By Johnnie Walker

Remember the New World Stage Festival? Well, it’s still happening!
Last night, an exciting-sounding show opened at the Premiere Dance Theatre for a brief run. The show is called Particularly in the Heartland, and it’s a collective piece by NYC-based theatre group TEAM (Theatre of the Emerging American Moment). Particularly in the Heartland is a show about America, so it of course involves aliens, tornados and The Rapture.
The last play at New World Stage was the bleak and disturbing Aalst, named after a town in Belgium (where the company is from) that has become infamous. Aalst is the true story of a married couple who check into a hotel room and within a few days have murdered their two children. The subject matter was obviously dark, and the text was mostly taken from actual interviews with the two people. The play consisted of two actors, each portraying one of the criminals, sitting in chairs and answering questions asked by an unseen voice. The result was chilling and, at times, hard to watch.
The New World Stage remains a fascinating venue for vital theatre from around the world. Torontoist is totally exciting about the upcoming Peter Brook show, Sizwe Banzi is Dead!