Looking for something to do tonight that is both amusing and intellectually fulfilling? U of T and the Treehouse Group have the perfect event: Science at the Movies. Enjoy a screening of Gattaca, then join Professor Donald Ainslie (philosophy), and Professor Lucy R. Osborne (medicine and molecular genetics) for a scientific discussion and examination of the film.
Motivational Mondays host Michel Neray. Photo by Dusko Jocic.
Motivational Mondays is a monthly inspirational speaker series hosted by Michel Neray. Its guests for March will include author Chuck Bastie, inspirational comedian Jacquie Hermans, and entrepreneur coach Deepak Manchanda. The evening starts with dinner and drinks at 6 p.m. The speakers will take the mic later in the night.
Guillaume Côté and Elena Lobsanova star in Romeo and Juliet. Photo by Bruce Zinger.
Due to popular demand, The National Ballet of Canada has brought Romeo and Juliet back to the stage for a short run. Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky gives new life to Shakespeare’s story of star crossed lovers, set to the romantic Prokofiev score.
fu-GEN Theatre Company presents the Canadian premiere of Lauren Yee’s cheeky and insightful play, Ching Chong Chinaman. The ultra-assimilated Wong family don’t quite fit the Asian-American stereotype: teenaged Upton ignores chores and homework to play video games, and his sister Desi’s math scores are less than stellar. Upton’s solution to both problems? Hire an Asian indentured servant with an American dream. Starring Zoe Doyle, Brenda Kamino, Oliver Koomsatira, Richard Lee, Jane Luk, and John Ng.
Bret "The Hitman" Hart performing at last year's Sketch Comedy Festival.
This year’s edition of the Sketch Comedy Festival boasts headliners including Eugene Mirman (March 9), Bruce McCulloch (March 11), and Michael Ian Black (March 12). There are also visiting troupes from Winnipeg (Hot Thespian Action), Montreal (Uncalled For), and Vancouver (Peter ‘n Chris), plus a wide variety of local outfits. It’ll all wrap with a closing show featuring the Sketchersons, joined by special guest host and wrestling legend Bret “The Hitman” Hart.
Sketchfest runs at The Randolph Theatre, Lower Ossington Theatre, and Comedy Bar.
Hart is on the sidelines recovering from knee surgery; The Honky Tonk Man has been announced as the new host for Sunday night.
Lovers of photography and the city can rejoice at a new photo extravaganza: the Toronto Urban Photography Festival. This gigantic event features no less than 10 exhibitions, a variety of talks on the subject of urban photography, and a number of photo walks, so you too can get in on the practice of creating urban art. The exhibition also features the Disposable Camera Project, which places many disposable cameras around the city, leaving it up to whoever finds them to take a picture in the moment. And then you might possibly see the results in the festival.
Miranda Mulholland premieres her new solo material during her month-long Cameron House residency. Photo courtesy of Miranda Mulholland.
Miranda Mulholland, the redheaded “Fiddle Ninja” from Great Lake Swimmers and Belle Star, has spent the last few years between Toronto and Los Angeles, writing and recording a solo album. Now she’s sharing her new tunes during a month-long residency with her band of Toronto friends: Patrick Brealey (piano), James Robertson (guitar), Burke Carroll (pedal steel), Anna Ruddick (bass), and Josh Van Tassel (drums). She plays every Tuesday in March.
Joe Cobden and Michelle Monteith turn their flashlights to dark corners of suburban life in Little One. Photo by Nir Bareket.
One of Canada’s most acclaimed and prolific young playwrights, Hannah Moscovitch, has her own mini festival at Tarragon Theatre this season. It started with This is War in January, and continues into March with three one-act plays, all concerning children. Two of those three plays form the double bill now on: Little One and Other People’s Children. (We’ve got a full review right here.) Later this month Other People’s Children will continue, paired with another one-act piece called In This World.
The cast of Laws of Motion. Photo by Lindsay Anne Black.
The Canadian premiere of Ashlin Halfnight’s Laws of Motion, about an accident that sparks a chain reaction of events, boasts a powerhouse ensemble assembled by Small Elephant Co-Op and director Chris Stanton, and is staged in a second-floor jam shop in Leslieville.
The show has now been extended to March 23—but they absolutely have to close after that.
The Second City cast take a minute to check their Twitters.
If there’s one thing that’s particularly impressive about Second City’s new mainstage show, The Meme-ing of Life, it’s how well balanced it is.
As the title implies, Meme-ing is nominally a show about the internet, and certainly there is a fair bit of internet-centric humour. (One sketch, about a boy who falls into a YouTube-induced coma that can only be cured by reading, is particularly on point.) That said, it isn’t just a series of jokes about cat videos. Instead, it’s a well-thought-out show that manages to offer something for pretty much everyone, without stretching itself too thin.
See the Sunparlour Players every Tuesday night in March at Dakota Tavern. Photo by Simon Willms.
Sunparlour Players, a Torontonian folk-rock institution, is taking over the Dakota Tavern every Tuesday in March to debut some new songs and bring new life to the older ones. They’ll be joined by a different guest act every week, including Emilie Mover, Milk & Honey, Kate Rogers Band, and many more.
