I'm definitely scaling back on my cultural outings since the accident.
I decided that The Children at Canadian Stage was just not something that interested me, despite some relatively strong reviews. I was slightly more interested in Heathers at Hart House, though I have to admit, I am usually not a fan of musicals, particularly when they have been based on movies (and didn't originate as musicals). Hart House is actually doing yet another musical this season (Hair), and I might make it to that, but I haven't really decided.
I was closest to going to Gertrude and Alice at Buddies at Bad Times, but, for better or worse, I dug up some of Gertrude Stein's writings. I then remembered how much I dislike her writing (and her somewhat ludicrous contention that she was one of the only unrecognized female geniuses of her day). I can't remember now if I was thinking about this particular production when I introduced a terrible Cubist playwright into one of my SFYS scripts. Nonetheless, I am quite sure I would not actually enjoy the play and getting more rest is a better use of my Sunday. (Interestingly, there is now quite a swirling controversy over Stein and her politics. She was resolutely anti-New Deal and close friends with key officials in the Vichy regime. Whether this actually makes her a fascist sympathizer or simply someone with bad taste in friends is open for debate. It does make me even less interested in spending a couple of hours in her company...)
In terms of art exhibits, the photojournalistic show Anthropocene has opened. I'll probably go tomorrow. This runs through Jan., so there is no rush.
I believe this makes the third year in a row that I missed Nuit Blanche. Well, I had a pretty good excuse this year. I'll consider going next year more seriously.
There is a pretty interesting exhibit at Ryerson on Gordon Parks and Flavio, a young boy he befriended in Rio, and the impact Parks had on the boy's life. It's a bit too complex to convey in just a paragraph. I may come back to this later on. Anyway, this exhibit runs through early Dec.
I just found out that a David Milne exhibit has opened up at the McMichael Gallery. I don't love Milne's work, but I'll think about swinging by. It turns out that the McMichael art bus runs three more Sundays, though that would still mean missing the Stephen Andrews exhibit, which opens in Nov. It's a bit of a tough call, but not having to make the drive is certainly appealing...
I'll mostly be discussing theatre openings in the rest of this post.
The Nether is opening at Coal Mine this weekend. I think this is pretty dark (about virtual child pornography) and I haven't really decided if I will go. I'm also not sure about Hand to God, which they are doing in April. In general, Coal Mine is putting on shows that are just a bit too challenging to my taste.
I believe next weekend, The Wolves opens at Crows Nest. I expect to go see that.
Middletown by Will Eno will be at Crows Nest in November, but I will skip that. I already saw this at Steppenwolf in Chicago, and I thought it was ok but not great.
Late Oct./early Nov. East Side Players is putting on 4 shorts by Christopher Durang, including The Actor's Nightmare. I'm pretty disappointed that they aren't doing Goodnight Desdemona later in the season (substituting in Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory of Water). I may still subscribe for the season, though this will be my only subscription this year. I just don't see enough of interest elsewhere, so I'll be doing rush tickets and one-offs.*
I'm leaning towards seeing the Toronto Irish Players do Dancing at Lughnasa in late October, even though I already did see this in Chicago.
York University is not doing a short run of Rivera's Marisol in mid to late Nov., despite booking the rights. That's unfortunate. I'm not sure it is has played often in Toronto. There was a full production at Theatre Passe Muraille all the way back in 1997(!) and then Seven Siblings did a staged reading last year, but that may be it. I've seen this several times, but get something different out of it each time. I might go yet again the next time it actually turns up. I also found that Cloud Tectonics has only made it here as a Fringe show. Anyway, the college productions can be kind of flaky. UC Follies or Trinity was supposed to do Arcadia last year but bailed, which left me pretty sad. However, there is supposedly a production of Hwang's Yellow Face at Victoria College, but it's a bit under the radar. I can now confirm that they held auditions, and supposedly the show will go up November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the Cat’s Eye Student Pub.
As a side note, a few promising companies have all but disappeared. I haven't seen anything about Wolf Manor. Shakespeare Bash'D and Seven Siblings have retrenched a bit but still are doing a few things this season and next. I'm on the fence for the staged reading of Duchess of Malfi, but I'll probably check out Othello in Feb.
At Canadian Stage there is a small chance I will see Every Brilliant Thing in early Dec., and then I may check out their wordless play, Bigre, in April. But as is fairly typical, I usually don't see much that interests me at Canadian Stage.
Since the shake-up at Soulpepper, I generally am less interested in their offerings. They've decided to turn their back on Acykbourn for instance and are pursuing a lot more politically informed works, most of which leave me cold. I will check out Caryl Churchill's Escaped Alone in late October, and maybe the evening of Pinter shorts in Feb. I will probably skip Frayn's Copenhagen in April, though I'll decide closer to the time. I will definitely be skipping Tracy Letts's August: Osage County and Tarell McCraney's The Brothers Size. Nothing wrong with either of these plays, but I already saw the definitive performances in Chicago.
Supposedly there will be a production of Posner's Stupid F*cking Bird at the
University of Waterloo in early Nov., but this is a bit far for me to go, even though it is an interesting play.
Even a bit further afield, there is a one day only staged reading of Steven Dietz's Bloomsday in Kitchener. That's way too far to go (and I think it's Wednesday evening). Remy Bumppo is doing a professional production in Chicago next year, but not at a time I think I could go.
Depending on how the US midterms go, I might be willing to travel a bit further afield. I've been trying to see Dietz's Yankee Tavern for some time. It will be playing in Rochester, NY, next Feb., and I might be willing to bus it for that.
In 2019, Studio 180 Theatre is doing Oslo. I might go. I have to see how I am feeling and if I am up for a political play.
The single most interesting 2019 production to date is someone will put on Kiss of the Spider Woman in the Don Jail. I just have to check that out.
Then in terms of really advance notice, Lynn Nottage's Sweat had its performance at Hamilton's Theatre Aquarius delayed by an entire year! Now it will go up in Feb. 2020. Finally,
Studio 180 is doing Paula Vogel's Indecent in March-April 2020, though if I am really itching to see this, it will be playing in Montreal in 2019.
All in all, I'd say I am scaling back. I don't feel obligated to go to the theatre to support companies if I don't like the plays they are putting on, and I am clearly less interested in what is uppermost on most theatre companies' minds these days (i.e. fairly dreary dissections of intersectional politics). Of course, I am in a pretty poor frame of mind these days, and I may feel better (and maybe even more open minded) as my body heals up.
* I'm going to be blunt. There is nothing at all of interest for me at Tarragon, and there wasn't last season either. It is completely slipping off my radar. Several of the other established companies like Factory and Theatre Passe Muraille are inundated with "woke" plays that turn me off as well. Maybe it's just as well that I save my money and reserve my time for other things I enjoy more.
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