Blockbusters Bad Dog style, true teen stories and a reading of Harry Potter
Unscripted adventures, a reliving of adolescence and the return of a wizard
Bad Dog Summer Blockbuster Week Watch this if: You’ve had enough superheroes for one season.
Bad Dog is once again giving Torontonians all the blockbuster hits we can handle, no stunt doubles or CGI involved. For the fourth time, Bad Dog Theatre’s Summer Blockbuster Week brings together a solid lineup of unscripted adventures in every genre, such as political thriller ( PANTSUIT, House of Scandal), dramedy ( Real Live Toronto GIRLS), fantasy ( Throne of Games, Fantastica, Dreamboats, The Nightfall Realm, Space Time) and Hollywood musical ( Songbuster). The week will also fea- ture sketch troupe Sex T-Rex, known for genre-busting Fringe Festival performances, in an entirely improvised version of their hit show Callaghan! Don’t forget your popcorn.
Aug. 8 to 13, Bad Dog Theatre, 875 Bloor St. W.
Raconteurs presents Teen Stories Watch this if: You want to relive someone else’s teenage years, instead of your own.
Raconteurs Storytelling, Toronto’s oldest monthly storytelling series, has three rules: it has to be true, it has to be short and it has to have happened personally to the storyteller. And this month’s theme is a doozy; it’s all about teens.
If you can’t bear to think about your own awkward phases, then by all means let this lineup of amateur and professional storytellers (including comedian Rhiannon Archer) delight you with theirs.
Aug. 10, Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave.
Reading Group: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Watch this if: You don’t have plane tickets to London.
Even if you’ve already speed-read through both parts of the eighth Harry Potter instalment, it’s still a play. And as a play, it should be heard and read by professional actors, no less. The Howland Company understands the pain of anyone not lucky enough to have tickets to the London run, so it’s doing a staged reading as part of its monthly series.
The special effects likely won’t measure up to the real thing, but it will tide you over until the West End production begins its worldwide tour.
Aug. 9, Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley St.