The Last Wife
“There’s fine support, too, from Mikaela Davies and Anne-Marie Saheb as the queens-in-waiting — Davies a giggly Elizabeth in Shirley Temple curls and pastel frills”
- Jim Burke, The Montreal Gazette
“She is delightfully juxtaposed with Mikaela Davies’ Bess, whose millennial-styled delivery works for the future virgin Queen of England.”
- Anna Fuerstenberg, Montreal Rampage
“Mikaela Davies and Anne-Marie Saheb as royal half-sisters Bess and Mary, respectively, are uniformly charismatic – even if polar opposites in temperament. Fiery, funny, and altogether fierce, they play the political pawns who ultimately ascend to sovereignty in Catherine’s restoration of their line of succession to the throne.”
- Camila Fitzgibbon, Montreal Theatre Hub
“Ms. Davies and Mr. Gabrielli capture the naïve innocence of young children caught in a dangerous game.”
- Yolande Ramsay, Curtains Up
“Mikaela Davies and Anne-Marie Saheb offer two strong and convincing performances as half-sisters Bess (soon to be Elizabeth I) and Mary (eventually known as the Queen of Scotland). Splendid work from these two ladies in revealing escalating moments of tension between them which emanated from their father in not recognizing the value and worth of the role of their mothers. There was complete silence from the audience at the dinner table scene as no one wanted to miss any of the conversation.”
- Joseph Szekeres, Onstage Blog
Miss Bennet
“I must also post praise, in no particular order, for these remarkable theatre experiences: ...Mikaela Davies as the under-appreciated Mary in the Citadel’s Miss Bennett Christmas at Pemberley (she made shouting at prospective suitors seem the obvious move).”
- Liane Faulder, Edmonton Journal
Mikaela Davies’ portrayal of Mary is one of clear admiration, due to Davies’ comedic prowess, and the tenderness that shines through this serious and logical heroine. Mary is an underdog, but only due to the fact that nobody else seems to ‘get’ her, not because she can’t ‘get’ anybody else.
-Miya Abe, Vue Weekly
“The show centers on the middle sister, Miss Mary Bennet, played with a prickly charm and much wit by Toronto-based Mikaela Davies...Davies and Amin are delightful as the central couple. Their awkwardness is countered by their intelligence and they share a lovely chemistry.”
-Finster, Finster Finds
“Davies in particular does a superb job of cementing Mary’s personality as the bookish intellectual who has long suffered from middle child syndrome. Longing to see the world she has only seen on maps, her resentment of her sisters’ beauty and stability unravels as they prepare for the big Christmas gathering. Her fierce temper and informed criticisms of society give the show a timely relatability that’s unexpected from a seasonal show. As she navigates the closed-mindedness of the people around her, Mary’s resolute nature clashes with the tenderness of love and results in a fitting meditation on wealth and happiness.”
- Zosia Prus-Czarnecka, The Wanderer
“At the centre, a particularly modern position for the dismissible family nerd, is Mikaela Davies. And she’s terrific as Mary — bristly, awkward, impolitic, and a lot smarter than she needs to be. It’s a performance that combines an undefined yearning to “live the large life,” social naiveté, and exasperation in measures that will make you laugh and warm your heart. In a world of circumscribed responses for women, she’s always blurting things impetuously, answering too fast, too sharply, and two jumps ahead, without assessing the possible outcomes. Caution is not her forte; evidently, Mary has had enough of meekly being relegated in Pride and Prejudice. Davies’ comic timing in all of the above is impeccable. Her twin refuges are the library and the pianoforte. And Davies attacks the latter with zest and a certain defiance.”
- Liz Nicholls, Edmonton Journal
“As the two romantic leads, Davies and Amin are captivating as outsiders navigating the uncharted waters of new love. Their chemistry is palpable from their very first meeting, endearing them to the audience with their longing glances and social missteps as they come to terms with their own affections.”
- Sarah Dussome, Broadway World
The Changeling
“What is unusual about Jackie Maxwell’s production is the complexity of Mikaela Davies’ characterization, especially her enthusiastic sexual embrace of De Flores, even as her lust lives in such close proximity to her ongoing detestation of this sycophant with a price. The play thus becomes a meditation on a woman trapped by patriarchal modes of possession and whose only chance for sexual self-expression is with a man she hates. Davies is doing the best acting work on view at Stratford this year; Maxwell’s “The Changeling” teems with uncertainty, insecurity, pain and pleasure.”
- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
“Where [The Changeling] shines is in the performances by actors who get to sink their teeth into some incredibly complex characters who find themselves in very absurd and challenging situations. Mikaela Davies is captivating as Beatrice-Joanna.”
- Lauren Gienow, Broadway World
“The most compelling moments in the production take place between Mikaela Davies and Ben Carlson as both actors beautifully capture the inherent tension of their murderous, suddenly lusty relationship.”
- Geoff Dale, The London Free Press
“Jackie Maxwell has directed a production that is eerie in atmosphere and brimming with seething passion. The chemistry between De Flores and Beatrice-Joanna is that mix of revulsion and then a hopeless lust. Beatrice-Joanna is played by Mikaela Davies. She is confident, spoiled, seductive, coy and dangerous in her flirting. The audience is just swept along with all this intrigue and bubbling emotions.”
- Lynn Slotkin, The Slotkin Letter
“The woman is created with sociopathic skill by Mikaela Davies...It may be considered a lesser Classic, but it provides us with a rare and searing experience enacted by a superior cast is roles that lack sympathy, but are clearly and forcefully presented in a play that can confuse those who don’t get involved. It is a worthwhile experience and a Jackie Maxwell Master Class in Theatre”
- The Bay Observer
Mikaela Davies is hot stuff as Beatrice-Joanna, determined to have her way and never pay...The women, particularly the rather sultry Mikaela Davies as wicked Beatrice-Joanna, are well decked out in sensuous materials. Davies is hot as the luscious Rita Hayworth, or some such latter day sex siren.”
- Gary Smith, The Hamilton Spectator
“A well acted tale of two faces...Davies, in a performance as double-dealing as her character's double-barrelled name...In Davies's and Carlson's performances, they seem like the only psychologically complex pair in a society that otherwise is unilaterally obsessed with "honour" – Maxwell allowing them to have enough genuine sexual chemistry to make the coerced sex at the centre of the story to play out as, at the very least, semi-consensual.”
- J Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail
“Mikaela Davies successfully navigates Beatrice-Joanna’s twists, turns, and trysts...Davies’ knows how to wear a slinky silk dress. For some performers, the length of the rectangular stage would be a challenge, but director Maxwell takes every opportunity to have Davies’ slither the length of the stage. The choice makes theatrical sense: it suggests Beatrice-Joanna’s ability to manage whatever man gets in her way. Of course, her overweening pride and ungovernable desire leads her to the inevitable result.”
- David Greenham, Art's Fuse
The Madwoman of Chaillot
“..only a few passages spoken by the kitchen girl Irma really coming to complete life (and, then, perhaps only because of Mikaela Davies's heartfelt performance).”
- J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail
“There’s a love-plot too: two, in fact. One is Aurélie’s remembered romance with the man who let her down: one fantasy from which she manages to break free. The other, one that she stage-manages, matches a kitchen-wench with a young man blackmailed by all the President’s men and attempting suicide as a result. The nearest the play offers to an ordinary identifiable man, he is also, significantly, the only one denied a monologue. His situation speaks for him, most touchingly so in Antoine Yared’s performance. His beloved does get to address us directly if discreetly; Mikaela Davies is beautiful in the role.”
- Robert Cushman, National Post
The Libertine
“Lambermont-Morey has assembled an extraordinarily talented cast and leads them in delivering well-spoken, physically demanding performances. Mikaela Davies plays Leonora, Maria’s polar opposite, who still loves Don John even though she knows he is a monster. Davies presents the unsettlingly modern portrait of a woman who can’t rid herself of her attraction for the man who abuses her.”
- Christopher Hoile, Stage Door
Breath of Kings
“Performers offer stirring portraits [include] Mikaela Davies as both the French Dauphin and his sister Katherine, whose marriage to Henry V seals the war’s end.”
- Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine
“Mikaela Davies must score a first in productions of Henry V in playing both the Dauphin of France and Princess Katherine. She [makes] a fine Katherine showing an attractive spiritedness during the French lesson and a playful coyness in Henry’s wooing scene.“
- Christopher Hoile, Stage Door
“Mikaela Davies, who made a strong impression this season in Breath of Kings, plays the hit-man-hiring Beatrice-Joanna, while Cyrus Lane is her beloved Alsemero.”
- J Kelly Nestruck, Globe and Mail
“Mikaela Davies – doing double duty as both the French prince Henry opposes and the French princess he marries – is an excellent adversary/romantic interest.”
- J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail
Marat/Sade
“The inmates perform the rock- and punk–inflected tunes live on instruments scattered throughout the cage. Cast members rotate through keyboards, piano, drums, guitar, bass, violin and flute, revealing their serious musical chops. The ensemble is strong throughout”
-Jordan Bimm, NOW
“They are all highly melodic, terribly inventive and superbly performed”
- Richard Ouzounian, The Star
Spoon River
As well as a cast of newcomers—the talented Frank Cox-O'Connell, Mikaela Davies, Katherine Gauthier, Hailey Gillis…This one of those productions that comes over as a heartfelt gift from the actors to the audience, joyously offered, joyously received.
- Robert Cushman, National Post
The Dybbuk
“The acting ensemble here is big and dedicated; we get the sense of a community.”
- Robert Cushman, National Post
Tartuffe
“The ensemble work here is superb, from Duffy’s sensuous and sensible wife Elmire and Gregory Prest’s Cleante, the reasonable man perpetually baffled by unreason, through Colin Palangio’s hotheaded son and William Webster’s obsequiously threatening bailiff, down to the silent servants of Mikaela Davies and Frank Cox-O’Connell.”
- Robert Cushman, National Post
Idiot’s Delight
“Mikaela Davies and Gordon Hecht were perfect as the young newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Cherry.”
-Nicole Fairbairn, The Scene in TO
“...the charming characterization of an aloof British couple (Gordon Hecht, Mikaela Davies).”
- Keith Bennie, blog TO
“Gordon Hecht and Mikaela Davies are delightful as a pair of young English honeymooners.”
- Robert Cushman, National Post
“The most memorable performances are left to the lesser characters. Buliung is utterly charming as the waiter who resignedly accepts the whimsical nature of his fate. Newcomers Hecht and Davies are delightful as the stereotypically dotty British couple who so clearly will become stodgy before they’re thirty.”
- Christopher Hoile, Stage Door
“You’ve got to love a show that offers you stimulating ideas, intelligent writing and terrific acting. All those things and more are on display in Idiot’s Delight, which opened the Soulpepper Theatre season on Thursday night. There’s a totally endearing turn from Gordon Hecht and Mikaela Davies as the newlyweds who seem straight out of Downton Abbey…”
- Richard Ouzounian, The Star