Torontoist » arts

A Speed Round with Dan and Jeff from Potted Potter

Daniel Clarkson and Jeff Turner can tell the entire story of Harry Potter in 70 minutes, but can they keep all the details straight? We put them to the test.

Potted Potter: The Unauthorised Harry Experience—A Parody by Dan and Jeff Panasonic Theatre (651 Yonge Street) February 11 to March 25 $29.95 to $99.75 Much like heart attack–inducing burgers and pounds of poutine, there’s something about a seven-part epic of magic, destiny, and good vs. evil that just begs to be ingested in a fast-paced, [...]

What to Catch at the 33rd Annual Rhubarb Festival

The Rhubarb Festival, which opens tomorrow, continues its reign as Canada's oldest celebration of new and experimental theatre, spanning two weeks, with more than 40 performances and over 100 artists.

The Rhubarb Festival Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander Street) February 8 to 19 Wednesday to Sunday evening passes $20, Sunday afternoons PWYC For quite some time now, artists have said that this isn’t the most friendly time to be a theatrical risk-taker. For example, there was the SummerWorks funding crisis last summer, which [...]

Pain, Art, and Other People

The Canadian premiere of Christopher Shinn's Other People is another story about unhappy young people in the 90s that operates on the notion that the better it is, the worse you feel.

Other People Young Centre for the Performing Arts (55 Mill Street) January 18 to 28 Monday to Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. $15 to $22 At one point during Christopher Shinn’s Other People, on now at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, one character recounts how a former lover said [...]

Thank You, Come Again

Ins Choi's Kim's Convenience makes a graceful move from Fringe favourite to Soulpepper headliner. Now, all the world's a stage.

Kim’s Convenience Young Centre for the Performing Arts (55 Mill Street) January 19 to February 11 Monday to Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinees at 2 p.m. $32 to $68 The term “game changer” is thrown around a lot, usually referring to the latest app that lets you flick things at other things, or a tiny [...]

A Few Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Toronto gets another serving of playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig in Tarragon Theatre's The Golden Dragon, a story of miscommunication between generations and cultures that's more sour than sweet.

The Golden Dragon Tarragon Theatre (30 Bridgman Avenue) January 18 to February 19 Tuesday to Saturday at 8 p.m., weekend matinee at 2:30 p.m. $23 to $43 The Golden Dragon is a mouthful, and we’re not only talking about its playwright, Germany’s Roland Schimmelpfennig. Centred around a Thai/Chinese/Vietnamese fast-food restaurant in an unnamed city (it [...]

The Best of the Next Stage Theatre Festival

There's nearly a week left in the Next Stage Theatre Festival, and 10 shows chosen to represent the best in Canadian indie theatre. Here are the standouts.

If you haven’t rung in the new year with a show at the Next Stage Theatre Festival yet, well, you could very well be alone. Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the festival is having a smashing year: ticket sales are breaking records and the quality of the shows is consistently solid. Running until Sunday, January 15, [...]

What to See at the Next Stage Theatre Festival

The festival starts tomorrow night, and these are the shows we're most excited to check out.

The holidays are over, most of us are back at work, and it’s cold. Really cold. But before you strap on your sad hats and grumpy galoshes for good until the first sign of spring, you should probably check out a play or two at the 2012 Next Stage Festival, the annual winter companion to [...]

A Chilly Reception

Theatre director Jennifer Brewin hopes to get Torontonians out of their comfort zone and into the seasonal tradition of outdoor winter theatre.

The Story Evergreen Brick Works (550 Bayview Avenue) December 13–30 at 7:30 p.m.; December 21, 23, and 28 at 4:30 p.m. $25 Adult /$20 Students, seniors, and arts workers / $10 Children Group rates (four or more) also available Jennifer Brewin has a piece of advice for Torontonians: “Wear a hat.” Brewin is the artistic [...]

Ford Drops the Cannonball in The Nutcracker

This past weekend, Mayor Rob Ford made his stage debut at the National Ballet of Canada. But we ask, is he playing nice so companies will play it safe?

What are the holidays if not for the traditions that go along with them? Not least among these: the National Ballet of Canada’s annual production of The Nutcracker—which has its own traditions as well, including rollerskating bears, dancing horses, and celebrity cameos in the roles of the two Cannon Dolls, appearing for about two and [...]

Not a Walk in the Park

Optic Heart's Crush takes audiences into the barren landscape of an Ontario trailer park, with events you wouldn't believe—if they weren't based on real life.

Crush Factory Studio Theatre (125 Bathurst Street) December 1—11, Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. $15-$20, PWYC Tuesday and Sunday Daytime talk shows are the definition of the term “guilty pleasure.” Because when you’re knee-deep in Kleenxes and Tylenol bottles, unable to shed layers of ratty PJ’s and slippers and enter [...]

Jesus Chrysler Needs a Sparkplug

Praxis Theatre's latest production tells the important but mostly unknown story of radical theatremakers in the 1930s, but gets lost in romanticism and a unique set design.

Jesus Chrysler Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace (16 Ryerson Avenue) November 29 to December 11 Evenings at 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. $15 to $20 Eugenia “Jim” Watts lived a life of legend. She inherited a small fortune from her grandfather in a time of economic depression, wrote and directed plays for [...]

Against the Odds at the Fringe Lottery

Over 300 Ontario theatre companies, from the fledgling to the famous, played their odds in the 2012 Toronto Fringe Festival Lottery.

“My father used to tell me that art depends on two things, luck and talent,” announces Gideon Arthurs to an eager audience at Theatre Passe Muraille last night. “But for the Fringe only the former applies.” People laugh, but the statement is true. While it’s indisputable that many, many, of the artists involved in the [...]