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Members of the North American touring company of 'MJ.' iPhoto caption: Members of the North American touring company of 'MJ.' Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Review of MJ: The Musical among winners at the 2025 Nathan Cohen Awards

The Canadian Theatre Critics Association has announced the winners of the 2025 Nathan Cohen Awards for Excellence in Critical Writing. This year’s prizes for outstanding review and critical essay were adjudicated by Natasha Tripney, international editor of the Stage.

By Liam Donovan / Feb 18, 2026
Dan Mousseau and bahia watson in 'Summer and Smoke.' iPhoto caption: Dan Mousseau and bahia watson in 'Summer and Smoke.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: Tennessee Williams deep cut Summer and Smoke warms up Crow’s Theatre

I wondered if further following the directive to push upward instead of outward, balancing the corporeal dark with a little more spiritual lightness, might have made this ambitious and heartfelt production spark just a little bit hotter.

By Ilana Lucas / Feb 17, 2026
Members of the North American touring company of 'MJ.' iPhoto caption: Members of the North American touring company of 'MJ.' Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Review of MJ: The Musical among winners at the 2025 Nathan Cohen Awards

The Canadian Theatre Critics Association has announced the winners of the 2025 Nathan Cohen Awards for Excellence in Critical Writing. This year’s prizes for outstanding review and critical essay were adjudicated by Natasha Tripney, international editor of the Stage.

By Liam Donovan / Feb 18, 2026
Dan Mousseau and bahia watson in 'Summer and Smoke.' iPhoto caption: Dan Mousseau and bahia watson in 'Summer and Smoke.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: Tennessee Williams deep cut Summer and Smoke warms up Crow’s Theatre

I wondered if further following the directive to push upward instead of outward, balancing the corporeal dark with a little more spiritual lightness, might have made this ambitious and heartfelt production spark just a little bit hotter.

By Ilana Lucas / Feb 17, 2026
Members of the company of 'Some Like It Hot.' iPhoto caption: Members of the company of 'Some Like It Hot.' Photo by Matthew Murphy.

REVIEW: Inventive choreography powers delightful Some Like It Hot at Mirvish

The gears of Casey Nicholaw’s production are well-oiled. Despite Art Deco set design and plenty of era-appropriate choreography, the show moves with contemporary fluidity.

By Liam Donovan / Feb 16, 2026
Gabriella Sundar Singh in 'Through the Eyes of God.' iPhoto caption: Gabriella Sundar Singh in 'Through the Eyes of God.' Photo by Jae Yang.

REVIEW: Anusree Roy’s Through the Eyes of God is a fast-paced, one-woman thriller

This sequel to Pyaasa revisits the themes of motherhood and sacrifice in present-day India through the experience of Chaya, a lower caste Bengali woman.

By Shivani Nathoo / Feb 13, 2026

Reviews

Dan Mousseau and bahia watson in 'Summer and Smoke.' iPhoto caption: Dan Mousseau and bahia watson in 'Summer and Smoke.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: Tennessee Williams deep cut Summer and Smoke warms up Crow’s Theatre

I wondered if further following the directive to push upward instead of outward, balancing the corporeal dark with a little more spiritual lightness, might have made this ambitious and heartfelt production spark just a little bit hotter.

By Ilana Lucas
Members of the company of 'Some Like It Hot.' iPhoto caption: Members of the company of 'Some Like It Hot.' Photo by Matthew Murphy.

REVIEW: Inventive choreography powers delightful Some Like It Hot at Mirvish

The gears of Casey Nicholaw’s production are well-oiled. Despite Art Deco set design and plenty of era-appropriate choreography, the show moves with contemporary fluidity.

By Liam Donovan
Gabriella Sundar Singh in 'Through the Eyes of God.' iPhoto caption: Gabriella Sundar Singh in 'Through the Eyes of God.' Photo by Jae Yang.

REVIEW: Anusree Roy’s Through the Eyes of God is a fast-paced, one-woman thriller

This sequel to Pyaasa revisits the themes of motherhood and sacrifice in present-day India through the experience of Chaya, a lower caste Bengali woman.

By Shivani Nathoo
Nicholas Eddie and Tantoo Cardinal in 'Witch.' iPhoto caption: Nicholas Eddie and Tantoo Cardinal in 'Witch.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: Soulpepper’s Witch is thematically alluring but dramatically thin

Jen Silverman’s play aspires to communicate something substantive about the human condition — touching on loneliness, ostracization, misogyny, ageism, yearning, and ego — yet it never quite settles on a cohesive or definitive thesis. Lancaster’s production commits to heady visuals and clever idiosyncrasies to fill the gap, with mixed results.

By Abi Akinlade
Sophia Walker in 'Eureka Day.' iPhoto caption: Sophia Walker in 'Eureka Day.' Photo by Elana Emer.

REVIEW: Coal Mine’s Eureka Day offers a nuanced portrayal of medical mistrust

What could possibly urge people to deny experts, doctors, and researchers at the risk of their own life — and the lives of their children? These thoughts swirled through my brain as I entered Coal Mine Theatre to watch the compelling piece of art that is Eureka Day.

By Melissa Avalos
Liisa Repo-Martell and Maev Beaty in 'You, Always.' iPhoto caption: Liisa Repo-Martell and Maev Beaty in 'You, Always.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: In You, Always at Canadian Stage, playfulness meets unabashed emotional vulnerability

This big-hearted play will steal your favourite going-out shirt, holler your crush’s name at full volume, and then accost you with a bear hug — all the while harboring a deep well of love and resentment.

By Ferron Delcy

Spotlight

iPhoto caption: Photo by V. Tony Hauser.

Spotlight: Robert Lepage

“If theatre’s done well, it’s an event. And for the audience it’s very mobilizing,” says Lepage. “Whatever the subject matter is, the people go and they’re stimulated, interested, and they feel intelligent... The most beautiful spectacle is always the spectacle of intelligence.”

By Adam Paolozza
Marie Farsi for Intermission Magazine. iPhoto caption: Marie Farsi for Intermission Magazine. Photo by Dahlia Katz.

Spotlight: Marie Farsi

“I’ve learned how truth is revealed in translation, and I feel like that’s my job as a director,” says Farsi. “I have to translate the piece from the page to the stage, and all the meanings that can be derived from that process of translation.”

Written by Naomi Skwarna, Photography by Dahlia Katz
Alanis King. iPhoto caption: Photo by Blaire Russell.

Spotlight: Alanis King

The 40-year career of Alanis King began much the same way that so many careers in theatre do: in front of very small audiences. “The show must go on if you have the same amount of audience members as in the cast,” was King’s motto in the early days. But today, the multihyphenate Odawa artist has no difficulty finding people interested in her work.

Written by Frances Koncan, Photography by Blaire Russell
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Artist Perspectives

iPhoto caption: Photo of Jordan Laffrenier by Sandro Pehar.

Preparing to direct Slave Play: A travel guide to Richmond, Virginia

Since reading Slave Play, I’ve asked every romantic partner whether or not they experience a racial dynamic between us in the bedroom. No one has given the same answer. What is it that I am asking them to acknowledge in these scenarios? Who is it that I am asking them to hold? What does it mean to hold someone’s history?

By Jordan Laffrenier
'Delirious Night' at the Festival d'Avignon. iPhoto caption: 'Delirious Night' at the Festival d'Avignon. Photo by Christophe Raynaud de Lage.

At the 2025 Festival d’Avignon, politics were never far off

I’d performed and directed for festivals in Canada and elsewhere, but it wasn’t at all the same as being on the bum-in-seat side. There I was, in Avignon, rubbing shoulders with the umpteen visitors hungry for a good show. I came away feeling that here, theatre mattered. A lot. In the stony fields of Toronto, that can be easy to forget.

By Baņuta Rubess
iPhoto caption: Set design by Camellia Koo, Costume design by Judith Bowden, Lighting design by Leigh Ann Vardy, and photo by Dahlia Katz. Features Samantha Hill and Amaka Umeh.

A story with no expiry date: Adapting Fall On Your Knees

At this critical political juncture, as so many forces in the world try to mute and silence women, our Canadian stories merit our advocacy and fervent attention.

By Alisa Palmer

Armchairs, tattoos, and an online theatre magazine

When I started at Intermission, my world was limited to the confines of an armchair. Arts journalism was a high it felt dangerously fruitless to chase. The life stretched ahead of me was amorphous and frightening, a chasm filled with hand sanitizer and immigration concerns. It was worth crying over a spilled kombucha and scrubbing at the stain.

By Aisling Murphy
national ballet of canada iPhoto caption: Production still from The Nutcracker courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada.

Why should you go to the ballet?

My childhood memories of learning to dance were front and centre for me when I attended opening night of The Nutcracker, performed by the National Ballet of Canada at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

By Martin Austin
iPhoto caption: Photo by Grace Mysak.

Want to see a magic show about race? Wait, what?

You’d be forgiven for the double-take. It’s a fairly common reaction when I tell folks about my work as a magician.

By Shawn DeSouza-Coelho