The 2019 Next Stage Theatre Festival has just begun. This year’s lineup includes 12 diverse pieces for you to choose from and enjoy. Below, I give my personal picks for the fest. Join me at some or all of these; it’s going to be fun and interesting!
A Bear Awake in Winter
Company: Binocular Theatre
Playwright: Ali Joy Richardson
2007. Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. A high school band class. A new teacher from Toronto wants to be an inspiration to his jaded students but is afraid to come out to them. A boy bullies a girl in insidious ways until she takes matters into her own hands. An act of violence at a school dance fractures the community. This is a dark, funny, and difficult story about the fight to stand up for yourself.
Dinner With The Duchess
Company: The Duchess Collective
Playwright: Nick Green
A violin virtuoso faces down a career filled with passion and pain when she gives her final interview to an ambitious young reporter. As the night takes a dark turn, she finds that she can’t escape the cruelty and betrayal that followed her rise to fame. With the help of her husband, she fights to deliver her last words to a life devoted to the arts – but is she too late?
LUCKY
Company: barlizo productions
Playwright: Marie Barlizo
Nina, a Filipino student, can’t meet her parents’ expectations. An encounter with Sylvain, a former skinhead, sparks a thrilling plan that could change both their lives, but he soon realizes she may not be who she claims to be. Inspired by the real-life tragedy of Jennifer Pan, Markham’s “golden child” who ordered a hit on her immigrant parents, LUCKY is a raw and gripping examination of the Asian “model minority” stereotype.
Strange & Unusual
Company: Flat Earth Global
Creators: Nicholas Wallace & Luke Brown
Borrowing from the world of Hitchcock and the Twilight Zone, Strange & Unusual is a unique mixture of storytelling and illusions. It is an interactive exploration of how and why humans are hardwired to believe in “weird things”, a celebration of the importance of mystery. You are cordially invited to explore the world of conspiracy theories, superstition, psychics, and all things strange and unusual.
These are but a few shows on stage now at the Next Stage Theatre Festival. You can enjoy all 12 shows in the next week.
Hye’s Tip: All shows take place at one venue, the Factory Theatre. As such, you can pick a couple of shows in the afternoon or evening for you total enjoyment.
For full festival listings, tickets and more information, visit fringetoronto.com. For an updated list of sold out shows, please click here.
