Anatomy of a Suicide | Sugary Rum Productions, Chopt Logic & Seymour Centre

Image by Phil Erbacher

This review comes from Night Writes guest reviewer Gabriella Florek

Even before the show began, one of the immediately striking things about this production of Anatomy of a Suicide was the set. The space comprised what looks like a single room with three doors, each one featuring a large window built into it. Hanging behind and above the doors, identical lights, and lastly, also behind the doors, an assortment of household objects, a table, a bathtub, chairs. We had the feeling of being in someone’s intimate space or, at least, the potential for someone’s intimate space. But, at the same time, there was something clinical about it. It was too clean, too bright, too light-filled. It was almost as if by virtue of being here to witness the story, the audience had transgressed something private. The house had been polished clean, hiding evidence of whatever dark horrors had occurred or that might be about to unfold.

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Looking for Alibrandi | Belvoir

Image by Daniel Boud

This review comes from Night Writes guest reviewer Gabriella Florek

Perhaps the big challenge for any adaptation is making the decision of how it will relate to the original text. Regardless of what is kept, culled, or changed, there is often still a feeling of responsibility to keep some essence of what the writer of the story intended or, if not, to directly challenge and subvert it. Then of course, there is the argument that a new interpretation should be judged as a stand alone work and shouldn’t be critiqued in relation to whatever came before it. No matter which path is taken, the audience is always going to bring with them their own expectations as to what the text means to them, what they would like to see, and what they think it should mean.

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Attempts on Her Life | Montague Basement

Image by Clare Hawley

This review comes from Night Writes guest reviewer Gabriella Florek

Just as the title of Martin Crimp’s 1997 play can be interpreted in different ways by an innocent reader, the script itself is left open for the the artists involved in its staging. With little direction from the playwright as to how many actors should perform and who speaks the lines, making creative decisions becomes, arguably, an even more precarious task than usual.

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Honour | Ensemble Theatre

Image by Prudence Upton

This review comes from Night Writes guest reviewer Gabriella Florek

It must be so delicious for any writer to experience the audible gasp, groan, or outburst of an audience reacting to a punchy line, a witty comeback, or a harsh truth. Joanna Murray-Smith’s Honour has no shortage of these. Her play is cleverly punctuated by all those things I imagine people wish they had said or perhaps have said in a painful or awkward moment.

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HOME | Geoff Sobelle and Beth Morrison Projects

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Image by Victor Frankowski

This review comes from Night Writes guest reviewer Gabriella Florek.

Having seen just a short minute or so long trailer of Home, and leaving the inspection of the program notes until after the show, I had a few wild ideas of what I might experience from the opening night. But, nothing about Geoff Sobelle’s magic production was what I expected it to be.

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