Theatre & Book Reviews

REVIEWED BY RAYMOND HELKIO Originally published in The Humber Literary Review, January 2025. Three-Way Renegade ...

Close to You is a film that delves deeply into the complex and often painful ...

The first poem in this collection, and certainly one of its most poignant, is "I ...

Published by McGill-Queen's University Press, the book tells the story of a senior student mentoring ...

God Damned Avalon is a collection of super-charged flash fiction from word artist Paul Edward ...

I first met Christie Maragos at the Art Bar at the Free Times Cafe near ...

Originally published in the 2024 summer print edition of Broken Pencil Magazine. “So often, I’ve ...

Beached Whales by Stedmond Pardy Stedmond Pardy is a self educated, left handed poet of ...

Through genuine and succinct prose, Pascal Beer establishes a distinct voice that will resonate will ...

As I delved into Jeffrey Round’s latest work, I initially planned a measured approach, intending ...

We Quit Theatre takes over the Cabaret space with a collection of three works, including ...

What starts out as choreographed chaos—meant as a compliment—sets the stage for a spectacular show ...

A meticulously researched biography penned by Rosemary Sullivan, an accomplished author, painter and scholar. MacEwen, ...

Immerse yourself in the transformative brilliance of Tony Kushner's seminal two-part play, Angels In America, ...

Monster opens in the profound silence of a cinema, broken by an audience member and ...

Pervatory, originally titled What We Do Here, We Do For Ourselves, opens with a scene ...

Rob Wilkes, of Big Sky Design, the creative genius behind the design of Jono Pye's ...

The Rocky Mountain Special, a captivating one-person play by Tiffany Thomas, unfolds the poignant journey ...

This review first appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of Broken Pencil Magazine, 100th issue ...

Edited by Maria Crawford with event photos by Raymond Helkio. This past Thanksgiving long weekend, ...

Sky Gilbert’s latest theatre offering is the delicious Greg’s Cookies. While the the play’s program ...

Lion’s Head Revisited by Lambda award-winning author Jeffrey Round is an absorbing mystery fiction novel ...

Directed by Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eco Davis Produced and directed by Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eco Davis, “refracting ...

Directed by d’bi.young anitaafrika Speaking Of Sneaking is conceived, performed and produced by daniel jelani ...

An investigation of Bruce McArthur by Justin Ling. This review originally appeared on MyGayToronto.com. Graciously ...

A Memoir by Matthew Perry. This review originally appeared on MyGayToronto.com. Graciously edited by Maria ...

A novel by Zoe Whittall. This review originally appeared on MyGayToronto.com. Graciously edited by Maria ...

A Memoir by Elliot Page. Note: This review refers to Ellen Page as well as ...

A memoir by Molly Shannon. I fully expected Molly Shannon’s memoir to Hello Molly! to ...

by Vironika Wilde. Vironika Wilde is a is a poet, feminist, award-winning author, nomad, queer, ...

Seven Conversations About Indigenous Life In Canadaby Michelle Good. Whether you consider yourself a colonialist ...

Have you ever wanted to own a Picasso or a Tom Thomson? These are just ...

We’ve had pandemics before this one, and by most accounts there will be another in ...

Kama La Mackerel is a Montreal-based, Mauritian-Canadian multi-disciplinary artist whose recent one person show at ...

Note: Shane Jenek uses the pronouns he/him, his alter ego Courtney Act uses she/her. This ...

Ingmar Bergman and Paul Bellini both have a propensity for producing a large volume of ...

“Art is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” -Cesar A. Cruz Sky regularly ...

If Joan Rivers and Elton John had offspring it’d probably look a lot like Bianca ...

Sky Gilbert’s latest play “A Nice Day In The Park”, showcased for two nights at ...

Second City has consistently been putting on great shows in Toronto for 47 years, and ...

Playwright Sky Gilbert’s most recent work Bungalow showing at the Hamilton Fringe Festival is set ...

Playwright Philip Cairns recent mounting of Diamonds on Plastic at the Hamilton Fringe Festival is ...

Toronto queer playwrights Sky Gilbert and Philip Cairnes are just two of the reasons Hamilton ...

Funnier than gay hell (and believe me, a gay hell would be hysterical!) Extravaganza Eleganza ...

Nice Never Got Me Anything I wasn’t sure what to think when a puppet stuck ...

Shove a couple of bus tokens into your pocket and go down to Buddies to ...

Sharp, thoughtful and to the point writing that paints a vivid portrait of Vivek’s Shraya’s ...

“We rally for diversity of appearance but flake on diversity of viewpoint.” -Irshad Manji, Don’t ...

Questions answered by Brock Hessel, Vince Rozario, Kumari Giles, and Mikiki There’s always lots of ...

“I can manage very well on my own”. This early line from Coal Mine Theatre’s ...

GA TING An immigrant Chinese couple invite their son’s caucasian boyfriend to visit, in order ...

The four-time Dora Award winner Damien Atkins has numerous credits to his name as a ...

Waverly Place is a little street that humbly leads from Greenwich Village, across 6th Avenue ...

Main photo by Joan Marcus. The Tricky Part written and performed by Martin Moran had ...

Main photo by Joan Marcus. The Tricky Part written and performed by Martin Moran had ...

At one point, Michael Birbiglia is telling the story of being caught by a friend ...

It’s a chilly night in Brooklyn so I’m walking with a quick step down the ...

Imagine Faulty Towers at its craziest. Then mix in broken props, collapsing scenery, forgotten lines, ...

On the surface, Love Song To Lavender Menace is about the struggle for acceptance which ...

Sometimes theatre is tough. As I sat watching the first, and then second ‘luring’ scenes, ...

You really shouldn’t visit New York without trying to catch a Sherry Vine show. More ...

This is not dinner theatre, it’s way better, it’s theatre dinner. When I hear the ...

First, there was the book, then the play, then the movie, and now tweaking at ...

Do we marry for love or is it something else? It’s this very question that’s ...

Tennessee Williams wrote many notable plays but it’s his earlier works like The Glass Menagerie, ...

The remount of Gertrude & Alice kicked off Buddies In Bad Times Theatre’s 40th season ...

What started out as a low-tech whimsical romp through a marketer's backroom quickly turned into ...

From her off-stage opening line to her brilliant closing line at the piano, Theresa Tova ...

From acclaimed Croatian playwright Tena Štivicic and directed by the award-winning Svjetlana Jaklenec, The Two ...

About the He Said, He Said reviewers: Stewart Borden is film and theatre musician, culinary ...

Let me give you an information tidbit: love and information is a crazy ride…. a ...

Edmonton continues to birth artistic masterpieces and Category E is no exception. On until the ...

Originally published on theBUZZ Alone Together is a double bill consisting of There she was ...

Originally published through The BUZZ, April 3, 2018 Written and directed by Sky Gilbert, I ...

If you’re looking for an Ed Mirvish happy fun musical theatre evening, The Monument is ...

“Black box theater in New York is an amazing experience but very so often productions ...

When twin sisters inherit the house where Poe composed The Raven, their lives take twisted ...

The Box Show by Dominique Salerno and directed by Sash Bischoff is a clever, fast-paced ...

Andrea Alton is magnificent as her alter ego “Molly ‘Equity’ Dykeman” in Molly’s World, a ...

The Eagle in New York City is a gay leather bar located in Chelsea. Normally ...

Combine Who Framed Roger Rabbit with a gay South Park you’d end up close to ...

Written and performed by Neil Titley, “Introducing Mr Wilde, or Work is the Curse of ...

Street Children by Pia Scala-Zankel is pure unadulterated street realness. Unsettling at times, Street Children ...

As provocative as it is entertaining, Black Boys is a camp adventure into queer male ...

Hosanna’s Higher Self If Requiem For A Dream, Moulin Rouge and Carrie had a rendezvous ...

Blind Date is a raw, intimate and honest portrayal of what it means to put ...

“The love that dare not speak its name has become the love that won’t shut ...

Julie Andrews is the Devil is a funny and charming love story about Tabitha, played ...

Trans-Jester is a fitly, potty-mouthed, politically incorrect, mean spirited show and the most fun I've ...

Israel Horovitz’s Line is an authentic New York theatre experience in part because at 45 ...

I Will Look Forward To This Later is the story of author Wyatt Holloway who ...

Seriously, WTF was that?! The Fuerza Bruta experience was like watching the MOMA have sex ...

An actor and his best friend, a New York police officer, have tickets to see ...

A clever play about forgiveness, House Rules is a smartly layered story about two Filipino ...

Golden Boy by Clifford Odets is about Joe Bonaparte whose gives up on his dream of becoming ...

A native of Italy, Fabio Zito has a history of work that has continually been ...

"THE BLINDING POWER OF LOVE, THE ENIGMA OF GENDER, AND THE COMPLICATED MYSTERY OF HOW ...

(10) To hear her secret(s) to a happy life (9) Because you love Paris in ...

#CoreAdultsOnly | Directed by Alex Correia, Adults Only is comprised of seven one-act plays by ...

When Elizabeth, portrayed by the illustrious Tayler Beth Anderson, discovers that her grandmother has died ...

Key Change is a raw and illuminating portrayal of prison life created by inmates from ...

The needed change is so profound that we call it impossible, so deep that we ...

REVIEW | The Reading Salon, Raymond Helkio | The two-time Tony Award-winning 39 Steps is ...

Pictured above: Larry Gutman, Michael Hardart* and Leonardo Altafini, photo by Bella Muccari. Set in ...

Ophelia is a comedy about a hot male movie star who gets cast as Ophelia ...

Written by Cheryl King and Ashley Lauren Rogers, Gender is a show with an identity ...

It's 1988 and Brandon is embarking on his Senior year at St. Joseph's Preparatory School ...

Opening Night REVIEW: Adapted from the Directors Notes from Thomas R. Gorden If someone were ...

What do Liza Minnelli, Joan Rivers, Bette Midler, Rosie O'Donnell, Kathy Griffin, and Ryan G ...

A light and funny romp through a distorted family's view on business, sex and sausage ...

I can't think of a more gut-wrenching scene then watching a mother, lover or friend ...

REVIEW | OCTOBER 15, 2015 | With Bram Stroker’s Dracula turning 100 this year it ...

When my good friend Brock Hessel offered me a ticket I was excited to go ...