Stratford Festival’s ‘Women of the Fur Trade’ is a side-splitting comedy that offers truths for this moment by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Frances Koncan’s uproarious comedy, now playing at the 2023 Stratford Festival’s Studio Theatre, is sharp, smart and timeless.

Stratford 2023: ‘Wedding Band’ is a complex, tender love story by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

This play by novelist Alice Childress follows the love story of Julia, a Black woman, and Herman, a white man, in 1918 South Carolina.

We asked 15 theatre companies across Ontario to recommend the best shows to see this summer. Their picks are worth a road trip by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

The companies and festivals offer an incredible variety of theatre, including Hitchcock, historical dramas, even a tropical dinner theatre murder mystery.

Are antidepressants a boon or a curse? The question is grippingly explored in ‘The Effect’ by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Aviva Armour-Ostroff’s performance is a slowly rising storm in Coal Mine production of this Lucy Prebble play set in a drug trial.

Can ‘Spamalot’s’ Lady of the Lake be pregnant? Yes, if it’s Jennifer Rider-Shaw and the Stratford Festival by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Theatre actors Jennifer Rider-Shaw and Robert Markus are expecting their first child in October. Here’s how they made the timing work alongside the Stratford Festival.

12 days. 100 shows. 280 volunteers. Here’s what it takes to put on the Toronto Fringe Festival by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

In the face of financial concerns, executive director Lucy Eveleigh says ‘this past weekend was one of our best selling weekends ever before the festival. The team is amazing. So I feel ho…

Judy Garland, having a strong mother and finding her voice: Kiki Moritsugu on her 2023 Fringe Festival Show ‘A Woman Is …’ by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

Moritsugu says she owes her existence to the Toronto Star: her parents met when her father interviewed her mother

‘Hadestown’ heads to some dark and moody places by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Anaïs Mitchell’s celebrated tuner blends together ancient myths, musical influences from roots to show tunes, and bravura stagecraft into a celebration of the capacity of love to pierce b…

Toronto Fringe Festival: Your complete guide with reviews and commentary from the 12-day theatrical event by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The Toronto Star’s theatre critics Joshua Chong and Karen Fricker will review dozens of shows throughout the 2023 Toronto Fringe Festival.

They had a hit Fringe play about coaching straight actors to play gay. They’re back to send up the queer community by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

Daniel Krolik, Curtis Campbell and Jonathan Wilson’s “Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay” was one of the hottest, buzziest shows of the 2022 Toronto Fringe Festival.

What a laugh! Theatresports stand-up company with alumni including Keanu Reeves, Mike Meyers and Colin Mochrie celebrates 40 years by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

The competitive format company is holding a premium show and fundraiser in July along with Bad Dog Theatre, celebrating its own 20th anniversary

Ultimate guide to the Toronto Fringe Festival: 15 must-see shows from the 2023 indie extravaganza

The Star’s theatre critics give us their picks, from musicals about a champion Canadian horse and a Roman emperor to clowns, standup comedy, history and horror.

Folk musical ‘Hadestown’ comes to Toronto: It took 13 years to become the ‘generous act of dramatic storytelling’ its creators dreamed of by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Anaïs Mitchell and director Rachel Chavkin on how Edmonton was the site of ‘some of the hardest and biggest lessons’ in developing the show

Sébastien Heins’ mother, Shella, got him into theatre. In “No Save Points,” he tells her story with a performance that’s part video game. by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Shaw Festival’s ‘The Apple Cart’ is a startling speculative fiction that makes the case for the monarchy by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Tom Rooney is brilliant as a king staring down a constitutional crisis in George Bernard Shaw’s 1928 play.

Shaw Festival’s ‘Playboy of the Western World’ is a century-old play that can teach us much about the folk heroes we idolize today by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

J.M. Synge’s 1907 romantic comedy, about a community that exalts a self-proclaimed murderer, feels perverse yet also strangely familiar.

A king of the disco: Richard II is reimagined in ruffled capes and giant pearls at the Stratford Festival by Leanne Delap - Special To The Kit

The glittering, glorious costumes for a dynamic adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Richard II’ draw inspiration from Studio 54’s heyday.

Stratford 2023: ‘A Wrinkle In Time, a loving, heartwarming production for the whole family by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

The stage adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s much-loved play provides nostalgia for the grown-ups and connects with younger audiences

Stratford 2023: Brad Fraser’s adaptation of ‘Richard II’ is as expert as it is provocative by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Unabashedly physical performance draws parallels to the AIDS crisis but also to issue of representation and power

‘Hamilton’ musical star Donald Webber Jr., reflects on his newest role: father to Donald III by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

As Aaron Burr, singing the duet “Dear Theodosia,” gained a whole new meaning when he and wife Rebecca E Covington, also in the show, began a family

Women get more to say in Much Ado About Nothing by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Director Chris Abraham casts new light on a Shakespeare comedy by reading it through a contemporary lens, Karen Fricker writes.

‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ on-stage family keep it fresh after a year-long run by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

Stars Trevor White, Trish Lindstrom and Luke Kimball talk about on creating a stage family in the Toronto production of the smash play

In ‘Dragon’s Tale’ at the Luminato Festival, a young woman looks to the past to help inform the present by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

This new opera by Chan Ka Nin and Mark Brownell moves across ancient China and contemporary Canada.

Sex, travel and disability: during Pride, two new plays, ‘Access Me’ and ‘Perceptual Archaeology’ centre disabled actors’ experiences by Karen Fricker - Theatre Critic

‘As a disabled person, often our lives are painted as tragic, and I don’t feel that way’

At Luminato, Ian Kamau channels his sadness in ‘Loss’ by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

The show, which includes poetry and music, can feel aimless, but hidden among the stories are powerful moments.

An opera written by students about the environment gets a one-night only performance at the Evergreen Brick Works by Janiece Campbell - Staff Reporter

The performance, a partnership with the Canadian Opera Company, shines a light on the neurodiverse community.

2023 Tony Awards: The best moments from the history-making, unscripted show by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The Tony Awards saw ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ and Tom Stoppard’s ‘Leopoldstadt’ take top awards. J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell also became the first non-binary people to win Tony Awards…

Ravishingly reborn, Scott Joplin’s ‘Treemonisha’ triumphs at the Luminato Festival by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Featuring a new libretto and a winning cast, this extraordinary production makes the case for the King of Ragtime’s long-forgotten opera.

Staging Greek myths with whisky, dating apps and fascinating ideas in ‘Armadillos’ at Factory Theatre by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

Play-within-a-play has a powerful feminist theme about women challenging established patriarchal systems

Exiting stage left: Why up-and-coming actors are leaving the theatre industry by Glenn Sumi - Special To The Star

‘I’ve seen dozens of talented, artists leave the profession or simply disappear quietly pursuing other work away from the spotlight’

Goodnight Romeo: the National Ballet’s Guillaume Côté parts with a signature role by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Côté says goodbye to the title role in Alexei Ratmansky’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ but not to the National Ballet or to dance.