Virtual Shows that Caught Our Eye This Week

I have decided that I hate the term ‘new normal’.  I’ve heard it often in the past couple of weeks and it’s really grating on my nerves.  Should we pine to go back to our ‘old normal’? No!  I really do (mostly) like the slower pace of things as they are now.  But I think there has to be a happy middle ground where we can all find a  balance that includes doing a bit less, or doing more things with meaning each day.  We have all had time for reflection in the past few weeks, and whether we have taken that opportunity or not, we have a chance to really delve deeply into what holds meaning for us.

One of the things that holds meaning in my household is the arts.  The kids dance, my partner is a theatre creator and writer, and I write (not enough, but that’s a whole other thing!)  And we all love being a part of a thriving arts community.  So now we are looking – as are all of you – for online options to continue to participate in and support the arts.  Here are this week’s varied performance options that you can watch from the comfort of your own home while we all continue to be responsible social distancers. Please keep checking back here on the regular to see if there’s anything new coming up. 

Angela & Vivian’s Double the Fun Double Bill: a double bill dramatic reading featuring the darkly comedic works of Asian theatre artists ANGELA SUN and VIVIAN OR. In Or’s short play please don’t tell my Dad, two friends are forced to wrestle with the revelation of a devastating secret over videochat during a national lockdown. Sun’s Arrivals//Departures is a storytelling anthology of prose and poetry that explores diasporic experiences of travel and the weight of having roots that stretch across oceans. Thurs Apr 16 at 6 PM on Instagram Live @vivianorelse or @21sungelas . More information on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/529596244419426/ 

Converge Against Corona Part Two: The Corona Variations (Convergence Theatre): Part Two of Converge Against Corona will present for you a series of plays you can experience without leaving your house. From Tuesday, April 14^th to Sunday, April 19^th, a cycle of 6 five-minute phone plays will be delivered to individual households over the course of an evening, from 8-11pm, via blocked phone numbers. The show is marked suitable for 16+, with a “Family-Friendly” version potentially to come. Participants will listen in on private conversations, and be asked to participate occasionally via an emailed script. Who knows who you’ll wind up talking to?
http://www.convergencetheatre.com/

Fresh Ink Online Script Readings (Soulpepper Theatre): Experience the very freshest work from some of the most exciting playwrights across Canada! Pour yourself a drink and join Hannah Moscovitch(Secret Life of a Mother, What a Young Wife Ought to Know, The Russian Play), Tara Beagan (Reckoning, Free As Injuns, Miss Julie: Sheh’mah), and Nicolas Billon (The Elephant Song, Iceland, Butcher), read excerpts from their newest work. The event will be hosted by Weyni Mengesha, Frank Cox-O’Connell and Guillermo Verdecchia. Fri Apr 17 at 4:00pm
https://www.soulpepper.ca/about/fresh-ink

#harf2020 Online Performance Series (Hamilton Arts Council). The Hamilton Artist Relief Fund and Online Performance Series is focused on uniting the community through a curated online platform that commissions artists to present and perform while raising funds. Video performances will air most days Tuesday-Friday in the afternoon through Facebook Live. Stay tuned on Instagram and Facebook to receive updates on scheduling. This week: Tue Apr 14 at 2pm EST – Pip; Wed Apr 15 at 1pm EST – Alyssa Nedich; Fri Apr 17 at 3pm EST – Liz Buchanan
Livestream Links at: https://www.hamiltonartscouncil.ca/hamilton-artists-relief-fund

Improv House Party (Second City): All the Second City’s are coming together (Chicago, Toronto, LA) for Improv House Party. The show will feature teams ( married couples) that are isolated together that will take suggestions online and do their best to put on the best Second City improv set imaginable! Thu Apr 16 at 8pm EST.
https://www.secondcity.com/network/the-second-city-brings-comedy-to-your-couch-zoom-shows

Living Rooms (TO Live): Living Rooms provides a platform for Toronto local artists to celebrate the neighbourhood they live in and promote their work. TO Live’s curatorial, educational and content teams are currently working together virtually to bring digital experiences to our online members, supporters and art fans providing entertainment and a digital refuge during these challenging times.  Every day, TO Live will feature local artists bringing you an exciting performance from the comfort of their own living rooms!
https://www.tolive.com/livingrooms

Mimi: Live! Rebecca Northan, creator of the smash-hit, Blind Date takes her sassy alter ego ,”Mimi”, online as part of the National Arts Centre’s #CanadaPerforms series. In 10 years of touring across Canada, the US, and the UK…Mimi never, ever dates actors…until now! The world is crazy, so Mimi is pulling out all the stops, and jumping into the deep end of online, real-time, livestream dating with a mystery guest in a dating encounter sure to make history!  , Fri Apr 17 at10pm EST.
Streaming on FB Live, on the Blind Date FB page: https://www.facebook.com/BlindDateOnStage/
or on the NAC page: facebook.com/CanadasNAC.CNAduCanada/

The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries (Outside the March). The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries offers a personalized, week-long auditory adventure for yourself or a loved one, made up of a series of short daily phone calls as our intrepid private investigators delve into your very own micro mystery! Performances begin Monday of every week. To book, head to mundanemysteries.com and fill out the form with your contact information and your mystery… a Ministry Concierge will then contact you over the phone to take secure payment and schedule your first telephonic appointment with your Inspector!

The Social Distancing Festival – a site for celebrating art from all over the world, showcasing amazing talent, and coming together as a community. Information on all events at:
https://www.socialdistancingfestival.com/

Stageworthy Podcast Live! (Toronto). Canadian theatre podcast Stageworthy, presents a weekly live streamed conversation. During the current theatre closures, host Phil Rickaby talks to theatre makers about how the current situation under COVID-19 is affecting them, but also about how they are spending their time in social distancing and keeping themselves creatively and personally motivated. Each live streamed episode will be released as a regular podcast the following week. This week Phil talks to Franny McCabe-Bennett. Franny is a performer, playwright and Associate Producer at the Hamilton Fringe. Tue April 14 at 7pm EST
Listen Live at: https://www.podbean.com/lsw/stageworthypod/s-MlebuW5FLG

Sunday Night Live ONLINE (The Sketchersons). While our home Comedy Bar is closed, The Sketchersons will continue to bring HOT NEW LIVE sketch comedy to the world wide web every Sunday at 9 PM!  Sun Apr 19 9pm EDT: Hosted by Andrew Johnston; Sun Apr 26 9pmEDT: Hosted by Priyanka Love
Live Streams: Facebook (The Sketchersons); Facebook (Comedy Bar); Twitch

Theater On-Call (Dopolavoroteatrale, Toronto ). This project is a collection of short telephone based performances created by guest artists and DLT core members including the company’s leading actors Rory de Brouwer, Danya Buonastella and Vincent Leblanc Beaudoin. The artists invited are asked to create a performance and share a story that they think is pivotal today. The project aims to bring together established and emerging artists, and reaching audiences anywhere anywhere in the world that will be able to connect at the times that the difference performances are scheduled, an opportunity to gather as a community in Canada and globally. See website for shows, dates/times and reservation information.
Project Info

#URGNTLIVE 8: Digging Roots. Co-presented with the International Indigenous Music Summit.  Fri Apr 17 7pmEST
Streaming on URGNT Facebook and Maclean’s​

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