Given the waves of frosty weather we are having in Toronto, it is tempting to give in and stay home with a good book or even getting cosy to watch a great film. Especially when you have a one of the high speed HDMI cables from this site that lets you connect your laptop to the big screen. There’s nothing better than having a home cinema day and so I know this is a great option. Yet there are plenty of theatre shows opening this week / weekend, and more coming up next month too. I see it my ‘duty’ to inform you of these and coax you into venture out for a play, or two, or more…
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| Irene Poole and Richard McMillan Phot by: Cylla von Tiedemann |
Manon, Sandra and the Virgin Mary
Pleiades Theatre
Written by Michel Tremblay
Translated & directed by John Van Burek
Starring: Richard McMillan & Irene Poole
Design: Teresa Przybylski
Lighting: Itai Erdal
Composer: Debashis Sinha
Dates: On stage now until February 2
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Tickets: 416-975-8555 or online at buddiesinbadtimes.com
The quietly pious Manon (Irene Poole) contemplates her purchase of an extravagant new rosary, while Sandra (Richard McMillan), the irreverent, devil-may-care drag queen, tries to decide what she will wear tonight. Penned by one of our country’s most celebrated and prolific queer writers, these parallel monologues shed light on the sacred and the profane that exist within us all.
I attended the premiere of Manon… last weekend. A linear play, it is not. However, Sandra and Manon’s parallel monologues are very personal, funny, and sad all at once. Poole and McMillan embody their characters quite well. The staging including lighting and music works subtly well within the realms of the ‘stories’. Why would I suggest this play? Because the words and characters draw you in. Because it is challenging in its nature, as well as, in the themes it discusses.
The … Musician: An Étude
Toronto Laboratory Theatre
Produced by Art Babayants, Mark Rochford and Dmitry Zhukovsky (Theátrus)
Conceived and directed by Art Babayants
Based onV.G. Korolenko’s classic novella
Featuring: Clayton Gray, Kevin Kashani, & Shelley Liebembuk
Scenic and Lighting Designer: Paul J. Stoesser
Dates: On stage now until January 26
Dancemakers Centre for Creation – Distillery District
Tickets: themusician.brownpapertickets.com
The … Musician: An Étude is an inventive new play that tells the powerful story of a boy born without sight who learns to communicate through music. The sixty-minute drama explores the senses and their limitations through the innovative interplay of lighting, spoken text, physical gestures and live classical piano music.
I attended a performance of The … Musician: An Étude and enjoyed it very much. If you’re looking for a more immersive type of show, this is the one. You can also read my thoughts on the production at BeMused Network’s blog.
Arlecchino Allegro
Toronto Masque Theatre
Led by: Artistic Director Larry Beckwith
Featuring: Soprano Laura Pudwell,
Diana Kolpak & David-Benjamin
Dates: January 23-25
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
Tickets: 416-410-4561 or online at torontomasquetheatre.com
Arlecchino Allegro has been describes as “a chaos of clowns and chamber music.” This is a re-imagining of a show from the company’s first season, Tears of a Clown. It features Laura Pudwell alongside the clown performers Diana Kolpak & David-Benjamin Tomlinson. I mentioned this production on my page last week. Go here to read more about it.
I’ve attended other Toronto Masque Theatre productions and they are always a delightful blend of music, dancing, opera…and sometimes a little wine, too!
The Lady’s Not For Burning
Alumnae Theatre Company
Written by Christopher Fry
Starring: Chris Cocoluzzi, Andrea Brown
Directed by: Jane Carnwath
Set Design: Ed Rosing
Sound: Angus Barlow
Costume: Margaret Spence
Dates: Friday January 24 – Sunday February 8
Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street
Tickets: 416-364-4170 (box 1) or e-mail [email protected]
For cash purchases, Box Office opens one hour prior to each performance.
The Lady’s Not For Burning is about a witch-hunt and a world-weary veteran — Jennet, an eccentric young woman accused of witchcraft and Thomas, the soldier in search of oblivion, confront each other and a world that seeks to destroy her, and their lives.
For all its comic quirkiness and poetic fireworks, this play aims to highlight some of the dark corners that still haunt us today: mob paranoia and violence, fear of the other, religious hypocrisy, the wielding of tradition and bureaucracy as weapons of defense or aggression.
Idiot’s Delight
Soulpepper Theatre Company
Written by Robert E. Sherwood
Director: Albert Schultz
Set & Costume Design: Lorenzo Savoini
Lighting Design: Steven Hawkins
Sound Design: John Gzowski
Music Director: Mike Ross
Choreography: Julia Aplin
Dates: January 23 – March 1
The Young Centre for the Performing Arts – Distillery District
Tickets: 416-866-8666, in person, or online
A cast of wonderfully eccentric and international guests – countesses, arms dealers, showgirls, revolutionaries, charlatans and lovers – spend a fateful weekend in a resort hotel in the Italian Alps. While songs are sung and dances danced and loves rekindled, the dark clouds of war come rolling in. Sherwood’s mad-cap romance won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1936.
Madeleine Robin Known As Roxane
A new play inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac
Theatre Double Take
Written by Grace Smith
Starring: Tennille Read and Alexandra Simpson
Set & Costume Design: Claire Hill
Dates: Wednesday, February 5 – Sunday, February 9
Lemontree Creations Studio, 196 Spadina Ave – lower unit
Tickets: At the door or at roxane.eventbrite.ca
Madeleine Robin Known As Roxane is an imaginative ‘what if’ inspired by Edmund Rostand’s classic, Cyrano de Bergerac. Playwright and director, Grace Smith states, “I always wondered, ‘How does Roxane really feel about all this new information?’ We never find out in the original, so I decided to write a play set a couple years after the events of Cyrano.” I’m curious, are you not?
These are but a few theatre shows that have piqued my interest. As you can tell, the options and styles are diverse. Come out, catch a play, and enjoy a different venue. Stay tuned for more updates, recommendations, and reviews here, or via my other social media pages.
