THREE GREAT PLAYS IN ONE DAY!
TAPA unveils a series of banners on November 13, 2010, establishing the Off Bathurst Theatre District. The newly launched Off Bathurst Theatre District features three key theatres located east off of Bathurst Street in downtown Toronto: Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille and Factory Theatre. Designed to stimulate economic activity by encouraging Torontonians and tourists to participate in culture, the Off Bathurst Theatre District promotes theatre with banners and a special Marathon Theatre event.
The banner component places 65 banners on Bathurst Street from St. Clair to King, which outlines the Off Bathurst Theatre District to increase public awareness and participation. The target audience includes visitors and local residents alike and is designed to draw attention to this specific geographic area. The Off Bathurst Theatre District is supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
The Off Bathurst Theatre District’s inaugural event, the Off Bathurst Theatre District Marathon 2010, marks a new partnership between Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille and Factory Theatre. The Marathon takes place on Saturday, November 13, 2010 and offers Torontonians three great plays in one day! The Marathon features a dynamic production from each of the participating theatre’s blockbuster 2010-11 theatre seasons.
The starting line for the Marathon begins at 2:00pm at the Tarragon Theatre, where participants will “stretch” and collect swag bags before sprinting to their seats inside the Tarragon to watch a performance of the Toronto premiere of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. A Belfry Theatre Production (Victoria, B.C.), The Year of Magical Thinking features Seana McKenna, one of Canada’s finest actors, in a magnificently written meditation on grief – “a place none of us know until we reach it”. The production is a celebration of family, filled with a luminous belief in the power of the human spirit to endure and overcome heartbreak.
Run (or walk, TTC, drive; whatever your preference) to Theatre Passe Muraille for the next leg of the marathon! Proceeding south on Bathurst Street, attend the 4:30pm performance of Theatre Passe Muraille and Canadian Stage’s first ever collaboration, Project: Humanity’s The Middle Place by Andrew Kushnir. Kushnir conducted a series of on-camera interviews with residents and employees of a youth shelter in Rexdale; these transcribed interviews became the script for The Middle Place. The Middle Place is a compelling, relevant piece of Canadian theatre that exposes an often forgotten faction of Toronto residents.
After completing the exhilarating first half of the Marathon, participants will sprint around the corner at 6:00pm to the Epicure Café (502 Queen Street West) where marathon attendees will be refreshed with a delicious prixe-fixe dinner menu, preceding a final dash to the finish line at the Factory Theatre.
The final performance of the Marathon features an 8:00pm performance of Bethune Imagined directed by Artistic Director Ken Gass. The iconic Canadian doctor, Norman Bethune, was a man who loved women and Bethune Imagined is a theatrical exploration of this passionate, insatiable man who had a need to conquer everything and everyone, sacrificing love for political ideals; starring Ron White, Fiona Byrne, Sascha Cole and Irene Poole.
The Marathon concludes post-show at the Factory Theatre Lounge with cocktails and time to reflect and rehydrate on this theatrical extravaganza!
Marathon tickets are on sale now for only $90.00 (including dinner at the Epicure Cafe). Special rates are available for subscribers to participating theatres. Non-dinner option also available. To reserve tickets, purchase in person at T.O. TIX – Toronto’s Official One Stop Ticket Shop located in Yonge-Dundas Square, online at www.totix.ca or by phone 416-596-8220.
