Late Feb. arts update

I suppose there really are just a few days left to go in Feb, but I have so much to report on.  But let me comment on upcoming events and then on-going plays (there is less urgency in reporting on plays that have already closed).

Yesterday (Wed) I managed to grab my dry cleaning, go to see the Basquiat exhibit at AGO (thankfully the crowds have started dying down to a reasonable level) and even swim a few laps at the rec centre.  It felt like a productive evening.

I've basically decided to try to see the George Walker play over at Red Sandcastle tonight (Thurs), assuming there are still a few tickets at the door.  I've been meaning to check out Red Sandcastle, and now seems as good a time as any.  I generally I like Walker's work, even when he goes into dark places.  Actually I had a chance to see a few of the plays in Walker's Suburban Motel series (I can no longer remember if this was in Chicago or Vancouver) but passed at the time.  This play (Problem Child) is from that series, so it is a way of correcting my past mistake in skipping these plays.

Then Saturday, there is a performance of contemporary classical music at TSO.  The centerpiece (at least for me) is the Wallace Stevens' poem A Mind of Winter set to music.  However, there is also the Canadian première of Dai Fujikura's Tocar y Luchar and the world première of Vivian Fung's Violin Concerto No. 2 "Of Snow and Ice."  So it all sounds very topical (sadly not tropical).  The ticket prices for the concert are only $20, so I would urge folks in Toronto to give it a shot.

The Dining Room at Soulpepper has about slightly over one more week to run, though tickets will be scarce.  I enjoyed this a lot, though it is fair to say that the stakes are fairly low, as none of the scenes are interconnected and they don't lead up to any particular climax.  It basically is a series of snapshots of WASP culture (and one of the more successful scenes is watching an anthropology student trying to make the case that the dining room was the locus of power for upper-crust WASPs).  But it was still fun.

I also liked The Object Lesson quite a bit, though its run has already concluded.

I did not care for Speaking in Tongues over at East Side Players where it has one more weekend to go.  I thought the actors did a good job, but I didn't care for the play, which starts off with an annoying gimmick and relies far too much on coincidence and people encountering other people with whom they have some unusual connection.  I may go into this more next week when I have more time.

I guess this weekend wraps around and is technically March, but I am planning on seeing Hou Hsiao-hsien's Millennium Mambo over at TIFF.  And I'll see if I can also get to an Amici concert this weekend, though I never got around to ordering tickets.  If I can manage to get my scene completed (clock's ticking!), I will send that off and see if I am going to Sing for Your Supper Monday evening.

Finally, next Wed. we are supposed to go see Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit, which should be a great performance, assuming the TTC can keep running despite the cold weather and no one catches a terrible cold and can't go on.  Fingers crossed.

Edit to add: I am just back from seeing Problem Child.  It was a very well done performance, with my main beef being that they started 10 (or more) minutes late.  This matters, primarily because the seats in Red Sandcastle are pretty uncomfortable.  It's a very small theatre, but I could see making it work for one or two of the plays I am working on.  Actually given the general slope of the seats, I think The Study Group would not work there, however.  I think that would work better at The Storefront.  Well, one thing at a time.

I don't want to give any twists away, but it is a dark comedy indeed.  If one is a George Walker fan (and I am becoming one), then it is worth investigating this production.  They have two more shows through the weekend and apparently are considering adding a Sunday show.