aisling murphy

Rogers v. Rogers is v good The one-man nature of the show calls attention to how much destruction gets caused by a family fighting itself

Latest for @theglobeandmail.com -- Rogers v. Rogers @crowstheatre.bsky.social is v. good www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag... #theatre #theaTO

Not reviewing ROGERS V. ROGERS, but just got home from opening night.

Imagine if Kendall Roy railed a line of coke, then tried to recount the full saga of Waystar Royco.

Thrilling stuff. The kind of theatre that makes you love theatre. You'll probably want to grab a ticket soon.

How the Kennedy Center Has Been Transformed by Trumpism The President was drawn to the institution for its cultural prestige. He and his allies made it radioactive.

The 48th Kennedy Center Honors was “a tacky, supersized love letter to the center’s self-installed chairman, President Donald Trump,” @xwaldie.bsky.social writes.
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

The Woman in Black has a few good jump scares – but an annoying frame narrative nearly smothers them Stephen Mallatratt’s stage adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel imposes a frustrating play-within-a-play conceit

And, in Toronto, The Woman in Black. I wanted to like this one more than I did – that play-within-a-play conceit gets deeply irritating by the end of the first act.

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Two Christmastime classics close the book on the Shaw Festival’s Royal George Theatre A Critic’s Pick musical and a ubiquitous ghost story mark the end of an era for the midsize venue

Two new @theglobeandmail.com theatre reviews for this snowy day:

First, some thoughts on the Shaw Festival's Christmas offerings, and a sendoff for the Royal George Theatre. White Christmas is a must-see; A Christmas Carol is solid but not life-changing.

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

The best theatre of 2025 from Toronto, Stratford and Shaw Aisling Murphy shares her top 10 picks of the year, her first as Globe theatre reporter

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Top 10 Season.

I've seen just under 220 shows so far this year – narrowing this down was such a treat.

Here's my first solo-bylined Top 10 for @theglobeandmail.com, featuring shows of all sizes from across Ontario.

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

We Will Rock You is a bad case of Freddie Mercury-poisoning The cast isn’t terrible, but they’re not consistent enough to save the nonsensical script

My review of the revised WE WILL ROCK YOU — perhaps the worst three hours I have spent in a theatre — is out now.

As they say: Another one bites the dust.

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Playwright Jeremy O. Harris has been in the custody of Japanese authorities since last month after being arrested at the airport in Japan on suspicion of smuggling illegal drugs into the country (it was .78 grams of MDMA).

Why are we just hearing about this now?

Full Story: bit.ly/3KF2fcq

Meet Ming Wong, the designer behind the elaborate costumes in Toronto’s holiday pantomime Here’s how Wong took her designs from sketch to stage for this year’s Christmastime show

Truly elated to share this profile of costume designer Ming Wong, with fabulous photos by Duane Cole and digital build by Sarah Palmer.

The CanStage panto is such a showcase of the things Ming does well — I loved getting an exclusive peek at her process.

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Frozen fever has hit Canadian theatre. Here’s what Elsa and Anna are up to across the country The production – complete with fake snow, costume changes and Easter eggs for superfans – is being staged by five directors

I’m working my way through the Ontario Frozens at the moment (I’ll be seeing the Grand’s in a few weeks), and I’ve been so delighted to get to know this show better.

I loved talking shop with five directors for this story. ❄️❄️❄️

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

How we put together our list of the year’s best books, and more questions answered by our experts Readers asked about how the Globe 100 list is selected, why certain genres didn’t make the cut and which were our book experts’ personal favourites of the year

We answered #readers questions about the #globe100 #books #booksky #reading #CanLit www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/book...

Kids Can Press company logo and logo and image of Franklin character with statement text,”Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values.”

Bad Hats’ Narnia is huge-hearted and Muppety – and packs a surprising emotional wallop There’s not much that Bad Hats doesn’t get right in its musical adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Did I weep during Bad Hats' NARNIA yesterday? (And with very sticky, marshmallowy fingers?) Don't worry about it.

But if you can brave the Distillery crowds, this show is such a treat.

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88 A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter The playwright Tom Stoppard, whose playful erudition dazzled the theatregoing world for decades, has died aged 88. One of a select band of writers from any discipline to earn his own adjective – “Stoppardian” – in the Oxford English Dictionary, he delighted in the most improbable juxtapositions: philosophy and gymnastics in Jumpers (1972); early 19th-century landscape gardening and chaos theory in Arcadia (1993); rock music, dissident Czech academics and the love poetry of Sappho in Rock ’n’ Roll (2006). Continue reading...

Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88

I’m getting varied responses to this on my Instagram poll, I think this is a cultural thing! Most of the Americans say no it’s not, most of the Canadians say yes it is.

The Sound of Music is luxurious and lush – and just in time for Christmas The touring production, now playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, is well-sung and gloriously directed

Not sure how I feel about this whole "The Sound of Music as a Christmas story" thing. But this production is just wonderful — it's a worthy watch no matter how well you think you know the von Trapps.

Review @theglobeandmail.com:

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Moonlight Schooner is a swirling storm of ideas and poetry Kanika Ambrose’s portrait of what it means to exist as a Black man in 1958 never quite reaches its full, elemental potential

I had high hopes for MOONLIGHT SCHOONER – I'm a fan of Kanika Ambrose's writing and her previous collaborations with director Sabryn Rock have been outstanding. But this one didn't work for me.

Review in @theglobeandmail.com:

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

hey i know her

You’re damn right. Home girl Vanessa Sears can do ANYTHING.

& Juliet’s title role is one of the hardest in musical theatre. Vanessa Sears is up to the challenge The lead role in & Juliet requires a two-and-a-bit-octave range and memorizing hours of choreography

& Juliet's lead role might just be the hardest in musical theatre. With an F3-F#5 vocal range, hours of difficult choreo and a complex emotional bent, Juliet is a beast.

But if anyone can slay her, it's Vanessa Sears.

Profile @theglobeandmail.com:

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/stag...

Yep! Nailed it.

Zootopia 2 corrects the ‘cop-a-ganda’ record of the first movie with punny style Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde re-evaluate their platon-ish relationship – with policing as a means of creating positive change in the world

Yesterday, I saw Wicked: For Good and Zootopia 2.

One was an unnecessary sequel about the plight of animals, brought to life onscreen in garish colours.

The other was Zootopia 2.

Here's my Critic's Pick review of Disney's best sequel in years.

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

Finally saw the film today. If anything, this headline’s generous.

This wordily titled British play sees three couples fight for love in all its forms Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu directs the sparse North American premiere of debbie tucker green’s a profoundly affectionate, passionate devotion to someone (-noun)

Mixed thoughts on profoundly affectionate, passionate devotion to someone (-noun). (Say that five times fast!)

I wanted to love this. But the wispiness of the script – a classic British anti-romance – just didn't work for me.

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...

The headline. The lede. The "moral courage of a frosted cupcake." 😮‍💨

Wow, White Christmas at the Shaw Festival. Now that’s how you do a vintage musical. (Review tk next week, but haven’t left a musical feeling so energized in quite a while!)

Go see! ❄️

Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.

A few months ago @thelocal.to got a promising pitch from a writer with bylines in whole bunch of reputable publications—The Cut, The Guardian, Dwell, Architectural Digest, etc. Then I started investigating. Here's a story about fabulists in journalism's AI slop era. thelocal.to/investigatin...

Four take-aways from the Toronto stop of Kamala Harris’s book tour The former U.S. vice-president offers some insights and speaks about hope

Stepped into U.S. politics this weekend to cover Kamala Harris at Meridian Hall in Toronto. It was a mostly joyful afternoon, give or take the handful of pro-MAGA protestors blasting "YMCA" on Front Street.

Story in today's @theglobeandmail.com:

www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-pol...

Managed to catch Shrek at YPT in Toronto yesterday, and it was fine, but I cannot fathom cutting “Who I’d Be” from the TYA version of the show. It’s the thesis of the story and one of the best “I want” songs in the canon. What gives?