Results tagged “buddiesinbadtimestheatre”

The Nightwood Theatre has set up shop at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre with an extraordinary production of Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist drama No Exit. In more traditional stage incarnations, No Exit is a fairly austere piece of theatre. Following the discussions of three strangers who find themselves trapped eternally in a sparsely decorated hotel room, Sartre’s play originally called for just three major characters, a mostly-mute valet, and one set. The drama arises from discussions between the three leads as they parse their various sins, deficiencies in character and weigh the morality of their mortal decisions.

Today's edition of Drama Club is brought to you by sex and gender politics. A couple of very interesting shows opened in the city last week, both of which approach aspects of sexuality and gender identity from very different perspectives. In the girl corner, we have Sasha Von Bon Bon's Neon Nightz, a two-woman burlesque(-ish) cabaret about the 90s Montreal strip club scene directed by outgoing Buddies Artistic Director David Oiye. Over at the boy's club, there's Darren Anthony's Secrets of a Black Boy, heavily promoted as the male answer to his sister's trey's hugely successful Da Kink in My Hair, which promises to let us all know what it's really like to be a black man in the city.

Each week, Drama Club looks at Toronto's theatre scene and tells you which shows are worth checking out.

Agokwe sounds like a good idea on paper. The Kent Monkman-esque promo pics featuring the play's writer/performer, Waatwaate Fobister, glammed up like a cross between "Half Breed"-era Cher and St. Sebastian (Seb's basically Gay Jesus, for those who aren't in the club) are certainly eye-catching, if a tad cheesy, and seem to suggest a camp and tongue-in-cheek exploration of two-spirited sexuality. And camp we certainly get. Fobister, who plays all the characters in his "gay love on the rez" tragedy, flits about the stage as a beyond-swishy Nanabush (an Ojibwe trickster spirit), sometimes telling the story of star-crossed Jakey and Mikey, Agokwe's protagonists, sometimes delivering speeches about how queer-tolerant First Nations societies used to be, and sometimes asking people in the audience to touch his asshole. But rather than a thoughtful or eye-opening look at homophobia in First Nations communities, Agokwe never really rises above the level of After-School Special.

WORDS: We all have a couple of things lying around, maybe hidden in a box somewhere, that carry serious emotional ties: borrowed sweaters, mix tapes, love letters, and the like. Most of those items come with a great background story, so tonight the Victory Café is presenting "Awkward Show and Tell: Things My Ex Gave Me," an open mic night dedicated to presenting relationship baggage in front of a group of people so speakers can feel cathartic, or whatever. Audience members are encouraged to bring old photos, shitty gifts, and anything else left behind from a past relationship, and share tales of regret. Come out, tell your story, have a few drinks, and embrace the awkward. Victory Café (581 Markham Street), 8:30 p.m., FREE.

THEATRE: This evening, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is presenting Electro-Alice: Adventures in the Underground. A new techno-opera by Torontonian Noah Henne, Electro-Alice explores what would happen if Alice had taken a bunch of MDMA before proceeding down the rabbit hole. The Facebook event describes it as "an experimental-techno-opera-costume-ball-acid-trip-mind-fucking-spiritual-dance-party for the 21st century." 2008 Toronto Drag Idol winner Daytona Bitch stars as Alice. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander Street), 10 p.m., $10.

Pity sex may have gotten some of us through university, but Loree Erickson, a York University PhD candidate and photographer/filmmaker, is determined that it’s not a phrase which should be associated with the disabled.

Photo of Post Porn Modernists Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens by Julian Cash.

Sex-positive feminists are all atwitter! Annie Sprinkle Ph.D., prostitute/porn star turned sexologist/performance artist, is coming to our great city for a run of her her newest show, Exposed: Experiments in Love, Sex, Death and Art at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

For Toronto's Kids On TV, it's been a long road to get their debut album completed, one that has lasted the better part of three years. For those waiting to hear Mixing Business With Pleasure, released last week by the Blocks Recording Club, there has been the lingering question of how the music would translate from the live show onto tape. For a band that is so infamous for its high-energy, explicit performances, how would the music hold up on its own? Very well, it turns out.

Carnival enthusiasts unite this evening at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre for The High Fashion Show, touted as a "runway cabaret" with the spirit of an antiquated midway. Part fashion show, part indie rock concert and part charity gala, all proceeds go to Camp Ten Oaks, a one-week summer camp for children with LGBTQ parents.

Seems like it's just bad news piled upon bad news for the city's small theatres this fall...

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is playing host to Hysteria, a Festival of Women, this week. And while Torontoist tries not to flog events that cater to narrow sectors of our readership (ie- left handers, people with three legs, Albanians), we're shouting up this event, because, well, it's really cool. All week you take an Intro to Breakdance class with Montrealer K8 (Give us a break!) Austerland, for the low, low price of fifty bucks. Then, at week's end, all the top rocks and freezes will culminate in a show. Cool. We don't know if boys are explicitly unwelcome, but there are other all-girl-b-classes to which boys are absolutely invited. Torontoist loves TO girl crew, Shebang, and has enjoyed injuring ourself week in and week out at their team taught boy/girl-inclusive break workshops.