Each month we profile a collection of shows opening soon in Toronto.
Queer Pride 2014 / Buddies in Bad Times / May 31 - June 29 / $10-$25
The world's oldest LGBTQ theatre, Buddies in Bad Times, has a veritable rainbow cornucopia of live performance during World Pride. From comedy to drama and transgressive to celebratory, the shows reflect our rich and vibrant queer theatre practice. Some of the highlights include play readings of Just Me, You and the Silence and Genderplay, a night with Sharron Matthews and Gavin Crawford, the always funny Bitch Salad, The Lady Halmet, and Queer Bathroom Stories, tales from, where else, stalls and urinals.
The God That Comes / Tarragon Theatre / June 3-29 / $40
After a one-night only performance at Summerworks 2012, Hawksley Workman and Christian Barry are back with the second iteration of their performance piece, The God That Comes. Combining the "revelry of a rock concert with the intimacy of theatrical storytelling," Workman's performance was a festival standout so expectations for a full run are high. In the spirit of Dionysian excess, Workman delivers a bombastic take on The Bacchae, about the punishment of the soldier king of Thebes and his mother.
Angels in America / Soulpepper - Young Centre / June 16 - July 12 / $29-$74
You'd be hard-pressed to find a Toronto production more deserving of a remount than Soulpepper's beautifully imagined treatment of Tony Kushner's Angels in America. The realization of the "gay fantasia," rarely undertaken given the length and resources needed, was one of the best productions of 2013. On the strength of an incredible ensemble, faithful direction from Albert Schultz, and the enduring imagery of Kushner's world, the play continues to resonate. Check out our full review.
Cinderella / National Ballet - Four Seasons Centre / June 4-15 / $25-$100+
The National Ballet is set to have a romantic summer, with productions of Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet. These classic tales of youthful struggle have proven to be natural fits for balletic adaptation. Set to the music that Sergei Prokofiev created for the ballet in 1945, the current production of Cinderella, which originally premiered a decade ago, features choreography and staging from James Kudelka. As in the story, the dancing glass slippers allow the heroine to waltz into the heart of the Prince.
A Spirit's Face / Native Earth - Aki Studio Theatre / June 3-14 / $10-$20
Jeff D'Hondt's A Spirit's Face considers the masks that victims wear as a means of protecting themselves, and those in their lives, from trauma. When an Aboriginal palliative care worker and an anxious addictions counsellor start a relationship, a breach in ethics threatens to upend their happiness. Throughout the story, D'Hondt and director Ali Joy Richardson explore how, for their characters, trauma manifests itself physically, as well as emotionally.
Shelter / Tapestry - Berkeley St Theatre / June 12-15 / $55-$75
It's always exciting when new and innovative Canadian work appears on stage, but even more so when it's a new opera developed on home soil. Shelter, a collaboration between playwright Julie Salverson and composer Juliet Palmer, is a chamber piece about a "nuclear" family with a glowing daughter named Hope. After 21 years of being hidden away, Hope is called upon to fulfill her destiny. The performance will be accompanied by an Atomic Symposium, a series of complementary talks and readings.
Lead photo of Hawksley Workman in The God That Comes
by Keith Bennie via blogTO
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