←Recommendations of WONDER OF OUR STAGE

A fun, clever insight on science, the arts, and how the two can become intertwined. Uses magic and the imagination to explore Shakespeare while acknowledging the unanswerable mysteries surrounding him, a premise that's astounding and plays out in such a way that it just makes sense.

Shakespeare was so good it's inhuman. No, literally. Shakespeare was a robot. Think about it. Cross, deftly arranging her genre influences into perfect harmony, gifts us with a stupendous, powerful character study that instantly transports us back in time and affixes marvel in our brains. Even though dressed in Elizabethan garb and language (the latter never feeling like the barrier it could so easily be, a testament to Cross's skill), the classic themes of stellar science fiction sing out and loud, and watching young William find his identity is a journey artists and audiences of any background will gleefully devour.

This work of art fires and succeeds on so many levels my head is still spinning from the magical rush of wonder it gave me. A deeply affecting, wildly inventive spin on the Pygmalion and Galatea myth – positing William Shakespeare was actually an automaton created to become QE1's consort –it captures its Elizabethan era so perfectly the anachronisms become a natural part of the world Cross has created, and while all the characters are brilliantly conceived, I defy anyone not to fall in love with the Automaton: he is the irresistible heart and soul of this play.

Cross has a unique answer to the nagging question "But, who really wrote Shakespeare?" A robot! A funny and sweet examination about what it is that makes us truly human.

Shake(spearea)n to my core" is the earthly feeling I had during the entirety of WONDER OF OUR STAGE. I lack the will to research who the everlasting playwright really was. Instead, I trust that he was who Monica Cross truly embodied in this purposeful tale: the soulful Automaton.

At first I appreciated the fresh take on the "who wrote Shakespeare's plays genre," but Cross has done something much more interesting. The automaton at the heart of this piece serves as a means of exploring the nature of theatrical representation itself and what we are really trying to do when we write drama and poetry. The reflections on love and its expressions are some of the most interesting I have encountered in a while. I also have to comment on Cross's ease with the dialogue, which sounds convincingly Elizabethan but never stilted or awkward. A major achievement overall.

Cross’s “Wonder of Our Stage” is unlike any period piece I’ve read. What if one of humanity’s greatest writers wasn’t a human, but a robot? What makes us human? Cross answers all these questions and more in “Wonder of Our Stage.” Cross’s addition of literary allusions makes this a great play for the bookworm in you. Interesting, unique and engaging!

Witness the creation of genius. Blending science fiction with historical fiction, Wonder forms a theatrical experience not to be missed. Cross effortlessly deploys early modern language, and phrasing, in a manner that any modern audience can enjoy, and understand with ease. She challenges nature of purpose, in life - intended Vs found, free will Vs destiny, romantic love Vs true happiness. Add this show to your season.

I saw this play at the Players Centre for the Performing Arts and loved it. The concept was so original and well-done, and the story was poignant, but also very funny at times.

A deeply pleasurable contemplation on the nature of the human, and what makes us so, Cross in this play also playfully tweaks the myths surrounding Shakespeare and the suggestion that did not write his own work. Elements of many of the Bard’s work, entwined with homages to Frankenstein, Pinocchio, and all stories of a child or creation in conflict with their parent or creator. Elegiac and inspiring, a must-read!