It’s that time of the year again… As part of my birthday week, here are In The City events I hope you can support.
FILM EVENTS
Sunday, Jan 29th, 1pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox
Battleship Potemkin (Bronyenosyets Potyomkin)
Dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Taking inspiration from a real-life mutiny on a Russian naval vessel prior to the aborted 1905 revolution, Sergei Eisenstein’s earth-shaking agitprop classic sought to remake cinema as a revolutionary art form via Eisenstein’s principle of montage, an editing strategy that aims for both maximum visceral impact and politicized intellectual revelation.
Sunday, January 29 at 4:15 pm
Silent Revue at Revue Cinema
Blackmail
Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Blackmail features Anny Ondra (Hitchcock’s original blonde bombshell) as Alice White, a woman who stabs to death her male attacker only to be blackmailed by a witness to the killing. The first work to feature a bonafide cameo from the iconic director.
Sunday, Jan 29th, 9:30pm
The Royal Cinema
The Love Witch
Dir. Anna Biller
The film stars Samantha Robinson as Elaine, a witch who moves to a new town and begins to use spells to enrapture men in her path. She fantasizes about finding a perfect love, but as the body count begins to rise from the aftermath of her supernatural handiwork, she finds her haunted libido is surrounded by a town full of people ready for battle.
Jan 29th – Jan 31st
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
The River of My Dreams A Portrait of Gordon Pinsent
Dir. Brigitte Berman
Canadian screen icon Gordon Pinsent takes us on a journey through his 70-year career. From leaving Newfoundland in the late 1940s to Canadian classics (John and the Missus, The Rowdyman) and recent hits (Away From Her, The Shipping News), Pinsent has been a recognizable face in of many of our most treasured stories.
THEATRE EVENTS
January 20th – February 4th
Alumnae Theatre
The Gut Girls
by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Maya Rabinovitch
The piece follows the fortunes of the brash and proud working-class gut girls. When the gutting sheds are shut and their way of life disappears, the girls must try and find a place in the new world order of late Victorian London.
January 25th – February 5th
Aki Studio
Métis Mutt
Native Earth Performing Arts
Created and performed by the acclaimed Métis artist Sheldon Elter. Comedic, heartbreaking and unpredictable, Elter’s semi-autobiographical performance piece recounts the journey of a young Métis man finding his way out of a destructive cycle.
January 31st – February 5th
Monarch Tavern
Twelfth Night
Shakespeare BASH’d
The play boasts an all-star cast that features some of the city’s best young Shakespeareans. The show is packed with some of the city’s best young talent, as well as brimming with the spirit, passion, and music of the 1920s.
Only 12 tickets left for the entire run; some tickets for the 2pm performance on Saturday, February 4th. Get yours soon!!
Until February 11th
Streetcar Crowsnest
The Wedding Party
A Crow’s Theatre & Talk Is Free Theatre Production
Kristen Thomson and director Chris Abraham comes a new comedy about two families, a wedding, mistaken identities, and love, love, love! With their latest creation, The Wedding Party, they invite the audience to take a seat ringside on the big day, while an astonishing cast of the country’s leading actors including Jason Cadieux, Virgilia Griffith, Trish Lindström, Moya O’Connell, Tom Rooney, and Kristen Thomson herself, hit the dance floor, drink too much, and try to get along.
MUSIC EVENTS
Wednesday, February 1st, 7:30pm
The University of Toronto Faculty of Music
New Music Festival
The Killing Flower (Luci mie traditrici)
by Salvatore Sciarrino, Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition
Love, infidelity and murder are captured in Salvatore Sciarrino’s now iconic drama, based on the story of late 16th century composer Carlo Gesualdo, the count who murdered his wife and her lover.
Friday, February 3rd, 8:30pm
Burdock Music Hall
Sina Bathaie
One of my favourites… Toronto based composer, Santur player Sina Bathaie is known for his unique style and approach toward Persian contemporary music. His hypnotic performances have garnered him fans from across the globe.
February 3rd & 4th
Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
Kanatha/Canada: First Encounters
The Toronto Consort
Featuring Canadian composer John Beckwith’s soul-stirring Wendake/Huronia, and music from the early colonists, the Consort is joined by Wolastoq song carrier Jeremy Dutcher, First Nations performers Marilyn George, Shirley Hay, and Wendat Traditional Knowledge Keeper Georges Sioui.
