Tuesday, July 27—Aug. 15, 2021
Live from Canadian Stage,
Live in High Park, Toronto, Ont.
BLACKOUT
THE MUSICAL STAGE COMPANY
Book by: Steven Gallagher
Music & Lyrics by: Anton Lipovetsky
A captivating new musical from Canada’s leading musical theatre company.
On August 14th, 2003, Toronto was sent into chaos when the largest blackout in Canadian history left millions stranded in the dark and unable to reach or connect with their loved ones.
Inspired by real events, BLACKOUT depicts three stories of connection that unfolded when the city was dark, and strangers banded together to find the light. A preview production of a new Canadian musical by two of Canada’s most exciting voices, Blackout is a story of hope, resilience, and community.
Originally developed through The Musical Stage Company’s innovative musical development initiative Launch Pad, a selection of this new work was first seen in 2019 as part of REPRINT.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021—3:00 pm
Live and in person at Hear for Now Theatre, New Works Festival, Stratford, Ont.
Janet and Louise
Janet is determined to get over her mysterious ailments and keep her custodial job, so she’s agreed to take doctor-prescribed art lessons. Louise’s art studio is floundering; there is endless roadwork outside and her prickly personality chases people away. Janet arrives but thinks she might quit. Louise can’t afford to lose another student. Then Janet finds a man’s tooth inside a jar. . . At turns funny and heartbreaking, this new play asks what happens when two strangers confront what they’ve tried so hard to keep hidden.
Written by Deanna Kruger and directed by Jeannette Lambermont-Morey. Starring Brigit Wilson and Peggy Coffey.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021- 7:00 pm.
Live and in person, at Here for Now Theatre, New Works Festival, Stratford, Ont.
Post Alice
Inspired by four haunting characters from four iconic Alice Munro stories, Post Alice is a stunning new contemporary play which asks the question: what really happened to Mistie Murray? And what happens to all our missing girls? Come sit around the fire with four bright and hilarious Huron County women as ghost stories emerge, songs fill the air, family secrets are revealed, and mysteries unravel into those wonderful contradictions which live inside us all.
Written by Taylor Marie Graham and directed by Fiona Mongillo.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021 7:00 pm
At the Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ont.
Live and in person.
The Rez Sisters
By Tomson Highway.
About a group of Indigenous women who decide to leave their reserve and go to Toronto to participate in the world’s biggest Bingo game.
The Rez Sisters
By Tomson Highway
Directed by Jessica Carmichael
Featuring:
Jani Lauzon as Pelajia Patchnose
Brefny Caribou as Zhaboonigan Peterson
Lisa Cromarty as Marie-Adele Starblanket
Christine Frederick as Veronique St. Pierre
Nicole Joy-Fraser as Annie Cook
Kathleen MacLean as Emily Dictionary
Tracey Nepinak as Philomena Moosetail
Zach Running Coyote as Nanabush
July 23 to August 21 | Opening Wednesday, July 28
They have their dreams and their difficulties, these seven women. One yearns for a singing career; another for a white porcelain toilet. One grieves for her lover, killed in a motorcycle accident; another harbours the memory of a horrific sexual assault. The cancer that afflicts one of them is not the only malignancy they confront.
But one dream they hold in common is that of winning “the biggest bingo in the world” – and one day, accompanied by the transformative spirit guide Nanabush, they leave their Manitoulin Island reserve and set out for Toronto to do just that.
Ribald, harrowing and mystical, this seminal work of Indigenous drama celebrates the spirit of resilience and the powerful beauty these women bring to the tough world in which they live.
www.stratfordfestival.ca
Saturday, July 31, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Live and in person at the Stratford Festival, in the Festival Theatre Canopy.
Play On!
A Shakespeare-Inspired Mixtape
Curated by Robert Markus, Julia Nish-Lapidus and James Wallis
Directed by Julia Nish-Lapidus and James Wallis
Music Director: Reza Jacobs
Featuring:
Gabriel Antonacci
Jacob MacInnis
Jennifer Rider-Shaw
Kimberly-Ann Truong
July 29 to August 15 | Opening Sunday, July 31
Shakespeare’s influence on Western culture extends even into your favourite pop hits. Whether it be direct lines from his plays appearing in Top 40 lyrics or whole songs inspired by his plots, whether the borrowers be Taylor Swift, Madonna, Elton John, The Beatles, Prince or Radiohead, Shakespeare is still there, lurking in the mainstream, as cool and as relevant as ever. This lively celebration of terrific tunes affords a great opportunity to introduce a younger audience to Shakespeare’s continuing role in popular culture.
www.stratfordfestival.ca