Awards:
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Criticism:
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The Blood of a Coward
Eye Weekly, July 7, 2004 – Alex Bozikovic
“The ideal Fringe show: an original, collective creation with hardly a wrong note. The poet and novelist Charles Bukowski makes an awkward dramatic subject; as with William Burroughs (Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch is a good point of comparison), it’s difficult to celebrate the troubled life from the difficult work. Co-directors Simon Rice and Sara Wood solve the problem with a series of vignettes, centring on a hospital stay that marked the nadir of Bukowski’s life. Greg Dunham and Erin King do wonderful work as the aging writer and his young alter ego, as other figures (including Bukowski’s parents) stream by. Clever set design and fine work from the other actors — who differentiate minor characters with a few strokes — add to this portrait of ruthless poetry.”
Steel
NOW Magazine, March 15, 2007 - Jon Kaplan
“Andrew Zadel’s Steel is a fringe show with legs. It’s already played at two Fringes, in Montreal and London, and works well outside the festival context.
Linking its three characters, – a young unemployed Haida man, a happily married guy with central European roots and a poet who speaks in image filled sentences and can’t seem to get a good break – is the railroad either as a means of travel or transportation. James Murray plays all three characters with real energy, and he’s one of the key reasons to see the production, directed by Michael Wheeler.
George, the married man, is the most fleshed out character, and his stories of his Sarajevo-born great-grandfather Dusan’s experiences coming to Canada around 1920 and being forced to work on the rail line are the script’s freshest sections. There’s humour and tragedy in these tales and they could probably be expanded into a play of their own…”
Dyad
Eye Weekly, July 12, 2007 – Meghan Harrison
“Beginning next to a parking lot and moving inside for Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist “The Lesson” Dyad pairs two one acts that erupt in violence, with very different staging. The fantastically tight, “A Short Recess” makes its predictable arc of male violence seem shocking in its dim outdoor setting, helped along by a disarming David Tompa’s disarming performance. Casting both the professor (Margaret Evans), and the pupil in “The Lesson”, as women, director Michael Wheeler introduces an edge of sexualized violence with Evans’ not-repressed-enough sexy librarian. The rare fringe show that lives up to its own program – and then some – Dyad is equally unsettling and entertaining.”
Stranger
Mooney on Theatre, January 8, 2009 – Alex Rayment
“The direction and choreography was as good as I’ve seen. Lighting and music just as well done. Hats off to the actors and casting department. The performances were very, very engaging. Doubly so considering they had half the audience as a backdrop as opposed to a set. The whole cast switched through multiple roles quite naturally with the exception of Meursault who was on stage from start to finish, reacting genuinely to his surroundings… All in all a solid play. As a fan of a book it’s good to see an interpretation that fits or enriches your own. So if you like the book this one is a definite must see…”
Underneath
NOW Magazine, August 9, 2009 – Glenn Sumi
“A diverse group of workers involved in identifying bodies in postwar Kosovo clashes over ethics in this thoughtful and layered play inspired by writer Andrew Zadel’s own experiences in some of the world’s political hotspots.
Zadel’s economically sketched-out characters and a strong metaphor involving forensics help set the narrative in motion, but it soon descends into soap opera silliness.
Still, Simon Rice directs with skill, getting strong performances, each with a different accent, from the cast. Especially good are Catherine Rainville as a young abused Kosovo woman, and John Gordon, Christine Horne and Pip Dwyer as a group of scientists whose personal lives have come undone.”
Media:
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Globe and Mail
Praxis Co-AD Michael Wheeler writes a guest post about Wrecking Ball 8 for Nestruck on Theatre.
Toronto Star
Praxis GM Margaret Evans talks to Alison Broverman about the economics of running an indie theatre company in a recession.
NOW Magazine
Praxis Co-AD Michael Wheeler talks to Jon Kaplan about the process of staging existentialism and the creation process behind Stranger.
Blog TO
Blog TO covers Praxis Theatre as the first theatre company to perform at 100A Ossington Ave during the brief period it was called The Queen West Arts Centre before the name changed to The Lower Ossington Theatre.
CIUT
Praxis Co-AD Simon Rice talks to Catherine Kustanczy about Albert Camus, directing, and adapting works of literature.
