These are the plays to see in Toronto for the week of June 6 – 12, 2016.
Incident at Vichy
May 19 - June 25
Director Alan Dilworth’s take on a little-known Arthur Miller one-act feels electrifying and contemporary. The plot is simple: a group of people are rounded up in a small room in Vichy in 1942, waiting for their fates to be decided by unknown forces. The issues the play grapples with are more complicated. The multicultural cast makes clear the modern application of Incident at Vichy‘s central question about perceptions of difference. It’s a show that’s topical, significant, and creatively told—and the run has just been extended to June 25.
At the Young Centre for the Performing Arts until June 25. For tickets or more information, click here.
Body Politic
May 26 - June 12
Body Politic takes its title from Canada’s first gay liberation newspaper. The Body Politic was a revolutionary addition to Toronto’s media landscape when it started publishing in the early 1970s. Its run, which ended in the late 80s, covered a tumultuous period of the city’s history that included the beginning of the AIDS outbreak, bathhouse raids, and the riots that followed. The story is told from the point of view of one of the newspaper’s founders, who struggles to connect his former activism with what’s going on in the city today. All of the acting is top-notch, but a lot of critical praise is going to Diane Flacks as the paper’s sole lesbian voice.
At Buddies in Bad Times until June 12. For tickets or more information, click here.
Instructions to Any Future Socialist Government Wishing to Abolish Christmas
May 29 - June 19
Coal Mine’s co-founders Ted Dyskstra and Diana Bentley star as a hubristic hedge fund manager and his Rain Man-esque accountant, respectively. Instructions takes place at 4 am on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis. It plays out in the manner of a Greek tragedy—but one that’s satisfying and often funny.
At Coal Mine Theatre until June 19. For tickets or more information, click here.
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