Had a nice chat with Drew Hayden Taylor about THE UNDENIABLE ACCUSATIONS OF RED CADMIUM LIGHT, playing in Winnipeg at @prairietheatrex.bsky.social until March 8. Q&A for @theglobeandmail.com here: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Another one today (and more on their way, so I'm told): Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver, BC. 🧵

Fabulous to see more coverage of Canadian theatre in a publication like @variety.com, but Yaga is a play, not a screenplay, and The Globe got to this nearly a week ago. variety.com/2026/shoppin...

If you somehow missed the news, Hudson Williams (Heated Rivalry) will appear in the TV adaptation of Kat Sandler's play YAGA. Here's my chat with @playcanpress.bsky.social about the epic surge in sales that followed the casting announcement: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/book...

I just finished YAGA by Kat Sandler, and it’s a really great ride! (I didn’t know it’s all over Twitter since I’m not on that site now.) It’s funny and feminist and folktale-y and freaky. And it might be on your library’s Hoopla digital service. Support authors by using public libraries! 📚💙

What a treat to spend a few days immersed in Ottawa's theatre scene — I cut my teeth as a critic in that city and, judging by this trip, the quality of work has only improved since my last trip east. Here's the work that impressed me most: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Went last night. Amazing to see Gabriella Sundar Singh really give'r for 45 minutes straight in a solo show. Anusree Roy as unflinching a dramatist as ever. Sold out as Aisling expected. The TPM Backspace has even fewer seats than it used to have!

fun fact. The original production of Kat Sandler's Yaga at Tarragon starred Seana McKenna. Seana McKenna's son is Callan Potter. Callan Potter plays Hayden Pike in Heated Rivalry, bff to Shane Hollander. Shane Hollander played by Hudson Williams who will now star in Yaga the TV series!

A Canadian play has taken over Twitter. (Yes, some of us are still on that godforsaken site.) Yaga has sold out on Amazon. There are Yaga memes in every other post. I couldn’t be more thrilled for Kat Sandler — and I can’t wait for the world to catch up with her brilliance.

Congratulations to @aislingmurph.bsky.social on her Nathan Cohen Awards! Judge this year was the Stage's Natasha Tripney - whose Café Europa newsletter is a must-read. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...

Really lovely surprise this month: I won both the Outstanding Review and Outstanding Critical Essay categories (plus runner-up for review! what!) for the Nathan Cohen Awards this year. Very, very grateful to my editors @heypereira.bsky.social and Rebecca Tucker at @theglobeandmail.com.

COPPERBELT: A really enjoyable night at the theatre (I'm not sure I've ever heard an audience get that loud), but an imperfect new play with surprisingly clunky direction. Review @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Got my tickets. Anusree Roy is in her prime as a playwright. Should be done around the world.

THROUGH THE EYES OF GOD has some of the best onstage work I've ever seen. Gabriella Sundar Singh is a revelation as Chaya, a young mother tasked with saving her daughter from horrific circumstances. I all but guarantee it will sell out. Critic's Pick review: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

#Exclusive: American Ian Derrer has been named the next general director of the Canadian Opera Company. My interview with him is online now: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

A biggie today: Mirvish Productions has unveiled their subscription season. I chatted with Hannah Mirvish for The Globe: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag... Here are my thoughts: 🧵

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, revived in an overly bijou staging at the COC, mirrors the chromatics of Rossini's score with a colourful set and playful costumes. Decent singing, too. Review @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Agreed. Small gripe with the show's design, however — would the ultra-progressive, anti-racist private school prominently display a Dr. Seuss book in its library? (Many of Seuss' cartoons were horribly racist, which the characters of this play would undoubtedly know.)

Wish I'd loved WITCH — really nice work from Tantoo Cardinal and Nicholas Eddie in particular — but wow, that script is a dud. Review @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

YOU, ALWAYS isn't without its quirks. But man, I wept — such gorgeous performances from Repo-Martell and Beaty, and I think it might be my new favourite Erin Shields play. Critic's Pick review @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Short one today: County Stage Company in Prince Edward County. 🧵

Next: Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. 🧵

'Tis the season for season announcements. (Why do I feel like these start earlier every year?) I'll add to this thread as seasons roll in. I'm interested mostly in how theatres react to the Elbows Up era, plus anything in the world of new Canadian musicals, obv. First up: Citadel in Edmonton. 🧵

The AGO is disbanding the committee that decided not to go ahead with the Nan Goldin acquisition. @joshokane.bsky.social has been leading and breaking this story for the past week and a bit. A huge amount of work has gone into reporting this story. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...

Nice writeup of our film. Check out the thread above for a great backstory on the article.

Over the summer, I got stranded at Dulles Airport. (The worst.) But a lovely stranger helped me argue with Porter, and kept me company on a very bumpy hotel shuttle bus. Only after that ordeal did I find out who my fellow stranded passenger was — @turnerschofield.bsky.social. 🧵

Hat-tip to @nestruck.bsky.social for sending this my way — North America's largest repertory theatre festival is trying something new this year by.... continuing to perform in rep? Am I getting that right? www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLg7...

Stepped into the opera beat this weekend with Christopher Alden's RIGOLETTO at the Canadian Opera Company. Lovely singing from Quinn Kelsey and Sarah Dufresne; heavy-handed (but usually effective) concept from Alden. For @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Using the snow day to watch the Elizabeth Smart documentary on Netflix. It’s hard not to throw things at the TV: What were those cops DOING? It’s a harrowing, awful watch, but fascinating at the same time. And Smart, though she’s (understandably) a little rigid, is so very well spoken.

Lots to like in Lisa Nasson's MISCHIEF at Tarragon. I especially loved Andy Moro's set (less so his vertigo-inducing video designs). Review for @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

I have a bee in my bonnet about all the Canadian theatres that programmed A Doll's House this season just because it was recently on Broadway - and using the American version of the Norwegian play seen there. But sounds like maybe I should relax my elbows and go see the Canadian Stage production.

Absolutely loved A DOLL'S HOUSE at Canadian Stage – the production feels expensive and luxurious in all the right ways, and Hailey Gillis is stunning as Nora. Critic's Pick review for @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Hootsuite has been pursuing business with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States, more than five years after employee backlash forced the Vancouver tech company to cancel a contract to provide social-media management services to the agency. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

I'll admit I didn't have many expectations for THE LAST FIVE YEARS. But Luke Marty's production isn't half-bad, and Nicolas Palazzolo in particular is a bright talent to keep an eye on. It's fabulous to hear Jason Robert Brown's score with a full band, too – god, that score.

I do love this musical and excited to see this Montreal-Toronto production.

KIMBERLY AKIMBO is imperfect: Its second act is surprisingly holey, and Louise Pitre struggles a bit with the title role's vocal demands. Even so, I was really touched by it – I'll be seeing it again next week. Review @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Sigh. I'm a big fan of Talk Is Free Theatre. And Sondheim (of course). And the Theatre Centre. But COMPANY is a misfire across the board. This wasn't the review I hoped to write. For @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

A promising sign out of Stratford: It looks like incoming AD Jonathan Church is following through on his desire to cast a wider net for talent across Canada, with audition stops scheduled in St. John's, Montreal, Vancouver, Regina, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Toronto. (But no Ottawa?)

Ahead of their production of THE LAST FIVE YEARS, I had a chat with Jon Chaters, producer for the Toronto Stage Company and the keyholder for the former Fleck Dance Theatre, now renamed the Terminal Theatre. Online @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

My book Live to See the Day is out today. I hope you read it. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/645965...

Woof. All performances of Playing Shylock at the Segal Centre have been cancelled, owing to a "personal issue" for Saul Rubinek. Hope all is OK. www.instagram.com/p/DTakfSlEkx...

Meet Mitch Wood, the Canadian influencer who mercilessly pokes fun at theatre people – including, yes, himself. This was a fun one for @theglobeandmail.com! www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Happy new year! The flu kicking around Toronto right now is a beast. Avoid it if you can. Two weird-week-between-Christmas-and-New-Year stories to share. 🧵

Happy to share this profile of the inimitable Ravi Jain, winner of the 2025 Siminovitch Prize and, relatedly, a relentlessly impressive human being. On @theglobeandmail.com's website today: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Here's @glennsumi.bsky.social's list: www.goaheadsumi.com/the-top-10-t... Here's @joshuachong.bsky.social's list: www.thestar.com/entertainmen... Here's @aislingmurph.bsky.social's list: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag... & a few more #TheaTO year-end round-ups...

Global TV (in Canada) had last night's original 60 Minutes episode including the pulled segment on CECOT on its app and website today until about 5:45pm ET. I was watching it when it got yanked - but bootlegs abound. www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-pol...

Imagine stepping into S2 of the best show on TV, the audience instantly hostile — wondering why they’re suddenly stuck with your annoying dick and not the characters they grew to love — and then winning ‘em over (not instantly, but incrementally) with a true tragic figure. RIP James “Ziggy” Ransone.

Shaw Festival coming to Toronto October to March for three years. Sweet deal from Harbourfront from the clean-up CEO who will be gone in a month: The venue (now apparently called the Fleck, but not the theatre HF used to run called the Fleck) is provided for free; box-office revenue split.