HarbourKIDS’ Monster Mash
With Thanksgiving upon us and Halloween dead ahead, this weekend’s HarbourKIDS festival at Harbourfront Centre is dedicated to the scary, funny and exciting potential of monsters. A wide range of family focused activities and performances explore ideas about monsters including an exciting headline program from Mammalian Diving Reflex.
Toronto’s Helen Yung, left, will be in the Studio Theatre most of the weekend with Gulliver, a larger than life puppet she developed for Montreal’s Festival Acces Asie. Yung’s highly interactive presentation, dubbed Playtime with Gulliver, is a blend of puppetry, new media and improv.
Like the Wizard of Oz, Yung is perched behind her creation, operating him with her feet and typing as fast as she can to put words in his mouth via text-to-speech software.
Mini Franco-Fête
David Pecaut Square was humming yesterday with a musical festival celebrating Franco Ontarians or more properly, le Jour des Franco-Ontariens et des Franco-Ontariennes. These photos were taken near the end of the celebration as choruses of young singers joined arms to sing “Notre Place.” It was a very welcoming, family-oriented event.
Photos by Christopher Jones
Multicultural Fun at the CNE
The Black Angels Acrobats in Hall B of the Direct Energy Centre were not as disciplined or as skilled as Beijing acrobats. They were a lot more fun though. I can understand why they’ve performed with the famous Harlem Globe Trotters basketball team. The Kenyan team has the same spirit of playfulness as the Harlem group.
The Angels are displaying their rope jumping, hoop diving, and goofy pyramids daily at the CNE. Their shows will be at different times each day until September 5 (see International Stage schedule).
The Jasenka Czech Dancers who also performed on Friday were enjoyable; their six-piece band, singer, and enthusiasm were delightful. Both acts will reward a visit to the International Pavilion. READ MORE
Lots For Kids at Buskerfest
Scotiabank BuskerFest, the largest festival of its kind, returns to the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood this weekend for the 12th consecutive year featuring more than 100 of the world’s top street performers. Running from Thursday thru Sunday (August 25 – 28), Buskerfest is a charity event in support of Epilepsy Toronto. Highlights this year include a special kids play area (located in Market Lane Park) with family-oriented performances by The Ben Show, Mr. Toons, Cyclops, Leapin’ Louie Lichtenstein, Yoshi and Scott Jackson.
The sixth annual Fire Show combines the best of all the festival’s fire acts, and features Pyromancer, Fireguy, FlameOz, Pancho Libre and Leapin’ Louie Lichtenstein, as well as appearances by the XL-INSECTS (above right). The festival wraps up Sunday at 6:30 pm on the Metro Stage in Berczy Park with the Grande Finale, featuring performances by some of the festival’s top international performers, as well as the announcement of this year’s Metro People’s Choice Award winner.
Photos by SevenStock
The Dark Heart of Hansel and Gretel
There’s nothing run-of-the-mill about a Shadowland Theatre production and this week’s run of Hansel and Gretel: A Case Study is no exception. The show takes the classic Grimm fairy tale and combines it with the music of Brecht and Weill’s Threepenny Opera while calling upon Sigmund Freud to narrate and make sense of this dark, coming of age tale.
Shadowland co-founder Brad Harley below left as Sigmund Freud, says he and his wife, director Anne Barber, right, are using the Grimm story to work through their feelings about their own children, ages 17 and 20, leaving home.
“This story is about a rite of passage,” he says, “because all kids have to leave home at some point. But the anxiety this creates in the kids’ minds is what this story is all about. What Freud brings to our play is the interior monologue and answers the question, why has this story been so successful for hundreds of years? We think it’s because everybody’s own personal rite of passage is very similar to what happens to Hansel and Gretel. They have to deal with the witch and their parents and get out there and survive and if they do all that stuff successfully they’ll get the treasure and proceed into adulthood. And then they’ll have kids of their own and the saga will begin all over again.”
