I realize there is good reason to be cautious. Even with the vaccinations, the delta variant is quite contagious. (How incredibly frustrating that it is so elusive, but at the same time, how childish of these anti-vaxxers to say that because the vaccines aren't perfect, then there is no point in "forcing it" on a reluctant public.) I think at this point, arts agencies are just going to open up ever so slightly, enforce the vaccine passport scheme that finally came into being and just hope for the best. They'll still end up bleeding red ink, but better that than going completely out of business.
As far as I can tell, the TSO and Royal Conservatory are running fairly full schedules, starting from the fall. I haven't booked tickets yet, but saw 5 or 6 concerts of interest in both seasons, so I'll go ahead and subscribe shortly. And the AGO is pretty much back in full swing, which is really nice from my perspective.
In terms of theatre, I have absolutely no idea what Soulpepper* and Canadian Stage actually plan on putting on. (Canadian Stage has been running some events in High Park, but hasn't tipped its hand as to the fall or winter.) Coal Mine should announce something fairly soon. I'm a little surprised that Video Cabaret hasn't announced anything, as they have a fairly devoted fan base that would come out. I guess I'll email them later in the week.
The Bloor West Village Players are putting on Gurney's Love Letters very soon. As it happens, this isn't my cup of tea, but I hope it goes well for them. I'll see what else they put on later in the year, and I'll try to make it out to something to show my support.
Tarragon and Factory both seem to be leading off with audio plays for the fall and early winter. I really didn't enjoy these very much and will probably skip them all, though I may tune in to Year of the Rat at Factory. Sadly, I don't have much interest in Tarragon's live half-season, but I am moderately likely to watch Among Men and Wildfire at Factory. Theatre Passe Muraille and the Theatre Centre have been so incredibly woke these past few years that I am hard pressed to find anything to watch there. In fact, I can't even tell if the Theatre Centre is putting on anything in person any time soon. TPM is sponsoring a bunch of new in-development productions, but again it is very unclear when anything actually goes live. Most don't interest me, but I would probably check out Erased and Woking Phoenix if they are actually staged, so I'll keep an eye out for those two.
Interestingly, the boldest season (in terms of doing in-person, indoor theatre this fall) is actually Streetcar Crowsnest, which is awesome for me, as it is just down the street! I went to their jazz bistro a couple of weeks back and may actually go Thurs. and Sat. to catch some music and just enjoy being out and about... In terms of theatre, Crowsnest is serving up a George F. Walker play (though unfortunately not one of his Toronto-based plays), Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,** and a musical adaptation of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. So it looks like I may well end up spending the most time at Crowsnest with occasional jaunts to the TSO and Koerner Hall. Maybe not exactly how I expected to spend 2021-22, but better than last season for sure...
* I'm still not really sure what Soulpepper's long-term plans are, but it looks like they are doing a mini-festival of new works by female playwrights with 4 in-person events in mid-Oct. I think I may go to two of them, so I'll look into booking tickets for that. I assume there will be more to come from them, but no idea when. (Good thing I double-checked as both of these events will actually be at Harbourfront not at Soulpepper's home base.)
** Slightly off topic, but in one of those inexplicable moves, I had been planning on checking out Ayad Akhtar's The Invisible Hand and then I simply didn't go. Was this because I was torn between seeing it in Buffalo and Hamilton (and then someone cast a lot of shade on Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, implying it wasn't really worth the ticket price)? Or because I saw that a company in Toronto was going to do it, but then it was cancelled due to COVID? I'm not sure, but now I wish I had gone to see it in Hamilton. It's yet another one of those frustrating missed opportunities, made even more annoying because I simply can't recall what I was thinking at the time. (And I mentioned planning to go 2 or 3 times on this very blog!) But I will probably be a little more inclined to go to theatre now (when I would have been on the fence pre-COVID) just because there is such a strong chance that everything will be locked down again this winter.
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