These plays give unheard voices a chance to be loud and tell their stories
Shows on kick-ass women, high school misfits and inspirational First Nations
Mouthpiece/Quiver Watch this if: You like variety, music and three kick-ass women.
This double bill is a co-presentation between Buddies in Bad Times, Toronto’s pre-eminent queer theatre, and Nightwood Theatre, the city’s best-known feminist theatre company.
These are two organizations built to give platforms to historically unheard voices and, with Mouthpiece and Quiver, they’re making them loud. The former is a multi-Dora-Award-winning duet performed by Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken about the inner conflicts of modern womanhood; the latter is a solo performance by Toronto Theatre Critics Award winner Anna Chatterton of a family drama between a single mother and her two teenage daughters. Both productions feature innovative uses of sound, music and voices so these women’s stories can’t help but be heard. Friday-Nov. 6, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St. The Circle Watch this if: You like the sound of a bong named “Trudeau.”
The Circle, the first play by 26-yearold writer Geoffrey Simon Brown, premiered in Calgary last year and quickly became the city’s sleeper hit. Now, The Circle has moved east for its Toronto premiere, with another timeless story about a group of high school misfits finding solace in their shared isolation (and a joint or two). Director Peter Pasyk is a great choice to mine the humour and sadness in these teenagers while bringing out the gravity in their grievances. With young cast members like Jakob Ehman and Vivien Endicott-Douglas, this is one of the most anticipated premieres in Tarragon’s season.
Tuesday-Nov. 27, Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave. Spirit Horse Watch this if: You know some children who could use an inspiring tale.
The Irish play Tír Na n’Og by Greg Banks is reimagined as a First Nations tale in Spirit Horse, written by Ojibway playwright Drew Hayden Taylor. It’s the second production in Young People’s Theatre’s 2016/2017 season directed by Banks himself.
Created by Roseneath Theatre, Spirit Horse premiered in 2007 at the Luminato Festival and has since toured the province several times as well as the United States. The story follows two urban Stoney Nation children and their father, who reconnect with their First Nations history through a horse that appears to their grandfather.
Tuesday-Oct. 28, Young People’s Theatre, 165 Front St. E.