Dramatic Arts Associate Professor Karen Fricker co-wrote a piece recently published in the Toronto Star outlining highlights of the fall theatre season in Toronto. Fricker co-wrote the piece alongside fellow theatre critic Carly Maga.

Fricker and Maga write:

Carly Maga: So, Karen, another Toronto summer come and gone. How did you spend your summer vacation? (I expect your report on my desk by the end of class.)

Karen Fricker:Well, Ms. Maga, like you I saw a fair bit of theatre! And I also lived my best cottage life. And now there’s the exciting prospect of a whole bunch of new productions coming our way. What has you fired up?

CM:I have to say, combing through the fall season was an embarrassment of riches. Toronto theatregoers are very lucky. And some of my most anticipated shows are coming from the independent scene, primarily Coal Mine’s co-production with Studio 180 of Jennifer Haley’s The Nether in early October, starring Toronto’s youngest theatre darling, Hannah Levinson (who must be entering the double digits soon), taking a dramatic turn after singing her way into our hearts in the musicals Matilda, Fun Home and this summer’s Fringe hit, The Preposterous Predicament of Polly Peel.

KF:Yes, I’ve been wanting to see The Nether since it was first a hit at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2013. A sci-fi and crime drama set in a virtual world … in the very intimate setting of the Coal Mine, directed by Peter Pasyk and, yes, with the unstoppable Hannah Levinson. Book now to avoid disappointment, as they say. What other indie shows are tickling your curiosity?

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