Seeing the world with Chris Hadfield
TUESDAY
Lear
Watch this if: You think you’ve seen King Lear enough times. As our sunny story of 2017, Karen Fricker and I wrote about the mainstreaming of cross-gender casting in Shakespeare, giving women actors more access to some of the most famous roles in theatre history. Groundling Theatre’s production of Lear (note the absence of the gender-identifying “King” or “Queen”) is a great example of that, featuring Seana McKenna in the title role. But she’s only one performer in this all-star cast, including Colin Mochrie, Kevin Hanchard, Deborah Hay, Diana Donnelly and Jim Mezon. (Until Jan. 28, Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 231 Queens Quay W.) —Carly Maga
WEDNESDAY
The Detectives
Watch this if: You like your true crime mixed with TV drama. With viewers’ appetites for true crime shows whetted by the likes of The Jinx and Making a
Murderer, CBC gives us a documentary-drama hybrid, in which real-life detectives’ recollections of singular cases are enhanced by detailed dramatizations. In the premiere, for instance, Eric Johnson ( Rookie Blue, The Knick) plays Harold Curwain, the homicide detective who cracked the 1990 murder of Pickering teen Julie Ann Stanton and changed the way serial killers are investigated in Canada. Curwain himself narrates and provides perspective on the case. (9 p.m., CBC) —Debra Yeo
The Family at Doc Soup
Watch this if: You want to learn about Australia’s weirdest cult. From the mid-1960s until the late ’80s, a yoga teacher named Anne Hamilton-Byrne held almost total control over a group of adults and children — 14 of whom she adopted or otherwise claimed as her own — in a series of enclaves near Melbourne. Known as The Family, the cult believed that Hamilton-Byrne was a living god who was preparing them for the coming apocalypse. To help foster that notion among her youngest followers (whose hair was dyed blond like their leader’s), she’d routinely beat them and dose them with LSD. All this makes for a disturbing true-life tale in 2018’s first selection in Hot Docs’ monthly Doc Soup series. Filled with first-hand accounts by survivors, director Rosie Jones’ film plays three screenings over Wednesday and Thursday. (Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor St. W., hotdocscinema.ca) —Jason Anderson
My Funny Valentine
Watch this if: You want to remember someone special around Valentine’s Day. Ten years ago next month, Grade 8 transgender student Latisha King was shot and killed by her classmate the day after she asked him to be her valentine. After the murder, there was a lot of attention paid to the California community in which it took place, examining the homophobia that permeated the school and town. Playwright Dave Deveau with Vancouver’s Zee Zee Theatre created My Funny Valentine to tell those stories, and earned a Jessie Award nomination and critical acclaim on the West Coast. This is the play’s Toronto premiere, seemingly The
Laramie Project for this generation. (Until Jan. 21, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St.) —C.M.
Amadeus
Watch this if: You like elephants in the room. Last week, Soulpepper Theatre’s Amadeus was just a notable upcoming production, featuring company co-founder and acting staple Diego Matamoros against one of the company’s favourite up-and-comers, Paolo Santalucia, as Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mo- zart. This week, it’s one of the more interesting productions in Toronto theatre history as its director, Albert Schultz, recently resigned his role as Soulpepper artistic director amid allegations of sexual harassment and assault. (Until Feb. 10, Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 50 Tank House Lane) —C.M.
THURSDAY
Shorts That Are Not Pants Watch this if: You like to see great shorts for free. A quarterly series that celebrates the best in short-form cinema, Shorts That Are Not Pants launches its seventh season with something special: a free program of audience faves from the series’ history thus far. The slate of “greatest hits” includes Interesting Ball, a typically bonkers offering by the team behind Swiss Army Man, and Belly by the delightful British animator Julia Pott. It’s also got some of the best shorts to come out of Toronto in recent years, like Steven McCarthy’s vampire tale O Negative and Day 40, Sol Friedman’s unorthodox spin on the story of Noah’s Ark. More goodies await viewers who like it short and sweet. (7 p.m., Carlton Cinemas, 20 Carlton St., shortsnotpants.com) —J.A. Chris Hadfield’s Generator Watch this if: You like your science with a chaser of whimsy. The Commander returns for the third edition of
Generator, a variety show that combines cutting-edge technology and ideas, music from house band Tupperware Remix Party and comedian and BBC presenter Robin Ince serving as emcee. That’s about as specific as the pre-show word gets, but given the example of the first two at Massey Hall (and one sojourn to the Arctic) the guest list will draw from academia, astrophysics, letters and jokesters, and chances are you’ll walk out having learned a few things you didn’t know going in, and in this age of dumb and numb, how often does that happen? (8 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., 8 p.m.) —Chris Young
FRIDAY
Nine In Concert
Watch this if: Show tunes turn your crank. Stratford Festival veteran Juan Chioran stars as Guido Contini in this weekend’s concert presentation of the 1982 Broadway play, based on Fellini’s movie 8 1/2, that won five Tony Awards including best musical and original score (the hall of mirrors history included a 2009 film best forgotten). Despite the dated premise, the music at least is guaranteed for this treatment — a cast of Contini muses drawn from theatre and opera, an ensemble of young Etobicoke School of Arts tyros and a 23-piece orchestra, all brought together by the same Podium Concert Productions folks following up their inaugural 2017 production of The Secret Garden In Concert. (Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W., Friday 7:30 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) —C.Y.
SUNDAY
The Caregivers’ Club
Watch this if: You want an honest look at a common problem. Here’s a sobering statistic: there are currently 564,000 Canadians living with dementia, each with one or more family members who provide care. This documentary by Cynthia Banks ( Reef
er Riches, Apocalypse 2012) profiles three Ontario families caring for members with dementia, a task described in the film as trying to push a rock up a mountain while its full weight bears down upon you. There are daily challenges and frustrations, to be sure, but also profound devotion from the spouses and children profiled as they try to do their best for their loved ones while not losing sight of themselves. (9 p.m., CBC) —D.Y.