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Weekend Planner: March 5–6
Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
David Suzuki at the opening of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the ROM, June 2007. Photo by Roger Cullman from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
This edition of Weekend Planner offers up some stellar options: catch screenings of a documentary about Palestine, watch robots fight or academics debate, meet up with the Boys in the Band, and celebrate David Suzuki’s birthday with dinner and a movie.
SYMPOSIUM: Glendon College of York University’s International Studies Department hosts a symposium on the theme of Transcending the Border: Dialogues on the Challenges of Hispaniola. The day-long event features lectures and discussions on the culture, political landscape, and international role of Haiti and the Dominican Republic by panels of specialists, as well as meals featuring regional dishes and a cocktail reception. Glendon College (2275 Bayview Avenue) Saturday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., $25–$50.
ROBOT SUMO: This weekend sees the return of OCAD’s Robot Sumo Challenge. Teams will bring in their homemade robots—assigned to categories such as mini, micro, lego, and humanoid—to compete. During each bout, lasting three rounds, robots try to push their competitors out of the ring, in traditional sumo fashion. In the case of the humanoid category, points will also be giving for smackdowns. OCAD Auditorium (100 McCaul Street) Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m., $20 registration.
THEATRE: Forty-three years after its first production, The Boys in the Band returns to the stage. One of the first shows to openly depict queer men discussing sex and relationships, it was produced when homosexuality was still a criminal offence, before the Stonewall riots, and ran for more than a thousand shows on Broadway. The current Toronto production closes this weekend. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander Street) Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., $30.
FILM: The world premiere screening of Anastasia Trofimova‘s documentary 12 Palestines will be hosted by Beit Zatoun on Saturday. The film, shot in thirty-five millimetre, uses historic footage and interviews with community leaders and UN officials to tell the story of twelve Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, sixty years on. Beit Zatoun House (612 Markham Street) Saturday, 7 p.m., PWYC.
DAVID SUZUKI: Celebrate everyone’s favourite environmentalist’s seventy-fifth birthday at the Drake, with a screening of Force Of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, which premiered at TIFF this past Fall, and also enjoy a prix fixe dinner featuring both beets and sustainable sablefish. Proceeds support the David Suzuki Foundation. The Drake Underground (1150 Queen Street West) Sunday, 7 p.m., $5 admission, plus prix fixe.