DISSONANT SPECIES – REVIEW OF 2025 PRODUCTION BY THEATRE GARGANTUA AT FACTORY THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

The title Dissonant Species may have the benefit of honesty, assuming it refers to humankind, and much of the music that we hear during the performance. It ends with the five performers screaming at the audience as loudly and harshly as they could for an inordinately long time.  I have no idea why.

In a program note, Theatre Gargantua states that “our productions explore compelling subjects and meld compelling physicality with striking designs underpinned by live original music.”

The musical begins with a soundwave floating in the air at the back of the playing area. There are numerous instruments on the walls and we are treated to a technical Music 101 lecture, talk of musical experiments and information about the beneficial effects of music. The lecture is technical and mostly incomprehensible. The talk of the structure of music is either technical, or difficult to follow, again, except perhaps to students of music.

We are told that exposing your fetus to music during pregnancy may help him/her with language learning. Music can be useful in retarding the effects of dementia. Indeed, the mother of one of the performers who is suffering from dementia responds to music and in her case, it is to the song “Over the Rainbow.” It was also the only recognizable piece that I heard. They mention Bach but do not play even a few bars of his music. They ignore classical music entirely and I am not sure what type of music they have in mind. But it is all original. 

The ensemble of Dissonant Species.Photo: Michael Cooper

The ensemble consists of Heather Marie Annis, Nicholas Eddie, Malia Rogers, Michael Gordon Spence and Hannah Sunley-Paisley.

In one segment. Michael Gordon Spence, the senior musician of the ensemble, we see him address the students in a disastrous lecture. Then we see hum having a nightmare where he is attacked by his students.

One of the  students/players is pregnant and there are two young women and in one segment we Nicholas Eddie as an obnoxious young man.

The cast engaged in some gymnastics and it may have been intended as some kind of dance routine. They wore white lab coats for the Experiment scenes and I got very little of the jargon that they were using.

The play is written by Heather Marie Annis and Michael Gordon Spence, no doubt for knowledgeable musicians, and they want to show us their musical learning and talent. Spence also designed the set. The sound designers and original compositions are by Christopher-Elizabeth and Richard Lam with additional original compositions by The Ensemble and Heidi Chan.   

The play is directed by Jacquie P.A. Thomas, the founder and artistic director of Theatre Gargantua.

Music majors will no doubt get a lot more out of the show than I did. For hoi polloi like me, it is not a very good night at the theatre.
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DISSONANT SPECIES by Heather Marie Annis and Michael Gordon Spence, in a production by Theatre Gargantua, opened on November 7 and will run until November 23, 2025, at the Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario. www.factorytheatre.ca.

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press, Toronto

THE COMEUPPANCE – REVIEW OF 2025 PRODUCTION BY SOULPEPPER

Reviewed by James Karas

The Comeuppance by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is about four high school friends, classmates gathered for a pre-reunion event twenty years after graduation. As may be expected there is a great deal of emotional turmoil, revelations and anguish, as they recall experiences from the past and actions in the present as they meet in the house of a classmate in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The five characters are Ursula (Ghazal Azarbad), a woman who is diabetic and as a result  has lost the sight of one eye and wears a patch. The play is set  in front of her small and unprepossessing house. Emilio (Mazin Elsadig), apparently a successful artist who is living in Europe. He has a child in Berlin. Kristina (Bahia Watson) is an anesthetist with a drinking problem and is coming to the reunion with Francisco (Carlos Gonzales-Vio) who is not part of the high school friends. Kristina dated Emilio in high school.  Francisco (also called Paco) has serious PTSD after serving in Afghanistan. Catlin (Nicole Power) is a motormouth who peppers her sentences with “like”. (Many of them do with liberal use of the f word.) She has no children but has had five miscarriages as opposed to Kristina who has children.

The most important character is probably Death. It opens the play with many names that meant nothing to me. Death speaks through the other characters. The lights dim and we see the skull of a character and hear Death speak through him or her. The facts about Caitlin’s miscarriages, for example, are related by Death whereas she wants us to believe  that she simply did not have any children.

(L to R): Bahia Watson, Mazin Elsadig, Nicole Power, 
Ghazal Azarbad, Carlos Gonzalez-Vio. Photo by Dahlia Katz.

Death speaks through Ursula and describes her birth and how her mother died shortly after she was born. She fell and hit her head on a radiator and bled profusely. Her husband left her fearing he may never be able to look after his daughter. As a result, Ursula was raised by her grandmother who suffered a horrible death from cancer.

Simon is a character that is often mentioned and anticipated to show up but never does. He answers his phone near the end of the play and speaks with the confrontational Emilio (who does not go to the reunion) but his conversation is interrupted.

The play is densely written, almost too densely as we go through memories and recollections of the past. Some recollections are false and there are so many happenings that I found it difficult to keep track of them. They all have lived through the traumatic and dramatic events of the last twenty years,  2002-2022. 9/11, the Columbine massacre, abortion, reversal of Roe v.Wade. Covid-19, Trump and war, war, war. These were terrible events but they applied to everyone. The friends are all fundamentally failures and that is the result of the choices that they made in their lives and not the historical events that they lived through.

The set by Shannon Lea Doyle shows the porch and front of Ursula’s house with an American flag displayed prominently. The lighting by Jason Hand deals with the tricky changes from individual characters to Death who emerges to speak with changes in lighting. Very well done.

Director Frank Cox-O’Connell has to deal with a complex and dense play with complex relationships and long speeches. He directs an experienced cast with superb results.

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The Comeuppance by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, in a production by Soulpepper, continues until November 23, 2025, in the Michael Young Theatre at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 50 Tank House Lane. Toronto, Ontario. www.soulpepper.ca

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press

CHILD-ish – REVIEW OF 2025 TARRAGON THEATRE PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

CHILD-ish is an interesting method of theatre making. Sunny Drake as the writer and creator of the play tells us in a note in the program that she interviewed 41 children between the ages of 5 and 12 and used the materials collected to form it into a play. You can see it at the Tarragon Theatre, Toronto.

There are five actors on stage (Karl Ang, Jannelle Cooper, Monique Mojica, Jordan Pettle and Asher Rose). Rose takes on the role of the interviewer (i.e. Drake) of the children. He and the other actors perform the words of the children without pretending to imitate them. They do jump up and down like chickens but it is an exception to the rule.

The actors take us thematically through the experiences of children as gleaned by Drake. They go from love to mental health and desire to commit suicide. Some of the comments are mundane, others are moving  and many are interesting. 

Jordan Pettle, Janelle Cooper, Karl Ang, Asher Rose 

and Monique Mojica. Photo: Jae Yang 

Near the end of the 65-minute show we are asked to speak to our neighbor and become a questioner and an interviewee. Using questions posted for us on a screen, a young lady on my right asked me about my favorite stuffy and I had to reply that I don’t know what a stuffy is. What are they anyway? Then she asked me about dragons (I am not sure if I had to identify my favorite dragons) and again I had to reply that I knew nothing specific about dragons to give an answer.

At the end of the show about half a dozen youngsters, apparently from the 41 who were interviewed, streamed onto the stage making some happy noises and playing with stuffed pillows and furniture. I could not make out what they were saying but they seemed like rambunctious and happy children. 

Jordan Pettle, Janelle Cooper and Monica Mojica. Photo: Jae Yang

A long time ago Art Linkletter interviewed children on television with hilarious results. He spoke with children, who spoke like children and gave spontaneous replies that were frequently unexpected and funny. Example: What did your mother tell you not to say? Children speak differently from adults and vice versa and we did not get the intonation, hesitation or exuberance of children answering questions. The adult actors provided none of the pleasures of listening to kids.

Putting the play together obviously took a lot of work and the production has the full panoply of behind-the-scenes people. Amanda Wong is the set designer, Ming Wong is the costume designer, Andre du Toit is the lighting designer, Brian Quirt is the dramaturg, Laura Warren is the projection designer, Jessica Greenberg is the Director of Child and Youth Engagement. Unfortunately, the production left me cold. You may enjoy it far more than I did.

CHILD-ish by Sunny Drake, writer and creator, directed by Andrea Donaldson runs November 16, 2025 at the Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave. Toronto, Ontario.  www.tarragontheatre.com

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Geek Press, Toronto

THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON – REVIEW OF 2025 ROBERT LEPAGE PLAY AT BLUMA APPEL THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas 

When you hear about a play written and directed by Robert Lepage, you tighten your belt, snap at attention and prepare for some inventive, original and perhaps out of the world theatrical experience. Like me, you may not get everything but you may get a great deal of the art of a genius at work. The Far Side of the Moon has all these factors in its production by Lepage’s company Ex Machina at the Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto.

The Far Side works on several levels, with generous use of projections, slides and stage effects that dazzle. On one level it is the story of the space race between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. during the heady days after World War II. The communist Russians and the capitalist Americans were racing to outdo each other with rockets and the competition to explore space and land a man on the moon.

The other story is about two Quebecois brothers who do no get along. Phillippe and Andre are both played by Olivier Normand as are all the other characters in the play.

The following program note is worth quoting as a guide to the play: “Set against the Cold War's fierce U.S.-Soviet rivalry, this gripping story explores the personal and political turmoil of an era defined by global tension with a uniquely Canadian perspective. Through the tale of two Quebec City brothers, Lepage's stunning use of multimedia and visual storytelling draws the audience into a world on the brink of change and portrays the impact of global conflict on the individual.”

First task is to give recognition, kudos and admiration to Olivier Normand for his bravura acting. He plays Philippe and Andre, the two brothers, who are very different and do not get along. Philippe seems to be getting nowhere with his life. He is hesitant, uncertain of himself and slow of speech. He is interested in extra-terrestrial life but has also tried teaching and telemarketing. He is working on a doctorate and trying to make a video of life on our planet to be sent in orbit in the hopes of beings of another part of the universe  may be able to see life on earth. Andre is a brash, self-assured TV personality.    

Scene from The Far Side of the Moon. Photo: Li Wang,

courtesy of Shanghai Jing_an Theatre Festival

The only other player on stage is a puppet handled by Eric LeBlanc and we hear Normand Bissonette and Martine Rochon as the voices of the Host. There are more than half a dozen people behind the scenes assisting with the performance. We see them taking a bow at the end of the play. You will see the tiny cosmonaut puppy several time including a scene where it is led by the mother of our two protagonists.

The far side of the moon is of particular interest because the Russians explore it first and it now carries the names of Russian cosmonauts along with those of other historical figures. It is not American.

The opening scene features the inside of a washer and dryer. In the imagination of Lepage, they are metamorphosed into numerous machines such as a space capsule, the inside of an airplane and other mind-bending objects. A simple ironing board is transformed into a bicycle, a motorcycle, and various exercise machines in a sheer display of Lepage’s brilliant imagination. And The Far Side of the Moon never fails to display that.

The play does move towards reconciliation of the brothers and cooperation between the Americans and the Russians in saving a problematic space mission. But that tells you almost nothing about  the complex, poetic, multi-disciplinary theatre that Lepage creates. I admit to being confused at times and I am probably not doing justice to the production. The only solution is to see it yourself.   
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THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON, written and directed by Robert Lepage, produced by Ex Machina, and presented by Canadian Stage, continues until November 16, 2925, at the Bluma Appel Theatre. St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario. www.canadianstage.com

THE MIKADO REVISITED - REVIEW OF 2025 TORONTO OPERETTA THEATRE PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas

                                     If you want to know who we are,  
                                    We are gentlemen of Burlington

What civilized lady or gentleman would not recognize the lilting melody and the opening lines of the Chorus of Nobles in The Mikado? Oh, you noticed that the last word is not Japan but Burlington. Not Burlington, Vermont but Burlington, Ontario. And those nobles did not make a wrong turn on Highway 401 from Gilbert and Sullivan’s libretto and landed in Canada but did it at the behest of Guillermo Silva-Marin, the General Director of Toronto Operetta Theatre.

The Mikado is all about Victorian England and it satirizes English society and politics in the 1880’s. It is a sheer delight as written and it allows for interpolation and comments on current events wherever it is produced. Silva-Marin has transported it to Canada while staying faithful to the original music and makes some changes of names and giving it a modern-dress (sort of) production.

I will give Silva-Marin’s names for the characters and their original names. We meet Nanki Blue (Marcus Tranquilli), a nice Canadian boy who used to be called Nanki-Poo. He is  traveling minstrel madly in love with  Yum-Yum (Madeline Cooper) whose name tells you everything and it cannot be improved upon. Unfortunately, she is engaged to Sir Arthur Boborian (the inimitable Gregory Finney) also known as Ko-ko who was a poor tailor but was promoted to the post of Lord High Executioner of Burlington.

Ranking above Borborian is Lord Arthur Blimp (Handaya Rusli) who is Lord High Everything Else formerly known as Pooh-Bah. The chief honcho of the the place, make that the Prime Minister is Sir Arthur Blarney ( Stuart Graham) formerly known as The Mikado. You also need to keep in mind Katty Kat (Karen Bojti), a Dowager Duchess betrothed to Nanki and formerly known as Katisha. 

A Canadian scene from The Mikado Revisited. 

Toronto Operetta Theatre

There are some peculiar laws in Burlington. If you are caught flirting without being married, you will be condemned to death. If you are condemned to death, the lady with whom you committed the crime, will be buried alive with you.

Part of the fun of The Mikado is the opportunity to poke fun at current personalities. Silva-Marin takes advantage of that with references to current famous people. having set the opera in Canada I was hoping for more but what he included worked.

The production has the virtues of enthusiasm, energy and vigor. It is obvious that Silva-Marin stages the production on a financial shoestring. The singing is at least decent and some of the vocals are good. The orchestra of nine instrumentalists plus conductor Narmina Afandiyeva do their best. There are five strings, an oboe, clarinet, trumpet and percussion. The trumpet was played on a stentorian level at times.

Setting the operetta in Canada is laudable and including more satire and names on the list, as the song says, would have been delightful. Silva-Marin explains in the program that he did it because of the challenge of the arts through the issues of cultural appropriation, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies recommended by government agencies and foundations. There is truth in that and a laudable goal to be achieved. But in a production of The Mikado? Whom are we including? Canada, Burlington, Japan, 19^th century London? Are we afraid that the Japanese may complain that  the TOT has fallen astray in Equity. Diversity and Inclusion in a production of an operetta that pokes fun at English society and everything that a director can add to it? Has anyone complained about it or is this simply bending the knee to imagined or imaginary political correctness?

If we go that road, would anyone dare produce any play from Ancient Greece, to Shakespeare, to almost anything. Are we going to move Oedipus to Hamilton because what he does is so offensive to the Greeks? And what about the position of women, the gods and the treatment of non-Greeks?

Once again, I salute Silva-Marin for keeping operetta alive in Toronto. Sometimes it looks almost miraculous that he is able to keep productions coming. From December 30, 2025, to January 4, 2026, TOT is producing The Czardas Princess by Emmerich Kalman.

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The Mikado Revisited  by Arthur Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert was performed on October 24, 25 and 26, 2025 at the Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario. Tel:  (416) 922-2912. www.torontooperetta.com

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press, Toronto

LA SONNAMBULA – REVIEW OF 2025 TRANSMISSION LIVE IN HD FROM THE MET

Reviewed by James Karas

The Met Live in HD is back with nine operas to be streamed by the Metropolitan Opera from New York’s Lincoln Center to a movie theatre near you. The opening production is Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula that was shown on October 18, 2025,  to be followed by La Boheme on November 8, 2025.

It is a new production directed by tenor Rolando Villazon. There are some eyebrow-raisers but overall, it is a stunning production. It follows the 2009 production by Mary Zimmerman which was roundly booed because of her setting the opera in New York as if it were being rehearsed. The singing was outstanding with Natalie Dessay and Juan Dieo Florez in the lead roles but that did not discourage the pronounced disapproval of the audience.

The plot of La Sonnambula is thin and silly but Bellin’s music and bel canto arias raise it to a level of its own in the repertoire. We are in a Swiss village in the past and Amina and Elvino are in love and about to get married tomorrow. Count Rodolfo, a perfect gentleman, arrives in the village and Amina sleepwalks into his room and is found wearing his robe. The conservative villagers go into shock and Elvino goes into an apoplexy of jealousy. The wedding is off and the villagers turn on Amina.

Several scenes later and a lot of gorgeous singing, Amina’s innocence is established and she and Elvino get married and live happily ever after.  

La Sonnambula is a bel canto opera which means that it makes extraordinary demands on the singers. They must sing beautifully, of course, and be able to reach high notes and go to low notes effortlessly. The vocal beaty must be pronounced and it is a style of singing that few singers can accomplish.

 Deborah Nansteel as Teresa, Nadine Sierra as Amina, 

Nicholas Newton as Alessio, and Sydney Mancasola as Lisa 

in Bellini's "La Sonnambula." Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

This production has singers that meet and surpass those criteria. Soprano Nadine Sierra sings Amina, the sleepwalker, who goes from bliss to despair on being accused of infidelity. She has a surpassingly beautiful voice and can reach the highest soprano notes and sing with sustained emotion be it of joy or pain. Her tone, her expression and the beauty of her singing place her in the highest category of sopranos. A thrilling performance.

Tenor Xabier Anduaga is the ardent lover Elvino who goes into a fit of jealousy at the thought that Amina spent time in Count Rodolfo’s room. He has a supple voice that combines beauty and flexibility, allowing him to sing gorgeously and appear to be doing it effortlessly. Sierra and Anduaga have some magnificent duets that make you forget the silliness of the plot.

Bass Alexander Vinogradov sings the role of Count Rodolfo, an impeccably dressed and mannered aristocrat. He sings with beautiful sonority and being a man of integrity saves Amina’s reputation. He is a pleasure to watch and hear.

Villazon added a solo dancer to the production. Niara Hardister, dressed in ethereal white, appears most of the time on the upper tier or roof of the two-tier set and she could be Amina’s alter ego or sleeping self which means I have no idea what she is doing in the opera.

The set by designer Johannes Leiacker shows a white-painted main stage area with doors in the back and a white roof above it. the roof is covered with snow and beyond we see a dramatic view of the Alps. That part of the background changes to dark and threatening clouds and with projections of designer Renaud Rubiano we get a dramatic set for the production.

Interestingly Rodolfo, Elvino and the dancer descend to the main stage area from the roof using a ladder.

This is a superb production of the opera despite the several quirks that Villazon has added to it. The thin plot is subject to some very odd interpretations and interpolations but Villazon has resisted such directorial self-indulgence and gives us a marvelous production.

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La Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini was shown Live in HD from the Metropolitan Opera at select Cineplex theatres across Canada on October 18, 2025. There will be an encore showing on November 1, 2025. For more information including dates for reprises go to: www.cineplex.com/events

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press, Toronto

BREMEN TOWN – REVIEW OF 2025 TARRAGON THEATRE PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Bremen Town is a new play by Gregry Prest now playing at Tarragon Theatre. The town is the destination of some travelers and the play may more appropriately be called the The Adventures on the Road to Bremen but Mr. Prest did not consult me on the title and we have to settle for his choice.

The play is very loosely based on The Bremen Town Musicians, a folk tale by the Brothers Grimm about mistreated animals. They go to Bremen to  become musicians as a way of making a living. Prest has animals in his play but people are trying to go to Bremen.

Frau Esel (Nancy Palk) was a housekeeper and was unceremoniously dismissed after 45 years of service. She decides to go to Bremen Town to live with her estranged son who is a clarinet player in a local orchestra. She tries to get on a train but is told that the train is not in service.

The information comes from Caspar Hund (Oliver Dennis), an elderly man who makes a living as a magician and street entertainer. He is not good at it and when he tries to make a girl disappear, he ends up beating her. Frau Esel hires him to lead her to Bremen on foot. It is a long journey and they will meet many people and have numerous adventures on the way in a play that lasts about ninety minutes.

The other characters are the elderly Herr Katze (William Webster) and his old sister Frau Sophia Henne (Sheila McCarthy).

Nancy Palk as Frau Esel in Bremen Town 

Vogel (Tatjana Cornij) opens the play with a song and plays the accordion frequently. She addresses the audience directly as our host and provides an obligato on her accordion.

There are also three players described as Young Actor 1 (Dan Mousseau), Young Actor 2 (Veronica Hortiguela) and Young Actor 3 (Farhang Ghajar). They play the dozens of people that the other characters meet on the journey to Bremen. Like Odysseus’s return to his home this return to Ithaca will be full of adventure and full of discovery with an uncertain result.

Frau Esel meets Herr Hund in Hanover. As I said, he is a fraudster as a magician and beats up a child and in turn he gets a sound thrashing from the townspeople. On to Bremen on foot.

On the road, they meet someone carrying a monkey in a cage. Hund buys the monkey which happens to be dead. Then they meet Herr Katze in the wilderness. In a scene that could be from Waiting for Godot, he explains that he just buried his wife and child and the field where he is standing is where his village was and that all the inhabitants are dead. He joins the travelers.

A bear and its owner appear and it seems obvious that the animal is mistreated.

Frau Henne (Sheila McCarthy) is pulled on stage by a rope, her hands tied, by her adult children and it seems she is worse off than the bear. Her children try to sell Frau Henne by auction and get only a button for her from Frau Esel. Frau Henne joins the other 3 travelers.

Frau Esel finds her companions unpleasant and leaves them in the forest. She finds a woman tied up in a bag and releases her. She turns out to have been Frau Esel’s replacement at her former job. Frau Esel is joined by her three former companions. They join a kite festival where they see the bear and its owner. He beats the bear when it disobeys and finally shoots it.

Frau Esel leaves all her fellow travelers behind and makes it to Bremen. Bremen, like Ithaca, does not have much to offer Frau Esel and the journey is over. I will not disclose the ending.

Bremen Town is obviously a folk tale and Prest has placed it in Germany in the 19^th century. There are trains but no other form of transportation available and the travelers go through several towns that exist more in the imagination than in reality even if one can locate Hanover and Bremen on the map.

As with most good folk tales, what it’s about is largely in the imagination of the reader/viewer. The mistreatment of animals like the money and the bear is an obvious message but what are we to make of the presence of the white dove that we see many times? The mistreatment of people from beatings to the sale of a mother by her children as if she were an animal?

Prest adds accordion music composed and played by Tatjana Cornij that we hear while the characters speak. Cornij as Vogel is also our host or perhaps the chorus if we want to go back to Ancient Greek drama.

The eight actors, five playing named characters and three playing the numerous other parts do superb work under the direction of Prest.

Like any good folk story, Bremen Town takes you in as a simple tale and then leaves you pondering about all the things it can be about beneath the surface.     

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Bremen Town by Gregory Prest continues until October 26, 2025, at the Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave. Toronto, Ontario.  www.tarragontheatre.com

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press, Toronto