A classic, a dramedy, a festival on the edge
Hedda Gabler Watch this if: You’re just so mortally bored.
We can’t wait to see what director Jennifer Tarver does with Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler after her last collaboration with Canadian Stage went so well: Venus in Fur was one of the company’s biggest financial successes in years. Her modern, social media-obsessed spin on this classic about the titular newlywed trapped in a perfect domestic life sounds as promising as the cast: former Stratford actress Cara Ricketts as Hedda is an exciting match, but we’re also looking forward to Frank CoxO’Connell (from Soulpepper’s Spoon River) as her scholar husband, George Tesman.
Tuesday to Feb. 7, Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley St.
The Progress Festival Watch this if: You want to see the next show the city will be talking about. The SummerWorks Performance Festival produced its first ever wintertime incarnation, the Progress Festival, last year. Its focus on presenting international artists specially curated by a team of local arts companies proved to be an explosive formula; several productions sparked debates that lasted well beyond the festival dates. The second edition has plenty to check out: Riding on a Cloud by Lebanon’s Rabih Mroué features two real-life brothers and postwar trauma; international stories by local artists in Century Songand What I Learned From a Decade of Fear; and a minifestival inspired by the Edinburgh Forest Fringe festival.
Thursday to Feb. 7. The Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen St. W.
Within the Glass Watch this if: You think the “babies switched at birth” premise is a bit tired.
Tarragon Theatre’s first production of 2016, Within the Glass by Anna Chatterton, isn’t the first to zoom in on an evening between two couples brought together because of kids — but probably the first like this.
In this scenario, one couple’s fertilized egg was implanted into the other woman’s womb by mistake and now they need to hash out what happens next.
Director Andrea Donaldson, Tarragon’s assistant artistic director, is pulling on personal experience with fertility clinics to dive into the messiness, the heartbreak and the tough decisions about parenthood before the child actually arrives.
To Feb. 14, Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave.