Art Bergmann plays the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on June 23.Kenneth Locke/Handout
Art Bergmann
There is a ragged grace to Art Bergmann, the nervy Vancouver punk rocker who after winning a Juno Award in 1995 for What Fresh Hell Is This? went about to answer the album's titular question. After years away from the game, Bergmann now returns battle-scarred and troubadorial, offering The Apostate, a wiry album of historical allegories, atheist prayers and the kind of blues Keith Richards and Tom Waits know from. Sounds like victory, or at least survival. June 23, 8:30 p.m. $15. Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen St. W., 416-598-4226 or ticketfly.com.
Female Eye
"What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?" the poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote. "The world would split open." Inspired by that question and possibility, the filmmaker Deborah Kampmeier wrote, directed and produced SPLit (6:30 p.m., June 19), the closing-night gala feature for this year's Female Eye film festival. Intense and expressionistic, the drama concerns the dreams of a stripper, and the sacrifices made to satisfy expectations. Will the film split the world open? Maybe or maybe not, but it might just blow your mind. June 14 to 19. Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen St. W., femaleeyefilmfestival.com.
Steve Martin
You want wild? You want crazy? You can't have it. On Wednesday, the erudite comedian Steve Martin joins Art Gallery of Ontario's Andrew Hunter in conversation and in investigation, on the subject of the paintings of Lawren Harris, a Group of Seven icon and a distinct stylist. Martin no longer puts prop arrows on his head; instead, he wears his high regard for the work of the Canadian modernist prominently. His onstage talk next week is sold out, but the Harris exhibition he curated – The Idea of North – opens on Canada Day. June 22, 8 p.m. $30 (sold out). Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., 416-872-4255 or roythomson.com.
The James Plays Trilogy
This ain't the Princess of Wales Theatre. Theatregoers attending Luminato's presentation of The James Plays will first need to adjust to the fantastic setting – a portable 1,200-seater set amid the industrial wilds of the transformed Hearn Generating Station. The James Plays is a trilogy as epic as the venue, involving three generations of Scottish rulers in the tumultuous 15th century. Making its lone North American stop, the production has been described as Scotland's answer to Game of Thrones. To June 26. $39 to $129. The Hearn, 440 Unwin Ave., luminatofestival.com.
Rae Spoon
Those who were shut out of Rae Spoon's sold-out shows earlier this year have a second chance to witness in person the Montreal-based singer-songwriter's high-mercury voice and affecting presence. The artist's latest album – number eight, where has the time gone? – is a victory of melody, electronic aesthetics, celebratory rhythms and lyrical self-reflection. It's called Armour, and it is as fun as fearless gets. June 23, 7 p.m. $15, Tranzac 292 Brunswick Ave., 416-923-8137 or brownpapertickets.com.
Brad Wheeler