Finally! It is feeling like Spring has arrived in Toronto.
This means, it is perfect timing to head out and enjoy some theatre in the city. Below, my theatre listings for the next few weeks. Lots of great performances for all audiences and budgets.
Never the Last
Delinquent Theatre Production
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainstage
Until April 16, 2023 | Tickets available online
Never The Last shines a spotlight on the fascinating composer Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Grammatté, whose work was almost lost in the male-dominated classical music field, until she immigrated to Canada. The piece follows her passionate relationship with expressionist painter Walter Gramatté and the couple’s 10 years of marriage, marked by adventure, poverty, artistic strife, and tragedy, as captured in Eckhardt-Gramatté’s 10 rarely performed violin solos.
MAANOMAA, MY BROTHER
Blue Bird Theatre Collective & Canadian Stage
Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre
April 11 – 30, 2023 | Tickets available online
Written and performed by Tawiah M’Carthy and Brad Cook and directed by Phil Akin, in MAANOMAA, MY BROTHER, childhood friends Kwame and Will reunite in Ghana for the funeral of a loved one and come to realize just how much has changed since the events that separated them 25 years earlier. Blending together styles of West African and Canadian theatre, MAANOMAA mixes myth with reality, and the past with the present.
The Seagull
Soulpepper Theatre
April 12 – 30, 2023 | Tickets available online
A summer weekend at a lakeside estate falls apart when a famous writer comes to visit. Switching effortlessly between the ridiculous and the profound, Chekhov’s masterpiece examines the burning need to create art and the destructive power of love.
String of Pearls
Alumnae Theatre
April 14 – 29, 2023 | Tickets available online
A fateful thread of magic in the form of a pearl necklace slips from one woman’s hands to another’s. Inspired by interviews with over 200 people, String of Pearls tells of a pearl necklace that changes the lives of the play’s characters and there are lots of them – 27 to be exact. Featuring a wildly talented cast of 8 women, original music, and a gorgeous set elevated by projections; you won’t want to miss this evocative and hilariously heartfelt production.
Frozen River (nîkwatin sîpiy)
Manitoba Theatre for Young People
Young People’s Theatre
Recommended for Ages 5 – 12 | SK-Grade 6
April 17 – 28, 2023 | Tickets available online
In nîkwatin sîpiy, Grandmother Moon tells the story of two eleven-year-olds, born under the same blood moon, but in different parts of the world. Frozen River follows their stories as they meet in a forest, and that of their descendants who meet in present day Manitoba. A broken promise from the past can be righted when there is finally an openness to learn from those who have protected and honoured the waterways for centuries.
Crawlspace
Théâtre français de Toronto
TfT Studio
April 19 – 23, 2023 | Tickets available online
Author Karen Hines explores the dark side of real estate in Crawlspace, a Kafkaesque comedy, translated from English by Mishka Lavigne, which takes a deplorable look at Toronto’s cruel and wacky real estate industry. Crawlspace is a study of the human condition. It’s also a play that highlights the importance of twig orbs that decorate the tables and nooks of houses on sale.
TRACE
ReDefine Arts
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainstage
Until April 21 – 30, 2023 | Tickets available online
Co-created by Tristan R. Whiston and Moynan King, the show begins with audio recordings of Tristan’s singing voice across different stages of his gender transition, TRACE is a contemplative and funny work that combines experimental sound art, stand-up comedy, storytelling, and archival video to create a world that puts the past in conversation with the present and, possibly even, the future.
