QUOTES
Condoms, Fish & Circus Tricks
"hard-hitting" The Royal Gazette, Bermuda.
"Excellent shoot-from-the-hip account of the AIDS pandemic…. Mr. Rooney gets the balance between tragedy and hope exactly right." Bermuda Sun.
"an excellent teaching resource for medical schools…" The Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases.
"it should be essential viewing for Canadians" Canadian Medical Association Journal.
"This unrelenting film is a chronicle of a crisis that once seemed to be moving in slow motion but is now speeding up…a very good, sadly sobering documentary" The Globe & Mail.
EVENTS
Mandela and the Children, SkyDome, Toronto.
"You have made me feel like a young man again, with my batteries recharged" - President Nelson Mandela.
"When you will be my age, you will tell your grandchildren: 'I was there when Nelson Mandela came to Canada and Toronto'. " - Prime Minister Jean Chrétien addressing the crowd.
"SkyDome was packed with more than 40,000 ecstatic students and when Mandela and his wife emerged….that excitement turned electric….At one point during an hour of musical entertainment , he even rose from his seat to dance to an up-tempo South African song. It was thrilling. Mandela, a living legend was showing all of his human enthusiasm" - Toronto Star
"…the Dome rang with deafening cheers….Over the din rang the the high clear voices of the Ubuntu Children's Choir singing the catchy and inspirational song 'Nelson Man-del-a'. Even in the press box there was hardly a dry eye. 'Overwhelming,' gulped one professionally cynical observer." - Toronto Sun.
"May his magic linger." - MacLean's.
"..felt more like a rock concert than a visit by a head of state….Children remained the focus throughout the rally. Politicians and other dignitaries were kept to the side of the stage, allowing students to sit in the front row as entertainment acts as diverse as Quebec's Cirque du Soleil and singer Susan Aglukark performed." - Canadian Press.
X MARKS THE SPOT
"Rooney has assembled a first-class compilation of Western and African pop." - Eye Weekly
"…a soundtrack to a new era." - Toronto Sun
"This album is a treat." - Chaos
"…a wonderfully diverse and yet surprisingly cohesive compilation which is helping to make the political process as accessible as it can be…" - The Newspaper
"…an impressive line-up of socially conscious recording artists from around the world on this compilation. This CD scores musically on all fronts." - Metro Word
"Even if the proceeds weren't going directly to a South African voter education organization and even if it weren't a Toronto-originated project, the music itself would be worth the price of X Marks The Spot….you'd be hard-pressed to find a compilation of equal value anywhere. Amandla indeed." - NOW Magazine
MAYIBUY' iAFRICA, Royal Alex Theatre, Toronto.
"Oscar Peterson received a standing ovation….Liona Boyd was a surprise guest… It was an evening of celebration with approximately 100 performers" - Toronto Star.
"The evening was a mixture of lightness and joy, sorrow and anger…" - Globe & Mail
TORONTO ARTS AGAINST APARTHEID GALA, Royal Alex Theatre, Toronto.
"…a once-in-a-lifetime collection of dramatic, musical and literary talent." - Toronto Star
"You had to be there. It was excellent." - Share
THEATRE
The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway Produced by Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton.
"...a distinctly unforgettable show, particularly in this striking visual production....vigorously alive...wonderful production values." - Hamilton Spectator.
My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard. Produced by MCMA, Toronto and Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton.
"...the actors do excellent jobs...Garay and Moodie bubble with intellectual energy, competitiveness and pride (and considerable subtextual sexual tension), and Seremba's strong and dignified performance evokes the love of learning and the burning urge to pass on that love. The set is a marvel: a rough-planked township schoolroom that changes effortlessly into a gorgeous African landscape." - Globe and Mail.
"...a play of ideas and emotions and this production produces a show that is both moving and memorable. My Children! My Africa! works beautifully....a play for the mind, the heart and the spirit." - Hamilton Spectator.
"Robert Rooney's impressive revival of the play...crisp and uncluttered production is solidly grounded in Fugard's eloquent script" - Toronto Star.
Tete A Tete by Ralph Burdman. Produced by the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, MA.
"Seldom has this summer theatre offered players of international stature in a work of such witty yet tragic substance...the kind of witty, thinking theatre that has been scarce in New York for some years..." - NY Daily News.
"...his (Jose Ferrer's) Sartre is playful, sharp, sad and in a strange way heroic. Constance Cummings' de Beauvoir is more active, more able perhaps to feel the other's pain and therefore more desperate. Their performances merge like music, and sometimes rise to unforgettable moments..." - Boston Herald.
"Rooney has orchestrated a deeply affecting and realistic picture of the last days of a remarkable relationship." - Metroland.
"Rooney's production is an extraordinary theatrical event...The absence of sentimentality, in fact, is one of the most treasured aspects ...a play and production that treat its characters and the audience with intelligence is the crowning achievement of a BTF season that has grown more distinguished with every Mainstage outing." - Berkshire Eagle.
The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Produced by Perseverance Theatre, Juneau, Alaska.
"Rooney's outstanding direction allows not only for a clear understanding of the characters but his use of sound underscores the language in a symphonic way. He never misses a beat." - Juneau Press.
"...it is gripping, thought-provoking drama...one of those rare productions which the audience carries away with them from the theatre, delicious food for thought that is not easily digested. If the goal of theatre is to stir the minds and souls of the audience, then Perseverance has surely succeeded… …As directed by Robert Rooney, 'The Night of the Iguana' is a powerful and moving drama, rich in symbolism and metaphor...When I came out I was conscious of having seen a play of explosive sex, without a single act of overt sexuality....It is worth watching; thinking about; and discussing." - Juneau Empire.
Something In The Air by ICTUS and Carlos Cerda. Produced by TWP, Toronto.
"....one of the finest productions of 1988." - Toronto Star.
"...splendid staging...Mahler's magnificent 6th Symphony is used to telling effect by director Rooney...Not all his innovations succeed yet the abiding memory is of compelling theatre tightly packed into 90 uninterrupted minutes." - Toronto Sun.
"The play opens with some daring direction by Robert Rooney...an important play, performed with searing passion and intensity. Political theatre doesn't come much better." - Toronto Star.
Tete A Tete by Ralph Burdman. Produced by TWP, Toronto.
"(Elizabeth) Shepherd's work is a model of clarity and sustained intensity...(Neil) Vipond is almost equally good, reaching for and finding a character of rare strength and humanity. The chemistry is right....an evening of rare and uplifting quality." - Toronto Star.
The Lesson by Ionesco and The Real Inspector Hound by Stoppard. Produced by Theatre Plus, Toronto.
"In the capable hands of director Robert Rooney, these two one-act plays are given an appropriately quirky, exaggerated and stylized presentation that mines all the literary gems from masterfully inlaid veins of irony...Not only has Rooney managed to extract a high level of accomplishment from his actors, the cast's obvious enjoyment in performing the task at hand has a way of spilling over and infecting a clearly delighted audience...the overall effect...is to leave one yearning for more revivals of absurdist works." - Toronto Star.
Gone The Burning Sun by Ken Mitchell. Produced by TWP, Toronto.
"It is an intense, vivid and often raw portrait of tormented genius - disturbing, sometimes unpleasant but ultimately satisfying...David Fox is mesmerizing as Bethune...Director Rooney has paced the production beautifully, always providing a focus and a rhythm for Bethune's monologues." - Ottawa Citizen.
"...a thoroughly integrated and thoroughly satisfying piece of Canadian theatre." - Hamilton Spectator.
"All this deeply moved the Chinese audience." - Beijing People's Daily.
Theatre In The Time of Nero and Seneca by Edward Radzinsky. Produced by TWP, Toronto.
"...a monumental work, an epic cry of deranged passion and intellectual torment...In virtually every respect, the super-charged production....captures the stunning force of Radzinsky's apocalyptic drama...Rooney's intensely physical direction never obscures Radzinsky's nuances...a Roman orgy for the mind, body and soul, an experience not to be missed." - Macleans.
When The Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs. Produced by TWP, Toronto.
"...a wonderfully funny and sad little play...that reaffirms one of man's greatest qualities: his ability to laugh under the dark cloud of catastrophe." - Globe & Mail.
"...the most successful artistic work that the theatre has had this season." - NOW magazine.
The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs by David Edgar. Produced by TWP, Toronto.
"...a highly-charged, deeply-passionate and thoroughly fascinating play...Rooney's staging of this show produces an escalating intensity...(R.H.) Thomson's is a memorable performance...The play packs a powerful punch. It's beautiful." -Canadian Tribune.
"Thomson never attacks his audience - his is a subtle approach, a seduction - at times brutal, at others kind, but always he beckons to us, insisting we become an active participant in his exploration...As much as this show relies on the strength of its central character, it also depends on the support of its many smaller roles and there are several beautifully executed performances...A clear angular set design compliments the production...and director Robert Rooney has shaped his production into a tightly meshed unit." - Globe & Mail.
"Director Robert Rooney contributes excellent theatricality...to provide a moving, stark realisation to Sachs' experiences...a superb supporting cast make this production fascinating to watch on many levels. Compelling stuff." - Toronto Tonight.
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