Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome back to the 202nd episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 202nd episode we bring you Part 1 of our two-part Review Roundup covering all six shows in the 2024 Next Stage Theatre Festival (presented by Toronto Fringe). Join Mackenzie Horner, Jillian Robinson, and Ryan Borochovitz as they reflect upon the first three pieces they attended, struggle to adhere to their intended ten-minute allotment per show (oops!), and discuss everything from anti-Haitian xenophobia, to high school choirs, to duty of care.

Stay tuned for Parts 2, coming soon!

The Next Stage Festival is currently running at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander Street, Toronto, ON) until November 27th, 2024. Information about the show line-up and tickets can be found at the following link: https://fringetoronto.com/next-stage/shows

WARNING: This review roundup contains spoilers for all three shows being covered.

TIMESTAMP NAVIGATOR: 0:00:00 – Intro 0:02:25 – The Noose 0:14:00 – I Was Unbecoming Then 0:36:25 – Gemini 1:03:26 – Sign Off

Follow our panelists: Mackenzie Horner (Before the Downbeat: A Musical Podcast) – Instagram/Facebook: BeforetheDownbeatApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3aYbBeNSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3sAbjAu

Jillian Robinson – Instagram: @jillian.robinson96

Ryan Borochovitz – [Just send all that love to CoH instead; he won’t mind!]

Follow Cup of Hemlock Theatre on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @cohtheatre

If you’d like us to review your upcoming show in Toronto, please send press invites/inquiries to coh.theatre.MM@gmail.com

Welcome back to the 201st episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 201st episode we have a new proshot review of the the National Theatre’s 2022 production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (as preserved by National Theatre Live), directed by Lyndsey Turner, starring Brendan Cowell as John Proctor and Erin Doherty as Abigail Williams. Join host and Co-Artistic Producer @mackenzie_horner along side Co-Artistic Producer Ryan Borochovitz, Associate Producer @jillian.robinson96, returning special guest panelist @hime.sarah discuss the special rain effects and additional the prologue and epilogue this production added and Erin's alternative interpretation of Abigail. Plus they debate alternative titles for this iconic play.

Watch the play on NTatHome (subscription needed): https://www.ntathome.com/the-crucible

Follow our panelists: Mackenzie Horner (Before the Downbeat: A Musical Podcast) – Instagram/Facebook: BeforetheDownbeat Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3aYbBeN Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sAbjAu

Sarah Hime – Instagram: @hime.Sarah // Twitter: @SarahHime1 // Watch Pink is In: https://tv1.bell.ca/fibetv1/shows/pink-is-in / https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Pink-Is-In/0FWMKIC23RN784WD60FC5UQ950#:~:text=Prime%20Video%3A%20Pink%20Is%20In / https://tubitv.com/series/300001076/pink-is-in

Jillian Robinson – Instagram: @jillian.robinson96

Ryan Borochovitz – [Just send all that love to CoH instead; he won’t mind!]

Follow Cup of Hemlock Theatre on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @cohtheatre If you’d like us to review your upcoming show in Toronto, please send press invites/inquiries to coh.theatre.MM@gmail.com

Welcome back to the 192nd episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 192nd episode we have a new artist interview. This particular conversation was hosted by our Co-Artistic Producer Ryan Borochovitz and features Toronto-based actor and multifaceted theatre artist, HRH Anand Rajaram, all about his play Crosstown – adapted from Richard Scrimger’s 1996 novel of the same name – recently presented at the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival and VideoCabaret. Join these two as they have a rigorous discussion about everything from honorifics to hauntology, epic poetry to urban poverty, and the challenges of making socially responsible provocative art.

SPOILER WARNING: Though the initial run of Crosstown has come to an end, we sincerely hope that it will be revived by another theatre company sometime in the near future. If you happen to have found this episode shortly before planning to attend one such remount, be aware that this interview contains many spoilers, both for the play and the novel from which it is adapted. We begin with a general non-spoiler section until the [42:20] mark, followed by a more in-depth/anything goes/spoiler-rich discussion. For anybody who wishes to avoid spoilers, we recommend you stop watching after that point, or at least proceed at your own risk.

CONTENT WARNING: This interview contains a detailed discussion about abortion – the morality, politics, and literary/theatrical representation thereof. It also includes references to infanticide, sexual assault, implied incest, alcoholism, loss of family, genocide, and colonial violence. These conversations predominantly occur during the spoiler section, if you would like to avoid such topics. Viewer/listener discretion is strongly advised.

Revisit our review of Crosstown from our Fringe Review Roundup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDKw_MDJLEY

Follow Anand – All platforms: @hrh_anand_rajaram

Follow Cup of Hemlock Theatre on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @cohtheatre If you’d like us to review your upcoming show in Toronto, please send press invites/inquiries to coh.theatre.MM@gmail.com

Welcome back to the 102nd episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 102nd episode we have a new artist interview. This particular conversation was hosted by our Co-Artistic Producer Mackenzie Horner and the artists who took on the hot seat were Arkady Spivak (Founder and CEO) and Michael Torontow (Artistic Director) of Talk is Free Theatre. Mackenzie, Arkady and Michael talk all about their recent changing of the guard, the future of TIFT, the sage advice Arkady has given to his successor Michael and musical catalogue of Stephen Sondheim.

Follow TIFT – Instagram: @talkisfreetheatre // Company Website: https://www.tift.ca/

Follow Arkady – Email: arkady@tift.ca  

Follow Michael – Instagram: @torontow // Email: torontow@tift.ca // Personal Website: https://michaeltorontow.com/  

Follow Cup of Hemlock Theatre on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @cohtheatre

Welcome back to the 101st episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 101st episode we have a new artist interview. This particular conversation was hosted by our Co-Artistic Producer Ryan Borochovitz and the artist who took on the hot seat was Jade Walker, playwright and director of Bruno & Hogginfritz, which is hot off its Toronto Fringe premiere and will soon to be continuing its run at Vancouver Fringe. Ryan and Jade talk all about this sublime new piece, the value of a good high school drama teacher, and making absurd art in an absurd world.

Bruno & Hogginfritz is playing at The NEST (1398 Cartwright St, Vancouver, BC) as part of the Vancouver Fringe Festival, from September 10th to 18th, 2022! Tickets can be purchased from the following link: https://www.vancouverfringe.com/festival/bruno-hogginfritz/   

Follow Jade – Instagram: @jadeangelmindfreak // Personal Website: https://jadedaniellewalker.wixsite.com/website  

Follow the show – Instagram: @brunoandhogginfritz

Welcome back to the 100th episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 100th episode we celebrate this big milestone with an extra special roundtable reflecting on our journey thus far! Join Mackenzie, Jill, and Ryan as they offer commentary on the first hundred episodes, filled to the brim with peeks behind the curtain, insights about our role within the theatre community, and thoughts about what might come next. On behalf of the whole team, we would sincerely like to thank everyone who has helped us get this far, from guests to listeners, and everyone in between!

Follow our panelists:  

Mackenzie Horner (Before the Downbeat: A Musical Podcast) – Instagram/Facebook: BeforetheDownbeat 

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3aYbBeN

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sAbjAu 

Jillian Robinson – Instagram: @jillian.robinson96 

Ryan Borochovitz – [Just send all that love to CoH instead; he won’t mind!]

Welcome back to the 99th episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 99th episode we have a very special episode to mark the occasion of our fast-approaching 100th episode milestone by hearing some kind words of congratulations and support from members of our CoHT community. Tune in to these lovely testimonials from some of our favourite theatre people, and don’t forget to catch the big celebration next week!

Welcome back to the 98th episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 98th episode we have a new artist interview. This particular conversation was hosted by our Co-Artistic Producer Ryan Borochovitz and the artists who took on the hot seat were Zaynna Khalife, Jessica Harb, and Zachary Barmania who werehot off the Toronto Fringe premiere of their play, Wanda, written by Ethan Ryckman. Enjoy as these members of WandaCorp dive deep into this brilliant new piece, discussing romcoms without villains, the merits of the Bechdel Test, and the unbearable sadness of being Lord Farquaad.

Follow our panelists:

Follow WANDA – Official Hashtag: #ProbablyWanda  

Follow Zaynna – Instagram/TikTok: @zaynnak // Facebook: Zaynna Khalife  

Follow Jessica – Instagram: @jessicaharb  

Follow Zachary – Youtube/Soundcloud: Upstairs Neighbour Media

Welcome back to the 97th episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 97th episode we have a very special episode commemorating Toronto Fringe 2022, by discussing every show that we saw during the festival. Join Mackenzie, Jill, and Ryan, as they blitz through a curated selection of twenty-three different shows, unpack all of their thoughts, and document this moment in theatre history for posterity!   

TIMESTAMP NAVIGATOR:  

00:00– Intro 

04:06 – Wanda  

11:17 – Get a Dog  

15:14 – The Boy Who Cried  

20:09 – Phantasmagoria  

24:38 – Too Much Information Improvised  

33:37 – Six Chick Flicks 

38:24 – Buckets Full of Blood  

43:36 – Jay & Shilo: Nightmare Neighbours  

48:07 – The Questing Beast  

50:56 – The Prince’s Big Adventurer  

56:59 – Garden of Alla  

01:01:39 – Joan and Olivia: A Hollywood Ghost Story  

01:06:37 – Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay  

01:10:11 – The Crack of Doom!  

01:18:05 – The Walk in the Snow  

01:26:21 – The Chess Player  

01:32:16 – Iphigenia in Splott  

01:40:11 – Billy & the Dreamerz  

01:45:33 – Dreams  

01:50:48  – 9428  

01:57:05 – John Who  

02:06:05 – The Sorauren Book Club  

02:11:19 – Dead Broke  

02:23:36 – Sign Off

Follow our panelists:

Mackenzie Horner (Before the Downbeat: A Musical Podcast) – Instagram/Facebook: BeforetheDownbeat 

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3aYbBeN

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sAbjAu 

Jillian Robinson – Instagram: @jillian.robinson96  

Ryan Borochovitz – Instagram: @ryanborochovitz [just this once!]

Welcome back to the 96th episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 96th episode we have a Duet Review of the Mirvish’s production of the new musical, & Juliet, written by David West Read and Max Martin, directed by Luke Sheppard, and starring Lorna Courtney in the title role. Join Jillian Robinson and Ryan Borochovitz as they discuss early 2000s pop music, Shakespearean fanfiction, and the magic of asking “what if…?”

& Juliet is playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre (300 King Street West, Toronto, ON) until August 14, 2022 – after which it goes to Broadway! Tickets can be purchased from the following link: https://www.mirvish.com/shows/juliet   

This review contains SPOILERS for & Juliet. It will begin with a general non-spoiler review until the [0:10:44] mark, followed by a more in-depth/anything goes/spoiler-rich discussion. If you intend to see the production, we recommend you stop watching after that point, or at least proceed at your own risk.

Follow our panelists:

Jillian Robinson – Instagram: @jillian.robinson96  

Ryan Borochovitz – [Just send all that love to CoH instead; he won’t mind!]