Shaw Festival's 'Middletown' is coming to Streetcar Crowsnest

Crow’s Theatre in partnership with the Shaw Festival present 

 

 

TORONTO – Crow’s Theatre in partnership with the Shaw Festival are thrilled to bring the luminous Shaw Festival production of Middletown to Toronto, beginning November 12 to December 1 at  Streetcar Crowsnest. (Media night: November 16)

 

A staging that captivated critics and audiences alike in 2017, Meg Roe directs Middletown - written by Pulitzer-nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning playwright Will Eno - as an intimate, in-the-round experience shared by actors and audience.

 

A sweeping observation of small town life that juxtaposes the existential with the quotidian and travels to outer space and back again, this stunning production comes to Toronto with many of the original cast including leading festival stars Benedict Campbell, Moya O’Connell, Gray Powell, and Jeff Meadows. A play about our shared human condition at a moment when we seem to be hurtling away from each other, Middletown introduces Toronto to Roe, who is swiftly becoming one of the country’s leading directors.

 

Shaw Festival ensemble members Karl Ang, Kristopher Bowman, Fiona Byrne, Claire Jullien, Corrine Koslo, Peter Millard, and Natasha Mumba join Campbell, O’Connell, Powell, and Meadows on stage.

 “Like many,” says Crow’s Theatre Artistic Director Chris Abraham, “after watching Middletown I left the theatre choked with tears, overcome by Meg Roe’s flawless rendering of Will Eno’s masterpiece. I knew right away that I had to share the experience with those that couldn’t make it to the Shaw Festival.”

 

The play unfolds as a series of vignettes in an ordinary suburban town where fears, hopes and dreams erupt through the seemingly banal details of everyday life. As a friendship develops between longtime resident John Dodge (Powell) and new arrival Mary Swanson (O’Connell), the lives of the inhabitants of Middletown intersect in strange and poignant ways in a journey that takes them from the local library to outer space and all points in between.

 

The Crow’s presentation transports the Shaw production to their east end Toronto stage including the sublime lighting design by Kevin Lamotte which surrounds the audience with a constellation of stars created with fiber optic lights, Alessandro Julia­ni’s original music and sound design, and the minimalist set and costume design created by Siminovitch Prize-nominated Camellia Koo, which emphasizes the simple beauty of everyday objects.

Middletown runs November 12  – December 1 (Media night: November 16) at Streetcar Crowsnest (345 Carlaw Avenue) in the Guloien Theatre. Shows are scheduled Monday through Saturday at 8:00pm with Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2:00pm.

 

Tickets are now available for Crow’s 2018-2019 season with regular tickets starting at $22. Frequent Flyer season passes are available:  4-Play Flyers save 20% and 8-Play Flyers save 30% on all of their tickets.  Passholders choose the dates, times and shows for maximum flexibility and savings.

Get online information and make ticket purchases at crowstheatre.com.