Buddies Announces Programming
for its 2011/12 Subscription Season
BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE ANNOUNCES PROGRAMMING
FOR ITS 2011–2012 SEASON
Artistic Director Brendan Healy
For its 2011/12 Season, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre offers a collection of some of the world's major dramatists including Jean Genet, Martin Crimp, Caryl Churchill, Larry Kramer and Margaret Atwood. It is a season of bold re-imaginings and revisions of canonical works and sacred stories that furthers Buddies' position as one of the country's most dynamic theatre companies.
The season kicks off with Artistic Director Brendan Healy's production of Jean Genet's The Maids, in a translation by Martin Crimp. Featuring Stratford veterans Diane D'Aquila, Ron Kennell and Maria Ricossa, this queer reclaiming of Genet's masterpiece will delve deeply into the play's abject sexuality and its ruthless position against social subjection.
The Maids is followed by the presentation of another queer classic: The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer, produced by Studio 180 Theatre. This depiction of the struggle to get government officials to take action against the HIV/AIDS epidemic could not feel more salient at a time when our city's current mayor has made several remarks about cutting funding to HIV/AIDS service organizations.
Buddies' commitment to offering theatre that challenges the norm is broadened by Modern Times Stage Company's production of Hallaj, a theatrical account of the martyrdom of beloved 10th century Sufi mystic Mansur e-Hallaj who bravely stood up against the religious orthodoxy of his time to promote a message of liberty and compassion.
Next, two of Canada's leading female writers radically revise two texts from the Western canon. With Nightwood Theatre's production of The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood offers a feminist retelling of Homer's Odyssey. With free as injuns, Native Earth Performing Arts' new Artistic Director Tara Beagan re-appropriates Eugene O'Neill's classic play Desire Under the Elms to write a powerful interrogation of Canadian racial hierarchy.
As always, the Rhubarb Festival returns for its 33rd edition, with Festival Director Laura Nanni at the helm for her second season.
Caryl Churchill meets Céline Dion in Bliss, a darkly surrealistic dissection of celebrity culture and its alienating effects by a rising star of the Québecois stage, Olivier Choinière. Churchill's translation of this internationally acclaimed play was originally presented at the Royal Court in London, UK. Buddies is thrilled to present the English-Canadian professional premiere of Bliss, in association with Candles are for Burning.
Sky Gilbert's Cabaret Company returns with Dancing Queen, a collaboration with the infamous Keith Cole that tells the story of an inter-generational love triangle through dance and theatre.
The season caps off with seminal New York City feminist duo Split Britches (Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver) performing on Buddies' stage for the first time in their thirty-year history. Split Britches bring us a limited run of their latest piece Lost Lounge.
Please join us for a season of fearless theatre that advocates rebellion in the face of oppression, celebration in the face of shame and self-assertion in defiance of erasure. Artistic Director Brendan Healy remarks: "This past year, we have witnessed many communities feel the pressures of an increasingly conservative political climate, the queer community included. In response to this shift, I offer a season of brave works that speak to the struggles and victories of our pasts as marginalized peoples. I believe that by remembering our histories through the theatre, we will gain wisdom and power as we work together to ensure that our futures remain bright."
Read More:
Buddies announces its 2010–2011 Season (PDF)
BUDDIES’ 11/12 SEASON PASS
Commitment issues? No problem. Buddies isn’t asking you to be exclusive. Use your pass to bring a gang to one show, or see everything in the season. It’s up to you.
>save up to 50% on tickets
>priority seating
THE OPTIONS
8 Night Pass — $130
4 Night Pass — $85
Under 30
8 Night Pass — $100
4 Night Pass — $65
THE SHOW OPTIONS
Your Buddies' Season Pass lets you choose 4 or 8 tickets to any of the following mainstage shows:
- The Maids
- The Normal Heart
- Hallaj
- The Penelopiad
- The Rhubarb Festival
- free as injuns
- Bliss
- Dancing Queen
- Lost Lounge
For more information feel free to call our box office at
416-975-8555.
*Please note these prices are subject to HST
More information
