Stage Door News
Stage Door News
To commemorate its 35th year, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre offers a season of contemporary theatre that tackles how our history shapes our present. From personal histories to societal histories and from histories that we all believe to be true to histories that have been repressed and hidden, Buddies’ 35th season is a bold challenge to the normative weight of history and continues the company’s long-standing tradition of using the theatre to create a more compassionate and understanding society for us all.
Artistic Director Brendan Healy says: “We are the world’s largest and longest-running queer theatre and this is something that we are deeply proud of. However, we have never been a company to simply rest on our laurels. The subject of our art is always the future and this anniversary year strikes me as the perfect moment to put a critical eye to the narratives of the past that we all take for granted. It is only through an examination of the past that we can begin to conceive of a hopeful future.”
The season begins with a provocative new work from acclaimed UK playwright Tim Luscombe. PIG is an explicitly honest account of contemporary sexuality, exploring the ways we love each other amidst redefining forces of marriage equality, HIV/AIDS, and the advent of on-line sex communities. Directed by Buddies' AD Brendan Healy and starring Shaw Festival mainstay Blair Williams, this world premiere production promises to be a defining moment for queer theatre, in the line of such classics as Angels in America and The Normal Heart.
Later in the season, Buddies resident artists Damien Atkins, Paul Dunn, and Andrew Kushnir will premiere The Gay Heritage Project. These three celebrated creator/performers explore the rich catalogue of gay lives that are commonly erased from popular history, and bring them to life on stage in a unique style of highly-physical theatre.
Our country's leading theatrical innovator Marie Brassard returns to Buddies with her latest work, Me Talking to Myself in the Future. Brassard is known across Canada and internationally for her cutting-edge shows that blend performance, technology, and music into an immersive sensory experience that is truly unique. Buddies is thrilled to welcome this important artist back to our stage (audiences will remember her from 2005's Jimmy).
The company's 35th anniversary year will see the return of the iconic, long-running tradition of Strange Sisters, a raucous celebration of queer women in performance. The evening will be curated by award-winning artist and activist Kim Crosby, whose impressive resume includes work with grassroots organizations The People Project, Artreach, and Queering Black History Month, as well as artist residencies with d'bi young's AnitAfrika Theatre and Buddies' own Young Creators Unit.
The season will also see Laura Nanni return to the helm of The Rhubarb Festival for its 35th edition of experimental new works.
In June, the company will host a month-long festival in celebration of World Pride 2014. As the eyes of the world turn to Toronto for this historic moment, Buddies will be a stage for the incredible wealth of artistic talent our city has to offer.
Buddies will also welcome five guest companies that represent an exciting diversity of performance styles and approaches. Acclaimed physical theatre company Theatre Rusticle returns to one of their earliest works, Dinner at Seven-Thirty, a bittersweet story of friendship inspired by Virginia Woolf's The Waves. Two veteran actors – Kelli Fox and Richard McMillan – bring to life one of the more provocative works ever penned by celebrated writer Michel Tremblay in Pleiades Theatre's production of Sandra, Manon and the Virgin Mary. Cahoots Theatre Company present the world premiere The Wanderers, a new play by rising star Kawa Ada that offers a rarely- heard Afghan-Canadian perspective on the war in Afghanistan. Perennial provocateur Sky Gilbert's Cabaret Company returns to Buddies with a new work about infamous WikiLeaks hacker Bradley Manning. Finally, the season ends with a double-bill from internationally-renowned contemporary dance company inDANCE that includes a remount of 2011's sexually-charged hit Quicksand.
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Established in 1979, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a professional Canadian theatre company dedicated to the development and presentation of queer theatre. Over the course of its history, it has evolved into the largest facility- based queer theatre company in the world and has made an unparalleled contribution to the recognition and acceptance of queer lives in Canada.
Photo: Image for PIG by Tim Luscombe. ©2013.
2013-04-30
Toronto: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre announces its 35th anniversary season