Kick off 2014 with the seventh annual Toronto Fringe’s Next Stage Theatre Festival beginning January 8
The 7th year of the Toronto Fringe’s Next Stage Theatre Festival is upon us.
The Next Stage Theatre Festival, or NSTF, is a platform for past Fringe artists (from Toronto or any other CAFF member festivals) to take groundbreaking work to the “next stage”. Some performances are remounts of previous Fringe shows, but most are new works from previously established Fringe artists. This year’s festival runs from January 8 – 19, 2014.
In 2014, the NSTF offers a wide range of performances that ranges from “musicals to political dramas, from dystopian visions of the future to an urban dance show”.
The heated McAuslan Beer Tent is a gathering place for artists and audiences pre and post show. The Beer Tent is located at the Factory Theatre Courtyard (125 Bathurst Street). It opens one hour before the first show of the day and closes one hour after the last show of the day. The McAuslan Beer Tent is also home to the Box Office, during the festival.
Factory Theatre Mainspace:
RIFLES (Praxis Theatre) – In the midst of the Spanish Civil War, Senora Carrar refuses to pick sides: her husband died in combat and she’s determined to keep her two sons alive and out of the conflict. But as Franco’s army marches towards their village, her resolve is challenged. This new adaptation is based on Brecht’s little-known masterpiece, Senora Carrar’s Rifles, written in 1937.
JACK YOUR BODY (Mix Mix Dance Collective) – Jack Your Body is a high-energy dance performance that pays homage to American street dance culture. The cast poses, struts, waacks and jacks their way through soul train, paradise garage and other iconic street dance scenarios. Issues of race, gender and social status come into focus during this dynamic dance piece that explores the evolution of underground social dances from the 70s-90s.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD (Harley Dog Productions) – 1930s Europe. As Hitler’s army gains momentum, only one port remains open to thousands of fleeing Jewish refugees: Shanghai, China. Adapted from the memoirs of many, and told through the eyes of a fiercely resilient young woman, On The Other Side of the World is the story of a young girl, her family, and a community that sought shelter and survival in a country and culture unlike their own. A rarely told story by a powerful emerging playwright.
KILLER BUSINESS – THE MUSICAL (Torrent Productions Inc.) – It’s the first preview of “Lucky In Love.” The Producer is hoping for a long run. The show starts with the same old song and dance until a body turns up on stage. Now, it’s up to Richard Gunn PI to solve the case. There’s a spoiled Diva, an aging star and a confused leading man. The backstage crew is overworked and the chorus is wooden. Everyone is a suspect. It is, after all, a Killer Business.
Factory Theatre Studio:
A MISFORTUNE (Common Descent) – A married woman and a young lawyer walk through the woods. Their friendship has reached an impasse. Adapted from a story by Anton Chekhov, one of the world’s most celebrated and enduring writers, A Misfortune is a romantic, bittersweet musical about small moments and momentous decisions.
STENCILBOY AND OTHER PORTRAITS (Paradigm Productions) – Lily ditches her small-town life and makes for the city. Her fervent desire to be immortalized in a painting leads her to two radically different men – an underground graffiti artist and a once-famous painter. Caught between them, Lily fights to find a place in a dystopian world that has all but abandoned Art, and where the boundaries between sex, creation, violence, and addiction become dangerously blurred. An award-winning play by one of Toronto’s emerging voices.
SCHEHERAZADE (Nobody’s Business Theatre) – Every night, the King marries a virgin. Every morning, he chops off her head. The only person who can stop him is Scheherazade: a brave young woman with a crazy plan. With idiosyncratic wit and offbeat humour, Fringe favourites Nobody’s Business Theatre explore an anachronistic world of fantastic opulence, daily Royal Weddings, and terrible secrets. Inspired by the famous storyteller from 1001 Nights, this bold new play is part epic fable, part darkly erotic satire.
RELEASE THE STARS: THE BALLAD OF RANDY AND EVI QUAID (God is in the Dairy) – The show that brought iconoclastic Hollywood couple Randy and Evi Quaid out of hiding. Amanda Barker and Daniel Krolik explore media, fame, and loss in their critically acclaimed and sold out hit of the 2012 Toronto Fringe.
Factory Theatre Antechamber:
POLAR OPPOSITES (TiltHAUS) – International performer and mask-maker Nicole Ratjen brings together an energetic emerging collective of Fringe artists to create Polar Opposites, a highly theatrical tale of two polar bears trapped on a melting iceberg. 2 parts comedy, 1 part tragedy, ½ table tennis, and ¼ mask theatre. Entirely Absurd.
FATHERLY (Sam S. Mullins) – A story of fathers and sons, love and death, America and baseball. Acclaimed humourist Sam S. Mullins unravels the series of events that started with a heart to heart conversation with his father and ended with the death of a Texan firefighter.
TICKET INFORMATION:
WHERE TO PURCHASE:
ONLINE: Click here.
All online and phone sales are subject to a $2 per order fee
Please ensure you have the credit card you booked with when picking up tickets
OVER THE PHONE: 416.966.1062
Monday-Friday 10am-5pm
Starting January 3rd, everyday 10am-6pm
All online and phone sales are subject to a $2 per order fee
Please ensure you have the credit card you booked with when picking up tickets
AT THE VENUE: starting January 8, 2014
The box office opens one hour before the first show of the day.
Cash, VISA and Mastercard accepted – NO Debit or AMEX.
PRICING:
$15 (Mainspace/Studio)
$10 (Antechamber)
NSTF PASSES
$48 Four Play Pass: Valid for 4 tickets, redeemable in advance by phone or at the door. Maximum of one ticket per play. Non-transferable. Savings of up to $12.
$88 Eight Play Pass: Valid for 8 tickets, redeemable in advance by phone or at the door. Maximum of two tickets per play, per pass. This pass can be used by two patrons. Savings of up to $32.