Theatre Archives - Queen's Journal

New student-run theatre company arrives at Queen’s

Written on January 25, 2022. Posted in Arts, Theatre.

In 2021, Queen’s formed student-run theatre company The Dan Exposition Series (DES), supported by the Dan School of Drama and Music. Serena Ferzli, ArtSci ’22 and creative director of DES, spoke with The Journal about creating an accessible theatre space. “I was trying to find a middle ground that...

Confessions of a closeted theatre kid

Written on November 5, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle.

It’s rare for me to tell people I love theatre. Only the people who really know and understand me are privy to my love for the stage—especially because when it does come up in conversation, I’m often hit with the awkward laugh-and-nod combination. Maybe it’s because the phrase “theatre kid” evokes...

‘Hadestown’ is well worth the trip

Written on October 29, 2021. Posted in Arts, Theatre.

Hadestown is a musical that first took Broadway by storm in 2019. All the songs featured in Hadestown were adapted from the concept album of the same name, written and performed by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. Since the release of Mitchell’s album in 2010, the source material has been adapted...

‘Tin-ja’ delivers a feel-good experience for theatre lovers of all ages

Written on September 2, 2021. Posted in Arts, Theatre.

Kingston’s Kick and Push Festival featured a heartwarming interactive installation called Tin-jathat ran in City Park from Aug. 25 to 28. Written and directed by Brendon Allen, Tin-ja centers around a stressed father who’s been busy with work during these difficult pandemic times. Kingston-born actor...

Commentary: Theatre and film are increasingly merging mediums

Written on September 18, 2020. Posted in Arts.

As COVID-19 forces theatre companies around the world to innovate and adapt to a new virtual forum, the lines between theatre and film continue to blur. For some critics, this means losing the aspects of theatre which make it such a moving art form. “Streaming and recording has been a gigantic ad...

Queen's Players decide to cancel winter show

Written on March 20, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Queen’s Players’ winter sketch comedy show, The Tonight Showhemian Rhapsody: An Evenin’ wif the Big Fab Woolf, was set to open this Wednesday, March 18. As their last show of the year, it was meant to be a final send-off for the cast and crew that had devoted hours to producing it over the course...

Dan Studio Series switches it up with Lost & Found

Written on March 20, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Lost & Found helped audiences forget their troubles last week through lighthearted humour and extraordinary creativity. The Dan Studio Series—a student-run theatre company—performed the student play collection Lost & Found at the Rotunda Theatre in Theological Hall on March 12, 13, and 14. Queen’s...

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 poster who became a meme: a week-long saga

Written on November 16, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

Over the past week, David Vassos, ArtSci ’20, has garnered campus-wide attention for posting a series of memes in Overheard at Queen’s, a Facebook group with over 30,000 members. Although the posts ultimately led to his removal from the group, Vassos used the attention to stage an absurdist play on...

Stage thriller Butcher delves into the aftermath of tragedy

Written on October 30, 2018. Posted in Arts, Theatre.

In his new stage thriller Butcher, playwright Nicolas Billon asks how we can balance peace and justice. Butcher, running from Oct. 26 to Nov. 11 at the Grand Theatre, follows a police officer, a lawyer, and a translator as they confront their individual connections to an Eastern European genocide...

Albert Schultz’s return a loss for Canadian theatre

Written on October 24, 2018. Posted in Arts, Theatre.

In January of 2018, Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente proclaimed Albert Schultz will “never work in this town again—or, for that matter, in any theatre anywhere in Canada.” Wente’s prediction has been proven false: former Soulpepper co-founder Schultz and his wife, Leslie Lester, mark their...

Swapping gender in Shakespeare

Written on June 25, 2018. Posted in Arts.

On June 7, the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning hosted a production of Shakespeare’s Henry V that put a twist on the original. Created by The Edge Productions, the play was set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic war and the cast was entirely composed of women. Having a traditionally male-dominated...

Why #MeToo matters for Canadian theatre

Written on January 18, 2018. Posted in Arts.

It’s the age of reckoning for sexual predators in the arts. When the first few accusations came out, I was stunned. As more and more women stepped forward, I became resigned. Then one of my favourite artists was accused of being a sexual predator and I was crushed. My immediate — and shameful —...

The case for colour conscious casting

Written on October 4, 2017. Posted in Arts.

Colour-blind casting describes the practice of holding auditions while avoiding consideration of the race or skin colour of the actors, instead focusing on their talent and experience. This method sounds like a way to establish a more even playing ground, but it presents a few problems. Firstly,...

The Revolutions breaks ground in the world of theatre

Written on September 19, 2017. Posted in Arts.

When I entered Studio Theatre at the Isabel Bader Centre on Thursday, it was like walking into someone else’s home. Three actors sat at a table, sipping wine and making idle dinner conversation, while the audience found their seats. The show began and, under the warm stage lighting, the improvised...

Get your head in the game with Monday Nights

Written on August 25, 2017. Posted in Arts.

I tend to think the theatre’s a safe place, so you can understand my surprise when I heard, “This is a real, theatrical basketball experience with real, theatrical basketballs, so let’s make sure you protect your beautiful faces and be safe,” announced to the audience prior to a performance. “What...

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...

Review: Where the Universe Sings

Written on February 14, 2017. Posted in Arts.

When I walked through the familiar doors of The Screening Room’s theatre, I wasn’t expecting to be the youngest person in the room by at least 30 years. In the midst of this mature crowd, I took my seat for the film we’d all gathered to witness, Where the Universe Sings: The Spiritual Journey of Lawren...

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,...

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...

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...

Staging gruesome with grace

Written on March 24, 2016. Posted in Arts.

Gruesome Playground Injuries, a commonplacetheatre production, provides an in-depth look at pain and the ways it strengthens human connections. Written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Rajiv Joseph, Gruesome Playground Injuries tells the story of two unlikely friends. Doug, played by Zach Closs,...

Theatre technicians, not theatre rejects

Written on January 29, 2016. Posted in Arts.

Technicians are all failed actors — or at least that’s what I keep hearing. There’s an idea that acting is the be-all and end-all of the film and theatre industry. But while acting can lead to a fulfilling career, I don’t want to be one. Technicians and designers are just as important as the actors,...

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...

Give art a chance

Written on March 20, 2015. Posted in Opinions.

Ciarán Meyer, ArtSci ‘15 There are a ton of phenomenal film and theatre opportunities coming out of Queen’s these days — but it’s up to students to get involved and value the arts community. As a film major at Queen’s, I’ve been heavily invested in the film scene here in Kingston over the past four...

Gatsby’s Legacy

Written on March 13, 2015. Posted in Arts.

Colliding Scopes Theatre presents twisting and turning storylines and plenty of intrigue within Legacy, a freely-adapted sequel to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby. The hour-long production — a twist from the classic novel — centres on the mystery behind Gatsby’s inheritance, all of which has...

Dramatic reality

Written on November 27, 2014. Posted in Arts.

Lights out. Rolls and crashes of thunder ensue. Theatre Kingston takes New York Broadway original, the transcending playwright Venus in Fur, David Ives’ story of alluring sexuality into a theme for the modern day society in thinking about our own privileges. Venus in Fur, inspired by the infamous...

Phantomwise: the story behind the story

Written on November 21, 2014. Posted in Arts.

With the enchanting set of all white drapery and girls twirling around 18th-century ball gowns, it was easy to for the audience to get lost in the magical world of Alice in 5th Company Lane’s production of Phantomwise. Themes of coming of age, relationships and a world of fantasy versus reality, this...

A family affair

Written on September 19, 2014. Posted in Arts.

After its first performance in Chicago in 2007, Tracy Lett’s August: Osage County has made its way to Broadway and to theatres all across the world. Now it’s at the Theological Hall’s Rotunda Theatre. August: Osage County is the highly realistic story of a simple American family learning to cope with...

Tag: Theatre

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