written by william shakespeare
directed by vikki anderson

In this present-day adaptation, the world's best-known story is retold by a group of traveling performers delayed at the Verona train station. Weary and irritable, the troupe's tempers flare and a spirited confrontation ensues. In an attempt to restore calm, the Station Master demands that they perform for the other stranded passengers. Improvising a performance using only what they have in their suitcases, the actors interchange roles, comment on each other's performances and get caught up in the story as if they were telling it for the first time. Under the starry Italian sky, they transform the train station into the medieval city of Verona and recount the tragic tale of young lovers destroyed by their feuding families.

written by tankred dorst
adapted & directed by matthew jocelyn

When a mysterious millionaire writes her a letter calling her the most beautiful girl in the city and vowing to marry her, Julia is outraged. Though they are strangers, Fernando is determined that his betrothed love him and is undetered by her protestations. They marry, but when accusations of infidelity arise, both Julia and Fernando have to parse through the facts in an attempt to separate reality and fantasy. This bold metaphysical fable is an investigation of the nature of love, power, desire and reality.
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written by jennifer tremblay
directed by kelly thornton
translated by shelley tepperman
produced by nightwood theatre in co-production with canadian stage

From the celebrated Québec dramatist, Jennifer Tremblay, comes this masterfully crafted tour de force. A woman invites us into her kitchen. Her neighbour is dead. Is she culpable for the death? The woman, who prides herself on never letting anything slip by, has overlooked an item on her list. Could this one tiny action have made a difference? Consumed by the responsibilities and demands of everyday life, did she fail to help her friend when she needed it most? The List draws us into the very heart of modernity, the harshness of our congested lives, and the conflicts of motherhood. A riveting tale of everyday to-do lists in which the essential and the ordinary are inextricably entwined. 

written & directed by robert lepage
starring yves jacques
an ex machina production presented by canadian stage

This modern multimedia fairy-tale from Canadian theatre visionary Robert Lepage explores questions of sexual identity, unfulfilled fantasies and a thirst for recognition and fame that are drawn from the life and writings of legendary storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. This one-man show employs Lepage's trademark theatrical magic to tell the tale of a Québécois songwriter whose apparently prestigious engagement at the Paris Opera helps him to discover what defines, motivates and inspires him.

the hauntings of eadweard muybridge

written by kevin kerr
directed by kim collier
chorepgraphy by crystal pite
an electric company theatre production presented by canadian stage

Ground-breaking Vancouver-based Electric Company Theatre presents a physically and visually explosive multimedia spectacle inspired by the life, work and ghosts of the father of modern cinema. In 1885, Eadward Muybridge sets out to catalogue animal movement and human gestures, but he is haunted by the ghosts of his past and the rational scientist that he has attempted to become must save the naked animal that remains inside him. This spellbinding profile of the man who froze time explores themes of memory, identity, and the quest for meaning.

written by michel tremblay
directed by peter hinton
translated by linda gaboriau
in co-production with the national arts centre, ottawa

A country singer and darling of Montreal's seedy red-light district, Carmen triumphantly returns to her old haunts after a visit to Nashville. Doing away with bleedin' hearts and lonesome nights, Carmen now sings about the people in her audience; hustlers and whores who for the first time become the herose of these songs, not just the witless customers. This mythic tale of a nightclub singer who dares make art from the lives of those on the fringes of society is a seminal play from Canada's best-known playwright.

created by  andrew kushnir
directed by alan dilworth
transcription by andrew kushnir and catherine murray
a theatre passe muraille/canadian stage collaboration

In 2007, a young, white, middleclass playwright ventured into one of Toronto's roughest neighbourhoods with a video camera to interview youth about life in a shelter. The result is The Middle Place,  a touching and brutally real examination of the aspirations, frustrations and bravery of these homeless youth. Without sentimentality or condescension, this docu-drama explores the heart-wrenching lives of its subjects through their own words. Five actors bring to the stage the extraordinary voices of sixteen homeless youth, three tireless caseworkers and one outsider in this disquieting yet humorous and hopeful play.

text by spira scimone
directed by carlo cecchi

A dialogue takes place between an ailing man who is happy merely to "wait and see" and his tough nomadic hero who is soft at heart - both alone in the world and partners in misfortune.

choreogaphy by virgilio sieni

Inspired by Lucretius' ancient Roman text On the Nature of the Universe, this compelling dance theatre piece was conceived and choreographed to examine and explore the idea of things, vacuousness and nothingness.

text by spiro scimone
directed by gianfelice imparato

La Festa  is a brilliant examination of the family microcosm. Set in a small, abstract kitchen while preparing for a party, a father, mother, and son act out one day - amongst many - in a cruel but delightfully funny game of reciprocal intolerance.

choreography by caterina sagna
text by roberto fratini serafide

Following an evening meal, three men converse with words, fragments, and gestures in this criticism of contemporary human efforts to mask decay and death under virtuosic form. 

written by tadeusz slobodozianek
directed by joel greenberg
translated by ryan craig
produced by studio 180 theatre in association with canadian stage

In 1925 Poland, a group of schoolchildren, Jewish and Catholic, declare their ambitions: to be a fireman, a film star, a doctor. As the children grow up, their country is torn apart by invading armies and internal grievances deepen as fervent nationalism develops. The tension escalates into violence as these ordinary people carry out an extraordinary and monstrous act. This haunting play is a courageous examination of the actions that ripped apart a small community during the Second World War.

written by david greig
directed by jennifer tarver

A pair of abandoned Russian cosmonauts have been circling the globe for twenty years. Below, a couple confronts their failed marriage, a prostitute searches for love and a scientist struggles to make contact with outer space. The Cosmonaut follows several inter-related storylines as lovers and strangers attempt to connect across living rooms, countires and into outer orbit. This unexpectedly moving play examines the frailities of love, the nature of loneliness and our universal desire for contact.

by édouard lock
a la la la human steps production presented by canadian stage

In this romantic and challenging new work, innovative modern dance company La La La Human Steps fuses two iconic operas whose familiarity will allow audiences to create new and unpredictable stories through the pull and push of their own memories. Two tragic love stories will be united into one seamless ode through complex choreography, the alteration of balletic structures and the intertwining of choreographic, musical and cinematic strands that will create a sense of perceptual distortion and renewal.