Right of Passage

Written by Ann Barber and Kathleen McDonnell, 
Right of Passage was a critically-acclaimed outdoor show on Toronto Island in which the audience is led in parade from scene to scene. It is about the initiation of youth into adulthood and combines the creative skills of 17 professional artists and 90 community members.

Excerpts from Richard Ouzounian's review of Right of Passage in the Toronto Star:

"Pure Magic" full review here

"If you're looking for a totally different theatrical experience, then I suggest you take the ferry to Ward's Island one evening between now and Sunday to catch Right of Passage.

It's part play, part pageant, and part performance art: a look at three kids from the instant of birth to that scary moment when they endure the "passage" into adulthood. And it's your passage as well, because this is the kind of show where you change locations with each scene...

You pass through 'The Avenue of the Seven Deadly Teens,' a long stretch of boardwalk where luridly lit figures in huge papier mache heads illustrate the adolescent ways of sinning. (Yes, Doritos stand for Gluttony.)

Then we arrive at the Rave, which manages to be every kid's dream and every parent's nightmare simultaneously.

Grotesque figures on stilts move in and out of the shadows as the rave master (a terrifying job from Christopher Pinheiro) chants his insidious message: 'How you gonna know? Gotta take a risk. Say yes to the road of excess.'

... if you're willing to surrender yourself to the glories of colour, light, music and movement, you will be astonished, delighted, and even moved.

And at the end of the evening as the 10:15 ferry takes you home, the lights of downtown will look different, I promise you."

For Richard Ouzounian's full review of Right of Passage in the Toronto Star: - here 

Visit Kathleen McDonnell's website here.