Reviews

Ariel Dorfman’s 1991 classic is a chillingly balanced, deliciously dialectical three-hander about the human and moral compromises made in Chile after the bloody Pinochet regime.  It’s relevance today is still sharp as a tack, much as this cramped and flaccid MTC/STC co-production works to blunt it.

“Happily ever after, schmappily ever after” and “be careful what you wish for” are the messages of this light-hearted production of the classic musical Into the Woods. An excellent cast, colourful costuming, an imaginative set, a tight orchestra and a particularly maudlin looking papier mâché cow on wheels ever all add up to great fun.

At first it seems like a farce, an American version of a Ray Cooney play about funny neighbours. But playwright Lisa D’Amour and Director Tanya Dickson quickly put that concern to bed. The play isn’t even set in Detroit – that town is just the metaphor for the crumbling of American Society, a malaise which alienates and disenfranchises its citizens. Ghosts abound in the ether to remind us that this motor metropolis had a thriving past, though it has no future. Dreams hold more weight than reality, and perceptions are skewed to see what we want to see.

Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons is, in essence, a sequel to his 1990 TV drama Andre’s Mother, which won him an Emmy award. Unfortunately, like many sequels, this play falls flat.

It’s now a quarter of a century since Andre died and his mother Katharine (Anne Tenney) pays a visit to the man who would have been her son-in-law, Cal (Jason Langley). Andre was killed by AIDS and his mother continues to mourn him – but she also still struggles to accept he was gay.