Skip to main content

Festival

Promo photo for Gemini, playing at this year's Next Stage Theatre Festival. iPhoto caption: Photo by Marc Chalifoux.

At Next Stage 2024, two shows complicate the meaning of a night out

Gemini, by Louise Casemore, and Prude, by Lou Campbell, explore the hospitality industry and bar culture from different perspectives.

By Nathaniel Hanula-James / Oct 11, 2024
byron laviolette iPhoto caption: Headshot courtesy of Byron Laviolette.

Speaking in Draft: Byron Laviolette

“Right now, the creation-to-production process for a lot of people is from the Toronto Fringe to — hopefully — some theatre recommender grants, to a workshop production, to maybe an actual production,” says What The Festival co-founder Byron Laviolette. “But the realities of mounting a show at the Fringe don’t translate to a two-week run at the Extraspace at Tarragon. Peoples’ appetites are different. Yet we don’t train or support people to translate their shows into those different contexts."

By Nathaniel Hanula-James / Oct 8, 2024
Prude production photo: The King of the Party, played by Lou Campbell, is wearing a tight, light pink full-body suit that covers everything except their eyes and mouth. On their head is a simple pink crown with jagged points. They are standing on one leg, with the other bent and lifted, while both arms are stretched out wide, mid tap dance. They are wearing beige tap shoes. Behind them is a black chair and a pair of pink shoes lying on the floor. The scene is set against a completely black background, with pink lighting highlighting the figure on stage. iPhoto caption: Prude production photo by Daniel Wittnebel

Toronto Fringe unveils 2024 Next Stage programming

The Toronto Fringe has announced the lineup for the 17th annual Next Stage Theatre Festival, running at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre from October 16 to 27.

By Liam Donovan / Sep 27, 2024
rutas iPhoto caption: ROSA promotional image courtesy of RUTAS.

RUTAS redefines ‘American’ theatre and performance

“I think [Latinx artists] have always been a strong voice, but now we need to be even louder to the rest of Canada,” says multidisciplinary performance artist Carlos Rivera. “The things that we can bring to the table and bring to the stages can show the beauty, and the strain, and the capacities that Latino Americans carry with us in our bodies, in our minds, in our souls.”

By Martin Austin / Sep 25, 2024