Results tagged “maryannmcdonald”

It is impossible to write anything about recent Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman (pictured, centre) and her play Scratch without mentioning her parents. This is a little unfortunate as it might seem to imply that the reason to pay attention to this actor and recent graduate of the National Theatre School's playwriting program is because she is the daughter of actor/director/writer/former Artistic Director of Passe Muraille Layne Coleman and novelist/journalist Carole Corbeil and not because she is a fabulous talent in her own right, which she very much is. But versions of both of her formidable parents appear as characters in Scratch. Although ostensibly a work of fiction, the play is admittedly semi-autobiographical, and the story of Scratch's Anna (played by Corbeil-Coleman) and her struggle with her mother's death as well as an especially prolific case of lice mirrors the playwright's own experience when her mother passed away in 2000.

Leave it to CanStage to somehow, in the midst of extreme internal upheaval what is maybe their darkest financial hour, be simultaneously running two of their strongest shows by far in recent memory. In fact, Palace of the End (which closes tomorrow night) and The Clean House (which runs until March 8) aren't just good shows for CanStage, they would be amazing shows for anywhere. Hopefully, they can win the audiences they deserve, but it's certainly disheartening to finally see the company do something really, really right while knowing what's in store for the future. The abrupt departure of new Artistic Director David Storch a few weeks ago was enough of an unpleasant surprise. But further news reported in The Toronto Star was even more alarming. A total of 10 CanStage staff members have apparently been laid off, including dramaturge Iris Turcott, who, like Storch, will henceforth bear the dubious title of "consultant."