Aside from the other fun and artsy events in Toronto, there are some great shows currently playing or opening at various theatres. Here are three, which have piqued my interest, and hopefully they will entice some of you as well.
Waiting Room
Tarragon Theatre
Written by Diane Flacks
Directed by Richard Greenblatt
Starring Ari Cohen, Michelle Monteith, Jordan Pettle,
Warona Setshwaelo, Jane Spidell, Jenny Young
Runs until February 15, 2014
Tuesday-Saturday 8PM; Sunday at 2:30PM
Select Saturdays at 2:30PM; Jan.24, Jan.31
Tickets can be purchased at 416.531.1827 or by online
Regular Tickets: $42-$55
A doctor embarks on a ground-breaking medical experiment despite the objections of his colleagues. Meanwhile, a couple are torn about whether the doctor has what it takes to save their baby.
This is a play about life in the waiting room of a major children’s hospital. This is a play about medical compassion and risk. This is a play about families who find the will to keep going. This is a play about the needs of the heart and the extremes of medicine. This is a play about breaking the rules. This is a play about hope.
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| Ari Cohen, Jenny Young, Warona Setshwaelo in Waiting Room Photo: Tarragon Theatre |
Flesh and Other Fragments of Love (Une vie pour deux)
Théâtre français de Toronto
Written by Evelyne De la Chenelière
Directed by Alice Ronfard
Starring Jean-François Casabonne, Rachel Graton, Violette Chauveau
Runs until January 25, 2015
Berkeley Street Theatre
Evening performances: Wednesday to Saturday at 8PM
Matinées: Saturday Jan. 24 at 3:30 PM and Jan. 25 at 2:30 PM
English surtitled performances: Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
Tickets: Adults from $44 to $48 | Seniors (65 and over): $37 to $41| Artsworkers and Under 30: $30
This is the original French language production of Flesh and Other Fragments of Love (Une vie pour deux) written by the Governor General Award-winning playwright Evelyne de la Chenelière. The play will be presented in French with English surtitles.
Adapted from the 1978 novel by Marie Cardinal, the story is based on actual events that happened to Mary Cardinal and her husband Jean-Pierre Ronfard, the parents of the show’s director Alice Ronfard, while vacationing in Ireland.
Blood Relations
The Alumnae Theatre Mainstage
Written by Sharon Pollock
Directed by Barbara Larose
Starring Marisa King, Andrea Brown, Kathleen Jackson Allamby, Steven Burley,
Rob Candy, Sheila Russell, Thomas Gough
January 23-February 7, 2015
Evening performances: Wednesday to Saturday at 8PM
Matinées: Sunday at 2PM
Tickets: Wednesdays 2-for-1, Thurs-Sat $20 @ door, Sunday PWYC
Tickets available online, phone 416-364-4170 (press 1) or email reservations@alumnaetheatre.com
Sharon Pollock’s Governor General’s award-winning play Blood Relations is a psychological journey, bringing the past to life in a search for a possible answer, a motive. The only suspect, the real Lizzie Borden, was acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother, but in Blood Relations, the chilling question still repeats.
Rather than centering on the grisly details of the murders, the play focusses on the patriarchal oppressive society Lizzie Borden (played by Marisa King) has endured. Lizzie’s friend, and lover, The Actress (Andrea Brown) play a game of memory and imagination, reenacting moments of Lizzie’s life leading up to the murders as a play-in-a-play.
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| Marisa King and Roby Candy Photo: Dahlia Katz |
All three of these plays have varying themes, as well as time and place. These should give you not only something to do, but also create some thought-provoking dialogue. If you’ve yet to venture to any of these local theatres, I highly recommend you do.
