Hottest tickets in Canada: Five things to do across the country

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The Drawer Boy

Something durable was planted in the early 1970s, when Toronto-based actors, led by director Paul Thompson, immersed themselves in heartland Ontario. The trip resulted in the theatrical experience The Farm Show, which years later inspired Michael Healey's landmark Canadian play The Drawer Boy. Now, Healey's play has been adapted into a feature film, shot in Blyth, Ont., with theatre pioneer Thompson making a cameo. My, how these things grow. Feb. 12, at Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille. The screening is sold out; performances of the play The Drawer Boy begin at the venue on Feb. 28.

Festival du Voyageur

The DJ-producer Calvin Harris recently revealed he'd grown a beard in an impish bid to be taken seriously by Grammy voters. The scheme failed; he won compliments, but no awards. Harris should take his face to Festival du Voyageur, an event headlined by singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle and highlighted by its annual beard-growing contests, where losing by a whisker is the highest imaginable consolation. Feb. 16 to 25, at Winnipeg's Voyageur Park.

Sunny War

The bluesy, finger-picking songstress Sunny War comes from a long line of music acts with oxymoron names, including Led Zeppelin, Fatboy Slim and the famously lopsided Simon & Garfunkel. More importantly, she comes from a history of Venice Beach street singers who made good – the late, great Ted Hawkins coming first to mind. Continuing with the theme of artistic irony, her just-out With the Sun album comes with lilting meditations on alcoholism, police brutality and lost love. Opening for Valerie June on Feb. 10 at Ottawa's 27 Club; Feb. 11 at Toronto's Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Twelfth Night

While some are born great, others achieve greatness, which brings us to a winning take on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Calgary. Described by Globe and Mail theatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck as "laugh-out-loud funny," the production originated in 2016 in Ottawa, with the National Arts Centre's Jillian Keiley directing and the inventive Old Trout Puppet Workshop handling the design. Shakespeare, bless him and his little quill pen, kicks in with a few zingers. To Feb. 24 at Theatre Calgary.

Lido Pimienta

Not resting on her laurels, the Colombian-Canadian life force Lido Pimienta continues to build on her Polaris Music Prize victory from last year, taking her self-described "dramatic and glamorous music of pathetic terror" to this place, that place and the wonderfully-in-your-face place. Feb. 10 at Ottawa's Megaphono festival and music conference; Feb. 15 at Hamilton's Mills Hardware; Feb. 16 at Toronto's Drake Hotel.