By Leanne Milech

It’s here!  Factory Theatre‘s 41st season was announced this week.  Factory has always been focused on presenting the Canadian experience in all of its elaborate, diverse wonder through its productions, and the upcoming season of shows not only provides imaginative Canadian entertainment, but it does so by stepping outside the box.

Billie Twinkle: Requiem for a Golden Boy, the season opener, is the perfect example.  We are off-the-wall excited about this tale of a middle-aged cruise ship puppeteer who re-discovers his passion for his trade.  Created and performed by the award-winning Ronnie Burkett, who is largely responsible for the contemporary adult love of marionette theatre, Factory is kicking off the season with a glowing, ambitious start.

Other shows you can look forward to:

Ali and Ali 7: Hey Brother (or Sister), Can You Spare Some Hope and Change? by Camyar Chai, Guillermo Verdecchia and Marcus Youssef;

Bethune Imagined by Ken Gass; Eternal Hydra by Anton Piatigorsky;

Brothel #9 by Anusree Roy;

Performance Spring 2011; and

Zadie’s Shoes by Adam Pettle.

The season runs September 24, 2010 to June 5, 2011, and subscriptions and tickets are available online at www.factorytheatre.ca or by phone at (416) 504-9971.  Read the full press release below for more info on all of the upcoming shows.

Continue reading Toronto's Factory Theatre announces it's 2010-2011 Season →

By Leanne Milech

I remember being shocked when Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues first swept through North America: a whole play devoted to women and their vaginas?  Not only was the subject matter unique, but the stories were based on Ensler’s interviews with real women, interviews that had people divulging deep, dark secrets about their sexual memories and experiences.

It has been gloriously refreshing to have The Vagina Monologues around, and since its award-winning beginning, it has spawned V-Day, the global movement to stop violence against women and girls.  Through V-Day campaigns, clusters of volunteers and college students around the world perform annual benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues and A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer, which features writings about violence against women and girls from famous figures like Michael Cunningham, Maya Angelou and Kathy Najimy.  Toronto’s very own group of V-Day warriors is taking both shows to the stage in the next two weeks.

Continue reading V-Day and Two Plays! →

By Leanne Milech

We thought this show couldn’t get any sweeter, but it has!  This weekend, My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding (MMLJWW) turns into YOUR very own (insert long, descriptive acronym) wedding!

Following the March 12, 13 and 14 shows of MMLJWW, couples from the audience will be invited to stand up in the Panasonic Theatre and participate in a free commitment ceremony.  You can be first-timers, or a couple of lovebirds who just want to renew your vows publicly.

The stars of the show will conduct the non-denominational ceremonies, participating couples will receive a commemorative certificate AND they’ll also be entered into a draw to win 120,000 Aeroplan Miles.

Read on for more details!

Continue reading My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding Vows →

By Leanne Milech

Get ready for The Culture Congress 2010, which will rage through various Toronto locales from March 24 through March 28.  Harbourfront Centre, the Theatre Centre’s FREE FALL ’10, Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2009-10 and Calgary’s Theatre Junction Grand are joining forces to put on a variety of roundtables, lectures and discussions on the Canadian arts community, mentorship and performance.  The events are all open to the public, and the best part is, they’re free!

This year’s focus is on how the arts community comes together: artist to artist, artist to presenter and artist to audience.  In exploring this issue, some of the events you can look forward to include presentations from Irish delegates who will discuss the arts communities in their country, comparing and contrasting with Canada; discussions about creating artistically challenging and sustainable work and senior artists interviewing their very own mentees.  For more information, read the following press release.

Continue reading The Culture Congress 2010 →