Shows that Caught Our Eye in Toronto for the Week of March 4th, 2019.
MoT is here with fabulous suggestions for the theatre-goer in you! The cold weather has finally hit us, so stay warm (and entertained) by enjoying some of the best theatre Toronto has to offer. Assistant editor Katee is here with her top picks in red.
Previously Reviewed by MoT:
Kitchen Chicken. Theatre Centre. L’orchestre d’hommes-orchestres present a culinary/musical theatre event as the cast prepares a meal while performing the songs of American 30s yodel queens the Cackle Sisters. Opens Feb 27 and runs to Mar 2, Wed-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat 2 pm. $45, stu/srs/arts workers $35.
Death And The Maiden. Red Sandcastle Theatre. Schubert’s Beach House presents the political drama by Ariel Dorfman. The play explores a country’s uneasy transition from dictatorship to democracy, and raises the issue of torture and its implications. Opens Feb 27 and runs to Mar 3, Wed-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm. $20.
Bears. Factory Theatre. Factory presents an Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and Punctuate! Theatre production, written and directed by Matthew MacKenzie. Fleeing from the RCMP, a man undergoes weird physical changes while travelling along the route of an oil pipeline. Don’t miss out on the play that took home the 2018 Dora Awards for Outstanding Production & Outstanding New Play. Opens Feb 28 and runs to Mar 17, Tue-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm. $30-$50.
Retreat. Hart House Theatre. Hart House Theatre presents a play by Kat Sandler. A look at the darker, and oftentimes comical, side of employment competition. Opens Mar 1 and runs to Mar 9, Wed-Sat 8 pm, mat Mar 9 at 2 pm. $17-$28, stu $12-$15.
Human Animals. East End Arts Space. ARC presents a play by Stef Smith. In a future dystopian overcrowded city, the animals are starting to rule the streets. Opens Feb 22 and runs to Mar 16, Tue-Sun 8 pm, mat Sat 2 pm (no shows Mar 7-9). $5-$50 pwyc.
And Everything Else:
Late Company. Village Playhouse. by Jordan Tannahill (Village Players). A year after a tragedy, two couples sit down to dinner and find they are far from the closure they seek in this hard-hitting drama. Opens Mar 1 and runs to Mar 23, Thu-Sat (and Mar 6) 8 pm, Mar 10 & 17 at 2 pm. $20-$24.
School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. by Jocelyn Bioh (Obsidian Theatre /Nightwood Theatre). Paulina, the reigning Queen Bee at Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school, has her sights set on the Miss Universe pageant. The mid-year arrival of Ericka, a student with undeniable talent and beauty, captures the attention of the pageant recruiter Previews from Mar 5, opens Mar 8 and runs to Mar 24, see website for schedule. $15-$40, Sun pwyc.
Dear Evan Hansen. Royal Alexandra Theatre. by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (Mirvish/Stacey Mindich). A lonely high schooler with social anxiety gets caught up in a life-changing lie in this musical. Previews from Mar 5, opens Mar 28 and runs to Jun 30, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Wed 1:30 pm, Sat-Sun 2 pm. $59-$159 (premium to $250).
Persefony Songs. Fleck Dance Theatre. Toronto Dance Theatre presents work by Christopher House that riffs on his 2001 choreography Persephone’s Lunch (2001). The new work features a score by Thom Gill performed live on stage by indie band Bernice. Mar 5-9 at 8 pm. $20-$38.
Jersey Boys. Ed Mirvish Theatre. by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (Mirvish). Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons become pop icons in this musical. Opens Mar 5 and runs to Mar 17, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Wed 1:30 pm, Sat-Sun 2 pm. $29-$205.
Collapse — A Play Festival. Native Earth Performing Arts. Oakham Community Theatre presents five short plays exploring five pivotal moments – an estrangement, a loss, an act of violence, an unexpected triumph, a sudden impulse. March 6-9, Wed-Sat 7:30 pm, mat Sat 2 pm. $10, mat pwyc. In the Aki Studio.
Kiss of the Spider Woman. Historic Don Jail. Eclipse Theatre presents a musical by Terrence McNally, John Kander and Fred Ebb, based on a novel by Manuel Puig. During Argentina’s Dirty War, an inmate seeks escape from the horrors of prison life by sharing stories of a glamorous movie star diva. Opens Mar 6 and runs to Mar 10, Wed-Sun 7:30 pm, mat Sat-Sun 1:30 pm. $29-$48.
Wired Love. The Citadel Ross Centre for Dance. Newton Moraes Dance Theatre and DanceWorks Co-Works present an exploration of cultural trends in love, life, connections and technology. Mar 6-9 at 8 pm. $22-$25.
World After Dark. Harbourfront Centre Theatre. Shannon Litzenberger Contemporary Dance presents a new work that explores our relationship with the physical and metaphorical night. Mar 6-9 at 8 pm. $25-$45.
Blood of Our Soil. Tarragon Theatre. by Lianna Makuch (Pyretic Productions/Punctuate! Theatre). A woman seeks the key to her family history in Ukraine in this drama about war and trauma. Previews Mar 6, opens Mar 7 and runs to Mar 16, Tue-Sun 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2:30 pm. $20-$30.
New Ideas Festival. Alumnae Theatre. Alumnae Theatre presents its annual, three-week, juried festival of new works and works-in-progress. Each week features a different program of four short plays performed in the Studio, and a work-shopped reading of a full-length play on each of the three Saturdays performed on the MainStage. Mar 6-24, Wed-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2:30 pm. $15, some pwyc at the door.
Freaks and Geeks. Burdock. 20th Anniversary tribute show, live reading of the episode Tests and Breasts featuring a live score by playdate and a cast of actors, comedians and musicians, trivia and an interview. 9 pm. $10 suggested donation. Costumes encouraged.
Revisor. Bluma Appel Theatre. Canadian Stage and Kidd Pivot Productions present a dance/theatre piece by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young about corruption, farce and the forces of radical change. Opens Mar 7 and runs to Mar 16, Wed-Thu & Sat 8 pm, Fri 7 pm, Sun 2 pm. $51-$111.
CHICHO. Theatre Passe Muraille. by Augusto Bitter (Pencil Kit Productions/Aluna Theatre/TPM). An ashamed-queer-Catholic-man-boy from Venezuela tries to feel beautiful despite his warring identity politics. Previews from Mar 7, opens Mar 12 and runs to Mar 24, Tue-Sat 7:30 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2 pm. $17-$33.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The National Ballet of Canada presents the choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, set to an original score by Joby Talbot with designs by Bob Crowley and lighting by Natasha Katz. Opens Mar 7 and runs to Mar 17, Tue-Sat 7:30 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2 pm. $40 & up.
House on Fire — A Post-Hope Comedy. Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse. U of T’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies presents a newly devised comedy by students. What happens when a ragtag group of panelists assemble at a public symposium to discuss hope: is it a curse or a blessing? Opens Mar 7 and runs to Mar 16, Tue-Sat 8 pm. $20, stu $10.
The Mousetrap. Scarborough Village Theatre. by Agatha Christie (Scarborough Theatre Guild). A police detective seeks a murderer among seven strangers stranded in a guest house. Opens Mar 8 and runs to Mar 23, Thu-Sat 8 pm (except Mar 23); mat Sun (and Mar 23) at 2 pm. $24, stu $20.
Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppet Theatre. Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. JCCC presents a full-scale production that features three female-focused stories from classic Japanese literature with live shamisen players and chanters. Performed in Japanese with English subtitles. Mar 8 at 7 pm. $35.
Celtic Circle — Mysteries of Ireland. Campbell House Museum. Danceweavers presents an evening of fireside storytelling and music from the world of Celtic folklore, with storyteller Bruce Carmody and fiddler Stephen Fuller. Mar 8 at 7:30 pm. $27, stu/srs $22. Hot cider, tea and light snacks will be served at the break.
Betrayal. Red Sandcastle Theatre. by Harold Pinter (Real Time Theatre). An adulterous affair is unpacked in reverse chronology to examine many different kinds of betrayal. Mar 8-10, Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm. $25.
The Rear Window. Theatre Passe Muraille. Bygone Theatre presents a play based on the short story by Cornell Woolrich that inspired the classic Hitchcock film, adapted by Emily Dix. The Rear Window follows a man’s descent into drug abuse and the habit of spying on neighbours. Opens Mar 8 and runs to Mar 17, Tue-Sat 7:30 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2 pm. $20-$30.
Frida Kahlo — Correspondence. Alliance Française. Alliance Française presents a fiesta-like performance based on the artist’s letters, poems and diary, by Sophie Faucher and the Mariachi Figueroa.
The Wind Horse Mongolian Dance Show. Betty Oliphant Theatre. Little Pear Garden Dance Company presents a show by the visiting dance troupe from inner Mongolian, China. March 8 at 8 pm (post-show talk 9:15 pm). $25-$35.
Bird Dance. Toronto Centre for the Arts. Tirgan Festival presents a folkloric Latin Flamenco music and dance infused with soft lyric Persian poetry, by Mashregh Ensemble with Farnaz Ohadi. Mar 9-10, Sat 2 pm, Sun 6 pm. $25-$35.
Little Black Fish. Toronto Centre for the Arts. Tirgan Festival and Maaa Theater present a free adaptation of Samad Behrangi’s Iranian children’s story. Little Black Fish is about stepping outside the confines of a self-centered life, and about drawing a distinction between the wandering and the stationary. Mar 9 at 3 and 5:30 pm. $25-$35.
When Sisters Speak. Jane Mallett Theatre. Spoken word concert featuring Gabrielle, Amoye Reé, Paulina O’Kieffe, Truth Is, Queen Sheba and Theresa Tha Songbird. Mar 9 at 8 pm. $35-$55.
Listings Primarily Based on NOW! Stage Listings
I just love this service! Sure gets me to the theater more frequently. Thanks again! dg