This week in theatre rounds up the most noteworthy live theatre playing right now in Toronto. It includes just-opened shows as well as productions that are about to close.
Wait Until Dark / The Storefront Theatre / 8:00pm/2:00pm / $20
StoreFront Theatre, located at 955 Bloor Street, has chosen Wait Until Dark as the production to launch their new theatre company. Frederick Knott's play is a suspenseful thriller involving three con men who pray on a blind housewife in Greenwich Village. The theatre company has recruited a collection of strong actors for the roles: Dayle McLeod, Tyrone Savage, David Tompa, Brenhan McKibbon, Claire Armstrong, and Jonathan Widdifield.
Help Yourself / Red Sandcastle Theatre / 8:00pm/3:00pm / $10-$20
The Toronto Fringe Festival's 2012 New Play Winner, and one of the standouts from last year's festival, Help Yourself introduces us to a man with an unusual profession: justifying our most immoral acts. Kat Sandler's play is a high-octane thriller with a dark comedic style that explores our hyper-modern preoccupations. Tim Walker gives an enthralling performance as the new client and the play features a slow and steady burn towards a memorable climax.
The Amorous Adventures Of Anatol / Tarragon Theatre / 8:00pm/2:30pm / $27-$53
Alongside Hannah Moscovitch's This Is War, Tarragon Theatre brings Arthur Schnitzler's The Amorous Adventures Of Anatol to Toronto stages this winter. Morris Panych has penned a new adaptation about the Viennese Casanova Anatol who strikes up relationships with a host of women. The play was certainly a bit cheeky when first staged in 1895. It's not the only Schnitzler play this year — Soulpepper will mount La Ronde later this season.
Cafe Daughter / Aki Studio Theatre / 8:00pm/2:30pm / $10-$20
Yvette Nolan directs this one woman show about Canadian Senator Dr. Lillian E. Quan Dyck, a Chinese Canadian Cree woman who grew up in rural Saskatchewan. The story follows young Yvette Wong who overcame her time at residential schools and pursued a career in the sciences, eventually realizing her dream of becoming a doctor. PJ Prudat performs twelve different characters in this inspiring Canadian success story.
Body 13 / Theatre Passe Muraille / 7:30pm/2:00pm / $25-$35
MT Space (Multicultural Theatre Space), who previously produced The Last 15 Seconds at Theatre Passe Muraille, presents Body 13, a story about characters pursuing love across cultural borders. Directed by Majdi Bou-Matar, the play considers three love stories that unfold on a Canadian beach set before the backdrop of a wedding and a funeral. The play was collectively created by actors from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Photo from Wait Until Dark