Reviews: Bootycandy, Prophetess, Dancer, Ron James, Uncivilized and more

The past few weeks have been a flurry of activity. As always, make sure you consult my Toronto Theatre Listings to see if you’ve missed any shows.

I’ve kept up with most of the theatre openings; saw a couple of solid comedy shows; attended a U of T music department master class held by the COC’s Johannes Debus and featuring promising student singers; saw some movies — including one of the best of the year; and I’ve been dipping in and out of a harrowing novel that opens with amateur actors mounting a well-known Canadian play in Jamaica in the late 1980s.

I’ll post a review of that book next week. I’m also hoping to review a new film (currently in limited release in the U.S., with no plans for Canadian theatrical distribution, as far as I can tell) adapted by a great American play. And if my schedule works out, I’ll get to cover one of my favourite TV shows, one that features more New York theatre actors than all the Law & Orders combined. Keep your eye out for all that.

And look for a ticket giveaway at the end of this post.

In the meantime, if you haven’t yet seen TV star Karen Robinson (Schitt’s Creek, Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent) in Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho)’s Prophetess (Rating: ✭✭✭), make sure you get to the Tarragon.

Ho (Cockroach) wrote the role of Margaret — the formidable English Department head who’s navigating personal loss, horrific hallucinations as well as academic politics — with Robinson in mind, and it shows. While not everything in the script comes together — particularly elements of Shakespeare’s History Plays — Robinson is absolutely thrilling to watch. Anyone who saw her while attending theatre here in the 1990s and 00s already knows that.

My review of Prophetess, which has been extended until November 1, is up at the Toronto Star.

Speaking of the COC’s music director Johannes Debus, I also reviewed the second remount of Atom Egoyan’s production of Cosi Fan Tutte (Rating: ✭✭✭), which Debus (sensitively) conducted.

I saw the opera when it premiered in 2014, and was underwhelmed then. I thought Egoyan might have tweaked it in the interim, but no. His high concept setting in a co-ed private school science lab, with oversized butterflies and a reproduction of a famous Frida Kahlo painting peering on, doesn’t enrich the opera.

Thankfully, the COC has assembled a gifted sextet of acting singers, and Debus has artful control of the music. If you close your eyes, you’ll enjoy the work, especially the many glorious ensemble numbers. Here’s my review of the opera, which closes Oct. 18.

I also caught the October edition of Spotlight at the Second City (Rating: ✭✭✭✭), which featured four up-and-coming solo sketch artists, each of whom has a distinct voice and point of view. I’m going to keep my eye (and ear — they all can sing) on Kara Austria, Taelor Lewis-Joseph, Ryan Sheedy and Ada Nicolle. Here’s my roundup, posted in Parton and Pearl.

And finally, I waxed on (and on) about the completely unnecessary musical adaptation of The Karate Kid — The Musical (Rating: ✭✭). The best (only?) reason to see it is Adrian Pang’s dignified, graceful and witty performance as Mr. Miyagi. Can’t wait to see him next June and July when Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy’s Salesman in China plays here after its successful Stratford Festival run. Here’s my review of the musical, which closes Nov. 1.

Here are capsule reviews of recent shows.

✅Bootycandy

Buddies in Bad Times and Obsidian Theatre Co.

Until Oct. 17 at Buddies (ticket details here)

Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Provocative, meta-theatrical and unafraid to go to some difficult places, Robert O’Hara’s 2014 play will go down as one of the big surprises of the 2026-27 season. It consists of a series of seemingly unrelated vignettes about queer Black lives.

In one, a young boy named Sutter (Kyle Brown) asks his distracted mother (Helen Belay) about periods, circumcised penises and blow jobs — which his mother awkwardly brushes off. In another, a minister (Christopher Allen) addresses his congregation about gossip, only to make a fabulous reveal at the end. And in yet another, two women (Helen Belay and Meghan Swaby) get tied up in their phone cords discussing a baby’s sexually-tinged name. All of these scenes will be revisited later, in intriguing ways, with Sutter’s story emerging as the most central, addressing homophobia in the Black community but also touching on trauma and healing.