted in News.

By October 15, what was once the Gordon Vogt Studio Theatre will become the site of the new SparQ Labs. In 2002, the space was dedicated to Gordon Vogt, a Queen’s graduate in the Class of ’70, who died prematurely due to cancer on July 10, 1985. He was 37 years old. The first-floor Carruthers Hall...

Eclectic comedy troupe returns to Queen’s

Written on September 29, 2015. Posted in Arts.

The award-winning sketch comedy troupe She Said What paid a visit to their alma mater last week. The four Queen’s alumni that make up the troupe, Megan MacKeigan, Marni Van Dyk, Emma Hunter and Carly Heffernan, are all ArtSci ’07. Through sketch comedy, She Said What takes controversial and sensitive...

Book review: Adult Onset

Written on October 3, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

What happens over the course of a week? You tidy the kitchen, play with your dog, call your mom. But even in an uneventful week — grocery shopping, laundry, maybe lunch with a friend — one’s entire universe may shift. Best-selling Canadian author Ann Marie MacDonald’s latest work Adult Onset is the...

Honesty on stage

Written on January 24, 2014. Posted in Arts.

Vogt’s own brand of light-hearted comedy shines in their second installment of the year, Vogt Biographies. The production is comprised of a series of intimate biographies dealing with love, finding yourself and fighting against expectations. These four one-act plays, Voice of an Angel, Shaifta, The...

Fashion movies to revisit: Coco Before Chanel

Written on October 9, 2013. Posted in Lifestyle.

Many may mythologize the powerhouse figure behind the Chanel brand, yet, the 2009 film Coco Before Chanel brings an iconic designer, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel into the public arena, as a real person bounding with human vulnerabilities and high aspirations. Directed and co-written by Anne Fontaine,...

Students tackle Shakespeare

Written on May 27, 2013. Posted in Arts.

It only takes 20 minutes to understand how much Jackie Omstead loves her job. Omstead, ArtSci ’14, is one of five Queen’s drama students who make up the Barefoot Players, a summer theatre company and day camp for children, based out of the Vogt Studios in Carruthers Hall. As one of two returning...

QJBlogs Movie Recommendations: Part One

Written on February 13, 2013. Posted in Lifestyle.

By Trilby Goouch Blogs Editor We’re bringing you some of our favourite movie picks and recommendations based on what we’ve been watching over the past few weeks; whether you’re into white collar crime, romcoms or court-room thrillers, we’ve got 10 recommendations (both old and new) to see you...

Professor wins award

Written on September 16, 2011. Posted in News.

A lifetime achievement award for professor Larry O’Farrell is the culmination of four decades of work in the dramatic arts at Queen’s. O’Farrell, a professor in the Faculty of Education, said the award is humbling. “After I was told I was receiving it, I looked up some of the people who had received...

Tag: Drama