Five for Twenty (Or Less) (Or Free!)
Torontonians love Toronto. Our shifting cultural landscape is passionately self-propelled. We talk about our city, we write and read about our city, our mayor (even if we don’t necessarily love him) makes his way into our graffiti and butter sculpting. Toronto art seems intrinsically linked to the city it comes from – we’re one of our own favorite muses. This week for very cheap, and often for free, you can explore this relationship, and combine your love of theatre with your love of this great city. Each piece in this week’s cheap trend is Toronto specific; revisiting stories of our past, lifting the veils on our present, and exploring how we can make our future here even better.
ENERGY DESCENT ACTION THEATRE (Transition Toronto). This theatre-based community event engages the audience to help create an action plan for ending dependence on fossil fuel. Oct 21 at 2:30 pm. $9.70-$12. Trinity St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor W. energydescentactiontheatre.eventbrite.ca.
HONESTY by Jordan Tannahill (Suburban Beast/Koffler Centre of the Arts). A solo performer works at the store and tells the stories of the city’s working class in this performance intervention. Two 90-minute acts with one-hour intermission. Opens Oct 16 and runs to Nov 4. Free. Honest Ed’s, 581 Bloor W. kofflerarts.org.
P-DALE EP 2: THE NEXT DAY IS THE HARDEST DAY OF ALL by Luis Fernandes (Unit 102 Actors Company). This multimedia theatrical series looks at the pre-gentrified residents of Parkdale. Opens Oct 17 and runs to Oct 27. $15. Unit 102 Theatre, 376 Dufferin. p-dale.com.
PERFORMING OCCUPY TORONTO by Rosamund Small (Docket Theatre). This verbatim theatre piece based on interviews charts last year’s events in the park on the anniversary of the Occupy Toronto action. Oct 15 at 7 pm (pre-show from 6 pm). Free. St James Park, King E between Church and Jarvis. dockettheatre.com.
WHAT YOU WANT: TORONTO by Andrew Templeton (MachineFair/Bring the Buzz). Eight unique presentations of the playwright’s works What You Want: Vancouver and What You Want: Toronto explore true stories of both cities. Opens Oct 18 and runs to Nov 3. Pwyc (except Oct 29 workshop: $25, stu $20). Theatre Passe Muraille, Backspace, 16 Ryerson. 416-504-7529, machinefair.ca.