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Looking for a last-minute holiday gift? How about giving a world of performance?
More specifically, tickets to Harbourfront Centre ‘s inaugural series, New World Stage International Performance . Combining elements of the theatre-based biennial World Stage festival, international dance and a music performance or two, the annual series offers 17 productions from around the world.
“Unlike the three-week World Stage, it’s a festival that stretches over time,” says artistic director Tina Rasmussen . “The definition of performance is changing, and we’re offering a variety of views on what constitutes it.
“It’s now an event that’s both affordable and manageable over several months rather than several weeks.”
The series starts January 24 with a fascinating piece, Mabou Mines DollHouse , an adaptation of the Ibsen classic that upends the work’s traditional male/female argument by having the male figures played by little men and the women by statuesque female performers.
Another highlight is a reworked version of 2b theatre ‘s Revisited , which offers its audience, seated family-like around a table, a patchwork quilt of tales drawn from early American writers.
The great director Peter Brook brings a French version of Athol Fugard ‘s classic Sizwe Banzi Is Dead , performed by Bouffes du Nord .
Among the dance companies are Norway’s zero visibility corp , France’s Compagnie DCA Philippe Decouflé , Vancouver’s Wen Wei Dance and a double bill by Brazil’s Cristina Moura and Canada’s Sarah Chase .
Striking a musical note is Dennis Rollins ‘s Griots t’ Garage , a UK production that combines concert and documentary to take viewers through 500 years of Afrocentric music.
Want some local flavour? Participating Toronto companies include Expect Theatre , which explores the meaning of fear in Static , and Jumblies Theatre , offering a multi-ethnic project called Bridge Of One Hair .
In June, the festival teams up with another local fest, Luminato , to offer a pair of site-specific productions: TR Warszawa ‘s Polish version of George F. Walker ‘s Risk Everything , and Back Home , by Australia’s Urban Theatre Projects .
Tickets are available in various package combinations, some already set and some you can piece together yourself. Check out www.harbourfrontcentre.com/nws for more info.
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