THEATRE FEATURE: BEST OF 2010
26 Dec'10

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

While the cinematic world struggles to come to grips with the new technology that can put a 3D turkey in every pot — well, in every movie theatre and television set, at least — the theatre world has had other fish to fry. After all, theatrically speaking, 3D was old hat back in the days when Aristophanes was a smart-mouthed brat.

But while theatre patrons didn't need special glasses to catch the latest in theatre technology on Toronto stages this past year, don't think for a minute that theatre is an art form that is standing still. In fact, while movies and television were striving to incorporate 3D into their big picture without swamping their storylines, theatrical impresarios have been doing their best to incorporate movie and video technology into their work without overwhelming the delicate theatrical craft.

As a lot of those 3D movies have proved in the past year, technology only works when it is harnessed to serve the greater good — and if all you can remember at the end of the movie, or when the curtain falls on the play, is the technological marvels you have seen, that's not entertainment. It's a demonstration.

That said, when it comes to blending theatre and technology, there have been some impressive leaps into the 21st century made this year.As usual, any list of such theatrical pioneers must include Robert Lepage, who has been riding theatre's cutting edge for so long he could give the folks at Henkel a few lessons. But these days, even if he is caught up in a brand new RING CYCLE for New York City's Metropolitan Opera (or perhaps because of it), Lepage is going to have to do better than THE ANDERSEN PROJECT and EONNAGATA if he wants to stay on top. With creative minds like those of Vancouver's Electric Company Theatre breathing down his neck with works such as STUDIES IN MOTION: THE HAUNTINGS OF EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE, which was arguably the most impressive use of modern theatre technology Toronto saw this year, Lepage's supremacy is no longer assured.

Of course, it didn't stop with just those two companies. Luminato dabbled in the whole issue of theatre and technology with the Rimini Protocol's BEST BEFORE, and the Stratford Festival continued its adventures in envelope-pushing in works such as THE TEMPEST. Even commercial theatre seemed determined to ride into this brave new world, arriving in Toronto in style on a bus named PRISCILLA.

Which is not to suggest, even for a moment, that anybody who wasn't up to their elbows in new technology was simply contenting themselves with the same old same-old. Ronnie Burkett, for instance, continues to find new strings to pull and pulled them beautifully with BILLY TWINKLE: REQUIEM FOR A GOLDEN BOY. With COURAGEOUS, Michael Healey cemented his reputation as one of the finest, not to mention wittiest, voices in Canadian theatre today. The Mirvishes raised the bar (and no doubt a few eyebrows) with CLOUD 9, and Dancap found lovely new depth in SOUTH PACIFIC, thanks to Broadway's Bartlett Sher, who proved conclusively that this classic still has a lot of life.

But while they all impressed us on various levels, herewith the 10 main reasons we'll remember 2010 as a banner year for the performing arts here in Southern Ontario — as usual, in no particular order.

COULBOURN’S TOP 10 TORONTO STAGE PRODUCTIONS OF 2010:

The Canadian Opera Company's DEATH IN VENICE

Modern Times' AURASH

Lorraine Kimsa Theatre For Young People's A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD

The Shaw Festival's SERIOUS MONEY

The National Ballet of Canada's ONEGIN

Luminato/Volcano Theatre's THE AFRICA TRILOGY

The Stratford Festival's PETER PAN

Pleiades Theatre's LA SAGOUINE

BirdLand Theatre/Talk Is Free Theatre's ASSASSINS

Canadian Stage/Necessary Angel's THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT