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The lights dim, a hush falls over the crowd, and the curtain rises. The anticipation of what the next few hours will entail ripples through the space. It’s a scene that plays out daily across the city as actors take to stages and transform theatres in Toronto into immersive worlds that reflect, ponder, or escape reality.
To mirror the city’s various communities, local companies bring unique stories and vital viewpoints to their stages. Here are six independent venues where you can see productions that shine the spotlight on diverse perspectives.
Known as the Home of the Canadian Playwright, Factory Theatre is a five-minute walk west of the traditional parametres of the Entertainment District in Toronto. The distinct black and white signage with a small maple leaf outside of its 125 Bathurst St. location hints at the company’s mandate. This is the place to experience the imaginations of the country’s artists. Since its first curtain time 50 years ago, Factory Theatre has produced more than 300 new Canadian plays into mainstage productions.
April 8-30: In Vierge, faith, community, and sex converge.
June 3-24: Armadillos is a provocative and unabashedly feminist production.
Crow’s Theatre, housed at the Streetcar Crowsnest (345 Carlaw Ave.) in the city’s east end, is the place to visit for shows that examine and illuminate the pivotal narratives of our times. Crow’s seeds projects and collaborations with Canadian artists and companies that are engaged in examining these relevant stories in ways that are complex, entertaining, and challenging all at once. This is theatre that makes you think.
May 1-7: True Crime is a true story filled with lies.
May 2-21: The Chinese Lady paints a searing portrait of Western culture.
May 10-28: Boom X, a multimedia show, goes from Woodstock ’69 to 1995.
June 1-25: In Perceptual Archaeology (or How to Travel Blind), blind artist Alex Blumer explores what it’s like to travel blind.
If Factory is home to Canadian playwrights, Tarragon Theatre is where contemporary shows live. Located at 30 Bridgman Ave. (near Bathurst Street), the company and space have existed since 1970. Not only does the company feature plays that are real and relatable, it also gives audiences the opportunity to go beyond the stage. On Tuesdays and Sundays, join cast members and creative teams to discuss the play you just watched. Keep the cultural experience going after you leave Tarragon by visiting the nearby iconic Casa Loma.
Until April 23: The Hooves Belonged to the Deer is a journey of two universes colliding.
April 11-May 7: Paint Me This House of Love examines the threads that stitch families together.
May 24-27: She’s Not Special explores the pressures of Black Excellence.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, at 12 Alexander St. (five minutes’ walk from the vibrant Gay Village), has a two-fold mission. Firstly, it stages artistically rigorous alternative theatre. Secondly, it’s a world leader in developing queer voices and stories for the stage. More than that, Buddies in Bad Times has the only residency program in the country solely devoted to the creation of original queer performance works as well as Youth/Elders Programming that focuses on intergenerational connections.
April 13-23: Body So Fluorescent asks difficult questions about Blackness, otherness, and appropriation. Enjoy a relaxed performance on April 16.
June 6: 2-Spirit Cabaret, 7th Edition — in collaboration with Native Earth Performing Arts — is a celebration.
For Native Earth Performing Arts stories are medicine that have the power to heal and help us to grow. Its powerful productions are staged at Aki Studio, which is a part of the Regent Park community’s cultural hub, Daniels Spectrum. Native Earth Performing Arts is no stranger to sharing artistic expressions of the Indigenous experience in Canada. Founded 40 years ago, it’s the country’s oldest professional Indigenous theatre company.
April 12-30: Niizh tells a hilarious coming-of-age story.
May 16-23: Paprika Festival 2023 is the 22nd annual youth-led performing arts festival.
Known as Canada’s alternative theatre company since 1968, Passe Muraille (meaning “theatre beyond walls”) focuses on breaking down barriers and exploring new ideas and methods of storytelling. By pushing against boundaries, it creates art with and for an audience that examines the marginal, the unexplored, and the unforeseen. Passe Muraille is located at 16 Ryerson Ave. (near Queen and Bathurst streets).
April 8-16: Never the Last follows composer Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Grammatté.
April 22-30: Trace focuses on the ongoing nature of queer being and becoming.
Words by: Izabela Shubair
Did you know that the Toronto Alliance for Performing Arts (TAPA) makes arts and culture accessible for students ages 14 to 29? The organization’s hipTIX program offers $5 student tickets to select Toronto productions in theatre, dance, comedy, and opera.
Among its partners are four companies on our list: Native Earth Performing Arts, Factory Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Looking for additional theatre experiences? Add Canadian Stage — with its collision of disciplines and cultures — and Toronto’s largest not-for-profit theatre company, Soulpepper Theatre Company, to your list.
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