It's that time of year when Shaw and Stratford have more or less wound down (and Fringe and Summerworks are long over*), and I turn my attention to the fall (and winter) offerings around town.
Soulpepper's half season is the most depressing and uninspired I've ever seen from them. Art is just a trifle, far more appropriate for community theatre than the premiere professional troupe in Toronto. While Streetcar Named Desire is a better play of course, I just think they should have dug a bit deeper into Tennessee Williams's back catalogue, and I won't bother going. Pinter's Betrayal should be a home run, but I just think the casting is so problematic, given that the female character appears to be a decade (or more) younger than the two men, and the text makes it clear they all went to uni together. So I think this is a major misstep, and I probably would have skipped it anyway, though the fact that I saw a solid performance at Red Sandcastle means that I don't have to feel like I am missing out on anything. I'm also still pretty steamed that they have decided, pretty much unilaterally, to dump all the Ayckbourn plays from their repertoire (I guess because Albert Schultz was such a promoter of his work). They had booked the rights to House & Garden this season, but dropped them silently. So I'll see what they bring to the table in 2020, but the tea leaves aren't looking promising at all. That may not be entirely fair, as, at some point in 2020, they are going to be doing David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly. I'd rather they did Chinglish (though honestly that might be a better fit at Canadian Stage), but I'd check this out.
I'm never too interested in Canadian Stage, though this time around I'll be checking out Lynn Nottage's Sweat in January. The rest of the line-up is here. I believe I already mentioned that Sweat will be playing in Hamilton, opening one week after Canadian Stage!
I've just fallen out of step with Tarragon, and it is pretty rare that I can find more than one play to see per season, whereas I did subscribe a couple of times in the past. Their season is posted here, and I believe the only play I will see is Kat Sandler's Yaga (and indeed I probably need to book a ticket to that soon). If a reviewer (that I trust!) actually likes The Jungle, I might go see this, but I'm pretty sure it is going to be cliched in very annoying ways.
Theatre Passe Muraille has gotten super woke these days, and there isn't anything I want to see there. Factory is more interesting. Or at least it can be, though it is also pretty woke. I managed to find 3 shows of passing interest in the 2017-8 season (with the very best being The Fish Eyes Trilogy). Then last year I didn't want to go see anything there, though it is also true I had already seen Bears at the Theatre Centre, so I'm not quite sure how to "count" that. This time around, there are three, and perhaps even four, shows I might check out from the season. I talked with the box office, and they have a pretty good deal. If you get a 3-show pass, then you can get 25% off additional tickets. I'm not entirely sure I want to check out Trout Stanley by Claudia Dey or House by Daniel McIvor, but I'll probably go in the end. Lady Sunrise looks interesting, and One is a bit of a reworking of the Eurydice myth. I might even take my son to that one. Generally, this time around Factory is more up my alley, compared to last year for sure.
I've seen an article here and there suggesting that Coal Mine is losing its edge, deciding to put on more warm and fuzzy shows (only a slight exaggeration according to this piece). To be honest, I've never actually subscribed to Coal Mine, and I am even less likely to do so now. Of their four shows this season, I'm reasonably likely to see Between Riverside and Crazy (and probably paying full price), and possibly willing to see Marjorie Prime, though there I might wait for the reviews and/or try to get a rush ticket. Still, I do wish them well, not least because they are putting on shows East of the Don.
Speaking of making a splash on the east side, Streetcar Crowsnest was an official Fringe site this summer, which was incredible, and they generally have strong line-ups, even if not everything is to my taste. They also are partnering with a lot of up-and-coming companies,** particularly The Howland Company and now apparently The Groundlings and Obsidian. Here is a somewhat confusing narrative of what they will be presenting. In this case, I think it will be pretty hard to put 4 together, since I already have a ticket to Annie Baker's The Flick (quite possibly the event of the season). I think I will check out Casimir and Caroline, since I like everything the Howland Company has done so far. They are quite fierce! I just don't think I can sit through another Julius Caesar, having seen it at Shakespeare in High Park a few years back, then Wolf Manor's take in 2017 and then Portia's Julius Caesar last summer. Even though this is going to be a star-studded version, I think I'm going to pass. I probably should check out Blacktop Sky (presented by Obsidian), but I doubt I will. It's probably the same thing with Moscovitch's Secret Life of a Mother.
Hart House is remounting Portia's Julius Caesar, which I will definitely avoid, and quite a few musicals. I am going to sit it out this season, even though I am sure they will do a fine job with Rocky Horror.
I think I mentioned it already, but I think Alumnae is making a mistake putting on The Heidi Chronicles so soon after Soulpepper did it. I'm definitely not going again. There is a smallish chance I will check out Ruhl's In the Next Room, though I saw that done at Tarragon (as a rental, not a mainstage production), but the rest I will skip.
In terms of more community theatre, I am not at all interested in East Side Players this season. I'm still a little sore at them cancelling Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) and substituting in the very terrible The Memory of Water. I didn't really like the very manipulative Disgraced and don't plan to see it again, and the other 2 plays just sound dreadful to me. I haven't had very good luck at the West Bloor Village Players, but this time around I will check out The Glass Menagerie (coming up soon) and possibly Lindsay-Abaire's Good People in the spring.
It's taken a bit of digging, but I now have the main plays at George Brown in 2019-20 (there are usually a couple of plays oriented towards children as well):
"The Learned Ladies" directed by Sue Miner
"Metamorphoses" directed by Jordan Pettle
Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" directed by Soheil Parsa
"Picnic at Hanging Rock" directed by Tanisha Taitt
Metamorphoses is basically the version of Ovid's tales that Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago made famous, though I haven't been able to find out if they will use water features in the same way. I'll definitely go to this and take my son. I'm also reasonably likely to take him to Rhinoceros, but I'll check out the translation of Moliere's The Learned Ladies on my own.
So it looks like I will plump for a George Brown subscription, as well as 3-play pass from Factory, and that does look like the only subscriptions I will be ponying up for this season. I"m sure I will end up seeing enough theatre this season, but it will largely be a la carte...
* It was a decent but not amazing Fringe for me this year. I only saw one play at Summerworks (Greenland by Nicolas Billion), and it was actually a staged reading, but it was definitely worth checking out.
** It's still as hard as ever to be a small company in Toronto. It looks like Wolf Manor has more or less packed it in. Seven Siblings is still doing the occasional show, and I think I'll check out their show in November (Girl in the Machine), but they aren't doing a lot, compared to their ambitions from previous years.
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