HIVE 3 full of surprises

That’s it. Push me. Harder. The most rewarding shows at HIVE 3 are also the most challenging.

The Greatest Cities in the World emphasizes the shared through play

There are several false endings in The Greatest Cities in the World, and all of them come too late.

Donald and Lenore makes for a long, slow night underground

This tiki bar has seen better times.

Sex, spirituality grow in Paradise Garden

Sitting in her artist’s loft near Main Street, nibbling on olives and cheese, playwright Lucia Frangione says: “I seem to be drawn to investigate the relationship between spirituality and sexuality. There’s so much healing to be done there.”

There’s no denying the wit and emotional impact of Where the Blood Mixes

Again and again, Kevin Loring creates profoundly moving moments, and then wraps them in reassuringly earthy humour.

BASH’d: A Gay Rap Opera is brash and funny but seems like agitprop in search of a cause

BASH’d: A Gay Rap Opera feels like a gay newspaper comic strip that’s been brought to life.

Fear of Flight is beautifully put together

I won’t tell you whether the plane crashes, but I will tell you that it took me a while to come down after seeing Fear of Flight.

Dance Marathon is a sweaty, trippy party

You won’t get home on the same bus ticket you came down on—Dance Marathon ran about four hours the night I was there—but you won’t mind.

Monkey King is a carnivalesque fever dream

So, how did you spend last Sunday afternoon? I watched a monkey king do back flips across a stage to speed-metal guitars.

Robert Lepage's Blue Dragon has spectacular imagery, thin story

The lavish stage pictures in The Blue Dragon will be enough for many viewers.

The significance of the Holocaust demands more than KAMP delivers

Stylistically, this spectacle from the Dutch company Hotel Modern is innovative. KAMP’s thematic and interior worlds fail, however.

There’s a faintly glowing love story at the heart of the wintry, postapocalyptic NiX

Written and directed by Kendra Fanconi, NiX dazzles with its original and inventive staging.

Best Before's game gets dull

I enjoyed the charming, confident presence of the four hosts, all nonactors. But I kept waiting for Best Before to start.

The Passion Project is fleetingly pretty, but boring

Yeah, yeah. Deconstruction. Whatever.

Jerk is disturbing—and pointless

Jerk is so disturbing—and pointless—that I wish I hadn’t seen it.