Next Stage Theatre Festival’s must-see shows

This annual showcase mixes the best of the Fringe Festival with promising new works from up-and-coming theatre pros

Foreign Tongue Jan. 10 to 20 Factory Mainspace

In this playful skewering of racial and cultural stereotypes, Kathy emerges from a coma and finds herself unable to stop speaking with a thick Russian accent. Mistaken for a refugee, she discovers what it’s like to be a first-generation immigrant.

LuCKY Jan. 10 to 20 Factory Studio

Playwright Marie Leofeli Barlizo tackles the tiger-parenting phenomenon in this drama inspired by the real-life case of Jennifer Pan, the VietnameseCanadian student from Markham who made headlines when she hired hitmen to kill her mother and father in 2010.

raising sTanLeY/LiFe WiTh TuLia Jan. 11 to 20 Factory Studio

Blind storyteller Kim Kilpatrick recites touching tales that chronicle her experiences living with guide dogs. Her stories are supplemented with art by long-time friend and artist Karen Bailey, who paints portraits of guide dogs at work and at play.

anaTomY oF a DanCer Jan. 11 t 20 Factory Mainspace

Hollywood icon Gene Kelly is celebrated in this fleet-footed journey through his life. Documenting his humble origins in Pittsburgh through to his big-screen triumphs in the ’40s and ’50s, a team of singers and dancers recreate his inventive choreography in a string of musical numbers.

sTrange anD unusuaL Jan. 9 to 20 Factory Mainspace

For Nicholas Wallace’s one-man theatremeets-magic show, the disarmingly boyish illusionist (whose Séance spooked audiences at Theatre Passe Muraille a few seasons back) mixes storytelling and sleight-of-hand tricks to examine the human fascination with mysteries and oddities.