SummerWorks, Canada's largest juried theatre festival, is the place to catch Toronto's top theatrical talents trying new and daring things, as well as up-and-comers about to make their mark. From Eric Peterson improvising an Iranian play to stories ripped straight out of your Facebook stream, here are a few shows that look particularly promising this year.
You Should Have Stayed Home
Despite a certain controversy over a play about homegrown terrorism last year, SummerWorks isn't shying away from politics. In this show from Praxis Theatre, Tommy Taylor adapts a Facebook note he wrote last year after being detained for 24 hours during the Toronto G20 Summit for the stage. Billed as “the true story of a heartbroken Canadian.”
White Rabbit, Red Rabbit
Volcano artistic director Ross Manson discovered 29-year-old Iran playwright Nassim Soleimanpour on a trip through a turbulent Tehran last year. This postmodern play of Soleimanpour's is be performed cold by a different actor every show – Eric Peterson and Stratford's Yanna McIntosh are among the heavy hitters signed up.
The Physical Ramifications of Attempted Global Domination
Toronto's Birdtown and Swanville theatre company presents a play about the medical ailments suffered by “history's most aggressive global dominators” from Napoleon to Pol Pot. Expect an offbeat but entirely original show from this young, quirky group.
Orpheus
Hot on the heels of the Canadian Opera Company's acclaimed production Orfeo ed Euridice, SummerWorks has two other takes on the ancient Greek myth. Hot American playwright Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice retells the story of Orpheus's journey into the underworld to fetch his wife from her point of view, while Jason Carnew's version ONE free-associates on the tale in a visually creative way – and comes trailing fantastic reviews from Alberta.
The SummerWorks festival runs Aug. 4-14 in Toronto. For information and tickets, visit www.summerworks.ca.
J. Kelly Nestruck
