Rating: NNNNN
battling brechts
A synchronicity in scheduling often hits theatre producers for no apparent reason. This year it’s happened with Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s satirical The Threepenny Opera. Stephen Ouimette directed a Stratford version last summer at the same time that Soulpepper offered a concert version of The Beggar’s Opera — on which Threepenny is based — and A Chorus Of Disapproval, which revolves around a community theatre production of The Beggar’s Opera.
It doesn’t stop there. Two theatre-school productions of Threepenny now premiere within days of each other. George Brown opens its season tonight (Thursday) with a version directed by Mark Wilson, who led last season’s super production of Road. The next Threepenny off the mark is Theatre @ York’s, directed by MFA student Sonia Norris. It begins performances Sunday (November 10). See listings for details.
What’s next — a legion of Lears?
job jive
Did you miss the Fringe hit Job: The Hiphop Musical last July? It’s coming back. Created and performed by Montreal company Fouqué dans la Tête’s amazingly agile Eli Batalion and Jerome Saibil, the piece tells the biblical Job tale in hiphop rhythms and rhymes, with nary a dropped beat. We were totally won over by the production’s energy and cleverness. It’s set for February in the Tarragon Extra Space.
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
glenns@nowtoronto.com
