Cheap Theatre in Toronto for the Week of May 23, 2010

By Megan Mooney

Five for Twenty (Or Less)

Okay, this is the Facebook edition.  I’m going to go through the events I’ve been invited to on Facebook and pick my top 5 for $20 or less for you…

1)  THEATRESPORTS – The HOTTEST Improv Games in Town

Every Friday and Saturday night, Bad Dog Theatre becomes an arena, not unlike Thunderdome where two teams, comprised of some of Toronto’s funniest improvisers, battle it out for whatever love and valuable points the audience deems fit to dole out. Made up of many of the improv games made famous by television shows like Whose Line is it Anyway, Theatresports provides an interactive and hilarious night of theatre for those who prefer Sundin to Strindberg.

In every show, two teams show take the gloves off and go head to head doing scenes, scored by the audience. Each scene is based on suggestions from the audience and sometimes, will even involve a volunteer or two on stage. The action is always swift and fisticuffs may break out.

This show is recommended for all ages.

Bad Dog Theatre-138 Danforth Ave (at Broadview)
Every Friday and Saturday at 8pm
Tickets are $10 and $5 for students (including Bad Dog, University, and High School Students).   Reserve tickets by calling 416 491 3115

 

2)  Some Play – Graham Gerrard

In what will, no doubt, be a high point in the lives of many Gerrard’s ridiculous play about the overly dramatic nature of theatre opens at Buddies In Bad Times.

In ‘Some Play’ Tara (or is it Tara?), a theatre artist, is producing a profound piece of theatre, or, at least, she thinks she is. This popular 2005 play exposes the eccentricities of directors, the neurosis of actors and the bi-polar nature of the standard prop-guy to a soundtrack of love songs by gay men.

Graeme Gerrard’s ‘Some Play’ is about theatre, criticism and the true nature of art – but it’s also about a gay myna bird, french kissing and Elton John.

Starring Pam Thomson, Donovan Woods, Martin Foote, Deanna Palazzo, Kasia Rusiniak, Andrew Wozny and Cody Rus this, most recent, Emsdale Theatre Production is sure to make all other theatre look normal by comparison.

Featuring a soundtrack of love songs by gay men Some Play is sure to be the gay cultural event of the season.

Buddies In Bad Times – Cabaret
12 Alexander Street, Toronto
Tickets $15

Thursday May 27th – 8 pm
Friday May 28th – 8 pm
Saturday May 29th – 2 pm and 8 pm
Sunday May 30th – 2 pm and 8 pm

 

3)  Twelfth Night & The Two Nobel Kinsmen – Urban Bard (running on alternating nights)

Our 2010 season opens with one thing familiar and another that’s very different. A remounting of last year’s popular Twelfth Night will run on alternating nights with William Shakespeare and John Fletcher’s collaborative play, The Two Noble Kinsmen. Twelfth Night’s fast-paced comic antics will contrast with the tension and conflict of Kinsmen, giving audiences two great reasons to rediscover classical theatre in their city.

All shows are pay-what-you-can admission with a suggested contribution of $10

Twelfth Night, Or What You Will
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Scott Emerson Moyle
Performances at 7pm on May 28, 30, June 3, 5, 11, 13, 17 & 19

When Viola barely survives a shipwreck, she disguises herself as a boy to travel safely in strange Illyria, taking the name Cesario. In the employ of Count Orsino, she brings messages of his love to the frigid Countess Olivia.  Viola falls for Orsino and Olivia falls for ‘Cesario’, just as Viola’s identical twin brother turns up in town…
One of the Bard’s funniest comedies featuring cross-dressing, swashbuckling, and falling in love in the worst ways.

The Two Noble Kinsmen
By William Shakespeare & John Fletcher
Directed by Scott Emerson Moyle
Performances at 7pm on May 29, June 4, 6, 10, 12, 18 & 20

Palamon and Arcite are the the best of everything: Loyal cousins, worthy nobles, brave soldiers, and the truest of friends. Not even imprisonment in a foreign land can dampen their spirits. Until the beautiful Emilia crosses their path and changes everything. Even the strongest bro-mance is in danger when the stakes are true love.
One of the Bard’s little known treasures featuring mlitary conquest, prison-breaks, family drama and your daily dose of love-sick duelling.

 

4)  Life of Galileo

Small Wooden Shoe stages a reading of
Brecht’s Life of Galileo
Sunday May 30, 7 p.m.
Convocation Hall
PYWC (donations accepted for The Actors Fund of Canada)

Tickets will be available at the door starting at 6pm
Doors open at 6:30pm

35 or so of Toronto’s theatre, music and film community come together to read a new translation of Brecht’s Life of Galileo – an ever-relevant story about the complicated relationships between power, history, individuals and freedom of thought.

All proceeds will go to The Actors’ Fund of Canada. With over 10,000 professional members, The Actors’ Fund provides emergency financial aid to assist cultural workers in recovering from an illness, injury or other circumstances causing severe economic and personal hardship.

 

5)  Who Am I This Time? & Lone Star

PrettyFeet Productions is thrilled to announce the return of their two highly acclaimed Fringe shows Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Who Am I This Time? and James McLure’s Lone Star. Directed by Richard Periard and Eric Lunsky, the show will run May 19th to 30th at the Tarragon Theatre.

Who Am I This Time? is an adaption of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s famous short story that has delighted audiences for five decades. The story centers on Harry Nash, a terminally shy hardware store owner who is cast as the notoriously impassioned Stanley Kowalski in the Mask and Wig Drama Society’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire. However Helen, the shy and lonely new girl in town, is cast as Stella and soon falls madly in love with Harry. Or is she really in love with Stanley?

James McLure’s Lone Star is a comedy about Roy, a Vietnam vet returning home from the war, and his brother Ray, who did not “defend his country”. Join the brothers in their hilarious late night, beer-fueled adventures behind their favorite bar where after enough booze even brothers tell the truth. Lone Star was an off-Broadway hit in the 1980’s that is finding itself all to relevant again with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

VENUE: Tarragon Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Avenue
PREVIEW: Wednesday May 19, 2010
OPENS: Thursday May 20, 2010
CLOSES: Sunday May 30, 2010
PERFORMANCES: Tuesday – Saturday 8 PM; Sunday 2:30 PM
TICKETS: $20

Tickets are available at the Tarragon Theatre Box Office at 416-531-1827, online at tickets.tarragontheatre.com or at the door.