Ilana Lucas
@ilanalucas.bsky.social
Playing a part in the Great Theatre of Life, and trying to dramaturg it, too. English professor. Globe+Mail/BroadwayWorld Toronto/Intermission Magazine critic and current president of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association. Amadeus Choir Soprano.
Review: Drift in tandem with THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON at Canadian Stage #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON at Canadian Stage
“Since we surveyed, mapped, explored, and planted a flag,” writes Robert Lepage in his director’s note to THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON, “our interest in the moon seems to have greatly diminished.” Lepage,...
www.broadwayworld.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Review: Drift in tandem with THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON at Canadian Stage #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: SPOTLIGHT at The Second City #comedy www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: SPOTLIGHT AT THE SECOND CITY at Second City
What did our critic think of SPOTLIGHT AT THE SECOND CITY at Second City? For its October Spotlight series, the featured acts were $20 Sandwich and Sarah Bennett.
www.broadwayworld.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Review: SPOTLIGHT at The Second City #comedy www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: TICK...TICK...BOOM! at Alumnae Theatre www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti... #theatre #theaTO
Review: TICK...TICK...BOOM! at Alumnae Theatre
What did our critic think of TICK...TICK...BOOM! at Alumnae Theatre?
www.broadwayworld.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Review: TICK...TICK...BOOM! at Alumnae Theatre www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti... #theatre #theaTO
'The Comeuppance' unpacks high-school reunions with precision at Soulpepper www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/the-... #theatre #theaTO
'The Comeuppance' unpacks high-school reunions with precision
Macabre and drama-filled yet surprisingly gentle, 'The Comeuppance' will probably be most compelling to the around-40 crowd.
www.intermissionmagazine.ca
November 13, 2025 at 5:18 PM
'The Comeuppance' unpacks high-school reunions with precision at Soulpepper www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/the-... #theatre #theaTO
Pleased to share my first piece for the Toronto Star! (Yes, it's about toilets.) Thanks to everyone who shared their #theatre washroom wisdom.
www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
Women wait 34 times longer than men for theatre washrooms. Is there finally hope at the end of the line?
When the intermission lights come on, the race for the women's washroom begins.
www.thestar.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Pleased to share my first piece for the Toronto Star! (Yes, it's about toilets.) Thanks to everyone who shared their #theatre washroom wisdom.
www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
www.thestar.com/entertainmen...
After watching the on-field interview with Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., where the interviewer ended every sentence with "Vladdy," I've had a "Hello, Vladdy"/Hello Dolly remix stuck in my head all day. It's not unpleasant. #bluejays
October 21, 2025 at 9:22 PM
After watching the on-field interview with Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., where the interviewer ended every sentence with "Vladdy," I've had a "Hello, Vladdy"/Hello Dolly remix stuck in my head all day. It's not unpleasant. #bluejays
#Review: WHAT BRINGS YOU IN at Theatre Passe Muraille is part life confessional, part experimental violin recital, and part meditative state. #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: WHAT BRINGS YOU IN at Theatre Passe Muraille
Ting’s performance art piece-cum-concert is part life confessional, part experimental violin recital, and part meditative state.
www.broadwayworld.com
October 21, 2025 at 9:19 PM
#Review: WHAT BRINGS YOU IN at Theatre Passe Muraille is part life confessional, part experimental violin recital, and part meditative state. #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: BREMEN TOWN, Tarragon Theatre's season opener, is a heartbreaking meditation on obsolescence #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: BREMEN TOWN at Tarragon Theatre
With compelling performances by Toronto theatre stalwarts, this tight, heartbreaking production might inspire you to call your grandparents and tell them that they matter.
www.broadwayworld.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Review: BREMEN TOWN, Tarragon Theatre's season opener, is a heartbreaking meditation on obsolescence #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: BLACKBIRD from Talk Is Free is an explosive 80 minutes of intimate site-specific theatre #theaTO #Theatre www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: BLACKBIRD at United Hope Church
What did our critic think of BLACKBIRD at United Hope Church? Of course, there’s a lot to gasp about in Talk Is Free Theatre’s production of BLACKBIRD, an incredibly intimate staging of Scottish playw...
www.broadwayworld.com
October 13, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Review: BLACKBIRD from Talk Is Free is an explosive 80 minutes of intimate site-specific theatre #theaTO #Theatre www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
@intermissionmag.bsky.social #review: 'Slave Play' at Canadian Stage sparks debate — so we reviewed it twice #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/slav...
Review: 'Slave Play' sparks debate — so we reviewed it twice
Intermission is honouring the play’s divisive reputation by presenting a pair of reviews written independently of one another.
www.intermissionmagazine.ca
October 6, 2025 at 6:01 PM
@intermissionmag.bsky.social #review: 'Slave Play' at Canadian Stage sparks debate — so we reviewed it twice #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/slav...
Review @intermissionmag.bsky.social Shifting Ground's Ride the Cyclone hits the carnival bullseye when it comes to heart and fun, but just misses the top prize by expanding the cast and reducing the original’s compelling creepiness. #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/ride...
Review: Shifting Ground's Ride the Cyclone is heartfelt, overloaded
Director 郝邦宇 Steven Hao hits the carnival bullseye when it comes to heart and fun, but just misses the top prize by expanding the cast.
www.intermissionmagazine.ca
September 29, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Review @intermissionmag.bsky.social Shifting Ground's Ride the Cyclone hits the carnival bullseye when it comes to heart and fun, but just misses the top prize by expanding the cast and reducing the original’s compelling creepiness. #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/ride...
#Review: WAITING FOR GODOT at Coal Mine Theatre is Al(exander Thomas) and Ted (Dykstra)'s Existentialist Adventure #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: WAITING FOR GODOT at Coal Mine Theatre
Coal Mine’s dedication to text and its intimate quarters mean that you don’t need to shell out for Broadway to get closer to Godot.
www.broadwayworld.com
September 26, 2025 at 5:10 PM
#Review: WAITING FOR GODOT at Coal Mine Theatre is Al(exander Thomas) and Ted (Dykstra)'s Existentialist Adventure #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
@nightwoodtheat.bsky.social inaugurates their new space with Chelsea Woolley's Enormity, Girl, and the Earthquake in Her Lungs, a fierce choreopoem that never lets up in presenting the fragmenting experience of trauma. #theatre #theaTO #review
www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: ENORMITY, GIRL, AND THE EARTHQUAKE IN HER LUNGS at Nightwood Theatre
Woolley’s moving and layered script, developed over years in Nightwood’s Write From the Hip program, is like a firehose of neuroses, a constant barrage that drenches you with a mind that never shuts o...
www.broadwayworld.com
September 22, 2025 at 4:31 PM
@nightwoodtheat.bsky.social inaugurates their new space with Chelsea Woolley's Enormity, Girl, and the Earthquake in Her Lungs, a fierce choreopoem that never lets up in presenting the fragmenting experience of trauma. #theatre #theaTO #review
www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review @intermissionmag.bsky.social: Put down the phone: 'Octet' vibrates with sublime vocal beauty @crowstheatre.bsky.social #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/octe...
Review: 'Octet' vibrates with sublime vocal beauty at Crow's
Dave Malloy’s intricate a cappella compositions are the hymns and confessionals in a show about a support group for internet addiction.
www.intermissionmagazine.ca
September 22, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Review @intermissionmag.bsky.social: Put down the phone: 'Octet' vibrates with sublime vocal beauty @crowstheatre.bsky.social #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/octe...
Interview: Emily Paterson of BUTCH/FEMME at #Theatre Passe Muraille explores Toronto's disappearing sapphic spaces #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Interview: Emily Paterson of BUTCH/FEMME at Theatre Passe Muraille
Emily Paterson’s BUTCH/FEMME opens Theatre Passe Muraille’s 2025/2026 season after receiving top honours at the University of Toronto Hart House Drama Festival.
www.broadwayworld.com
September 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Interview: Emily Paterson of BUTCH/FEMME at #Theatre Passe Muraille explores Toronto's disappearing sapphic spaces #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
#Review: Marvellously daring (though a little overstuffed) Soulpepper, @crowstheatre.bsky.social and @thehowlandcompany.bsky.social 'The Welkin' careens from comedy to tragedy in a compelling production #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/the-...
Review: Soulpepper's 'The Welkin' careens from comedy to tragedy
An effective staging by Weyni Mengesha and a large cross-section of the city’s most powerful actors make for compelling viewing.
www.intermissionmagazine.ca
September 14, 2025 at 6:22 PM
#Review: Marvellously daring (though a little overstuffed) Soulpepper, @crowstheatre.bsky.social and @thehowlandcompany.bsky.social 'The Welkin' careens from comedy to tragedy in a compelling production #theatre #theaTO www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/the-...
Today is the last day for Margo MacDonald's THE ELEPHANT GIRLS at Red Sandcastle, the story of London's all-women gang of the 1920s. MacDonald's compelling performance and snappy script are worth watching. www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti... #theatre #theaTO
Review: THE ELEPHANT GIRLS at Red Sandcastle Theatre
“It was all a game,” sneers Maggie Hale (Margo MacDonald), lead “enforcer” of THE ELEPHANT GIRLS, the notorious gang of women that swept through London in the 1920s.
www.broadwayworld.com
September 14, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Today is the last day for Margo MacDonald's THE ELEPHANT GIRLS at Red Sandcastle, the story of London's all-women gang of the 1920s. MacDonald's compelling performance and snappy script are worth watching. www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti... #theatre #theaTO
Reposted by Ilana Lucas
Carney plans to cut 15% to the arts. Here is a letter template to send to politicians to oppose this.
nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
New/Mode | Make your voice impossible to ignore
nwmd.social
August 30, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Carney plans to cut 15% to the arts. Here is a letter template to send to politicians to oppose this.
nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
Reposted by Ilana Lucas
INTRODUCING: ON Criticism, an incubator for theatre criticism offered by Intermission Magazine, the Grand Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Talk is Free Theatre, and Tarragon Theatre.
Announcing ON Criticism: The 2025/26 Theatre Critics Lab
Four southern Ontario theatres are collaborating with Intermission Magazine to continue advancing the field of theatre criticism.
www.intermissionmagazine.ca
August 26, 2025 at 8:14 PM
INTRODUCING: ON Criticism, an incubator for theatre criticism offered by Intermission Magazine, the Grand Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Talk is Free Theatre, and Tarragon Theatre.
Reposted by Ilana Lucas
Really feels like a particularly sad last few weeks for Canadian theatre, with the loss of yet another great artist that affected so many people, on stage and off. Rest in peace Joe Ziegler. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
📸 Cylla von Tiedemann
📸 Cylla von Tiedemann
July 29, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Really feels like a particularly sad last few weeks for Canadian theatre, with the loss of yet another great artist that affected so many people, on stage and off. Rest in peace Joe Ziegler. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
📸 Cylla von Tiedemann
📸 Cylla von Tiedemann
Though my qualms with Malloy's script persist, the
@mirvish.bsky.social transfer of @crowstheatre.bsky.social
'The Great Comet' won me over with an ecstatic, upscaled performance that rocks the (bigger) house. It's one heck of a vibe. #theatre #theaTO
@mirvish.bsky.social transfer of @crowstheatre.bsky.social
'The Great Comet' won me over with an ecstatic, upscaled performance that rocks the (bigger) house. It's one heck of a vibe. #theatre #theaTO
REVIEW: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 dazzles in Mirvish transfer
"The upscaled edition is slightly different, but it’s still a rave in multiple ways, with lived-in performances making it seem at times even more immediate than at Crow’s."
www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/nata...
"The upscaled edition is slightly different, but it’s still a rave in multiple ways, with lived-in performances making it seem at times even more immediate than at Crow’s."
www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/nata...
Review: 'The Great Comet' dazzles in Mirvish transfer
The upscaled edition of this Crow's Theatre and Musical Stage Company co-production is slightly different, but still a rave in multiple ways.
www.intermissionmagazine.ca
July 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Though my qualms with Malloy's script persist, the
@mirvish.bsky.social transfer of @crowstheatre.bsky.social
'The Great Comet' won me over with an ecstatic, upscaled performance that rocks the (bigger) house. It's one heck of a vibe. #theatre #theaTO
@mirvish.bsky.social transfer of @crowstheatre.bsky.social
'The Great Comet' won me over with an ecstatic, upscaled performance that rocks the (bigger) house. It's one heck of a vibe. #theatre #theaTO
Reposted by Ilana Lucas
It is with deep sadness that we mark the passing of actor Michael Blake, our dear friend and much valued colleague.
Michael was one of the most gifted actors of his generation. He played an extraordinary variety of parts and did so with an ability and ease that was rare.
Michael was one of the most gifted actors of his generation. He played an extraordinary variety of parts and did so with an ability and ease that was rare.
July 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
It is with deep sadness that we mark the passing of actor Michael Blake, our dear friend and much valued colleague.
Michael was one of the most gifted actors of his generation. He played an extraordinary variety of parts and did so with an ability and ease that was rare.
Michael was one of the most gifted actors of his generation. He played an extraordinary variety of parts and did so with an ability and ease that was rare.
Review: ROMEO AND JULIET at Canadian Stage provides powerful performances, puzzling thematic and textual choices #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: ROMEO AND JULIET at Canadian Stage
What did our critic think of ROMEO AND JULIET at Canadian Stage?The romantic tragedy and big emotions of Shakespeare’s famous tale of star-crossed lovers are difficult to successfully present in an ag...
www.broadwayworld.com
July 22, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Review: ROMEO AND JULIET at Canadian Stage provides powerful performances, puzzling thematic and textual choices #theatre #theaTO www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
It's the last day of Toronto Fringe! Go see some theatre. #FringeTO #theaTO #theatre I saw it after the media deadline, but I want to shout out Oh! I Miss the War, which has a show at 5pm today and is more than worthy of your time. www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...
Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 4 at Toronto Fringe
What did our critic think of TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 4 at Toronto Fringe?
www.broadwayworld.com
July 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
It's the last day of Toronto Fringe! Go see some theatre. #FringeTO #theaTO #theatre I saw it after the media deadline, but I want to shout out Oh! I Miss the War, which has a show at 5pm today and is more than worthy of your time. www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/arti...