Gravity-defying grief, old flames and crisis
The Return Watch this if: You think words sometimes aren’t enough to describe the world’s pain.
As the final production in Canadian Stage’s Spotlight Australia festival, the acclaimed company CIRCA is back in Toronto with The Return: a combination of Homer’s The Odyssey and Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria with CIRCA’s signature gravity-defying acrobatics. Such heavy issues as refugee migration, displacement and persecution don’t seem like typical fare for the thrill and spectacle of contemporary circus, but the Guardian’s Lyn Gardner said of The Return, “I’ve seen grief many times onstage, but seldom have I seen it depicted so well.”
Wednesday to Sunday, Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front St. E. I’m Doing This for You Watch this if: You’re trying to lure the one who got away.
Soulpepper Theatre continues its series of solo performances with one by Toronto performer and writer Haley McGee, who comes home after getting rave reviews around the world for this odd, fun- ny and sad production about a woman desperate to rekindle an old flame. (McGee, a favourite actor at any time, is especially captivating as characters who are slightly unhinged.) The audience has gathered for a surprise birthday party a woman has organized for her exboyfriend. Come for the cake, stay for the drama.
Wednesday to Saturday, Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 50 Tank House Lane. It’s All Tru Watch this if: You think HIV/AIDS is a problem of the past.
Prolific Toronto playwright and director Sky Gilbert returns to Buddies in Bad Times Theatre with a potentially controversial story about a gay couple whose happy lives are interrupted by a young man with HIV. Issues of consent, legality and the daily treatment pill PrEP arise, since sex without a condom when one partner has the disease is potentially a criminal offence. For anyone who thinks the AIDS crisis can only be discussed in period pieces set in the 1980s and ’90s, this play shows the issue remains complex today.
Wednesday to May 14, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St.