The third annual Luminato Festival ended on the weekend, and here’s a list of which stage shows lit up our world – or kept us in the dark.
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The best
BEST ALL-DAY SHOW
Robert Lepage’s Lipsynch was a monumental nine hours (actually about six and a half if you didn’t count intermissions) that traced the lives of nine interrelated characters. Some sections were longer than necessary, but the always amazing visuals and a strong ensemble and themes about parents and children kept us gripped
BEST LITERARY ADAPTATION
Devised by multi-talented writer/director/composer Jonathan Christenson, Catalyst Theatre’s Nevermore used text, movement, song and Bretta Gerecke’s dreamlike design to parallel the biography and works of Edgar Allan Poe. Christenson made good use of Poe’s heavily accented verse style (and its musical parallel, the waltz) to suggest the cyclical nature of Poe’s troubled life.
BEST DANCE SHOW
The Nederlands Dans Theater’s first Canadian appearance in 15 years was worth the wait. The generous program featured three distinctive choreographers (Lightfoot León, Ji?í Kylián, Crystal Pite) and let the sleek ensemble show off a wide range of movement and styles. Contemporary dance at its best.
BEST FEST WITHIN A FEST
The fun New Waves Festival created a carnival atmosphere inside and outside the Young Centre, buoyed by the dozens and dozens of short works (all free!). Choosing what to see on a whim meant you could experience theatre, dance, film or music (sometimes several of them together). See more about New Waves in Scenes.
BEST BIOGRAPHICAL SHOW
We were split on 5 O’Clock Bells, and neither of us knew much about guitar legend Lennie Breau going in. But Pierre Brault’s solo show about the musician’s tragic life came alive in inventive ways. Scenes were like guitar riffs, and Brault’s every tiny move on Brian Smith’s guitar-like set hummed with portent and meaning.
The rest
ZISELE
Moria Zrachia’s dance-inspired valentine to Jewish mothers and daughters didn’t translate from Israel to here.
THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE
R. Murray Schafer’s ambitious look at a 1212 crusade featured some inventive music from the master of the event-based opera. But the libretto needed sharpening, and director Tim Albery didn’t do enough with the warehouse setting or storytelling.
CARMEN/SKIN DIVERS
Davide Bombana’s deconstruction of the Carmen story turned out to be full of bull – in a bad way – while Dominique Dumais’s piece inspired by Anne Michaels’s poetry took a dive.
