#ShakespeareLives 2016

Puppets! Gender Reversal! Improv! Debates! Shakespeare is alive and well in Toronto! To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death this April, Spur-of-the-Moment Shakespeare Collective and the British Council, in association with The Toronto Public Library, are bringing a variety of innovative and interactive fresh takes on Shakespeare and his impact on the community to Toronto audiences from some of the best local indie Shakespeare companies. Best of all? All of the library events are FREE!

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Performance Series

The Julius Caesar Project
Spur-of-the-Moment Shakespeare Collective
Annette Branch Library (145 Annette St.),
May 17 at 7pm
Dufferin/St. Clair Branch (1625 Dufferin St.),
May 19 at 1pm
In this innovative, gender-swapped staging, Spur-of-the-Moment Shakespeare Collective explores the roles of women and power through Shakespeare's text. The play received critical acclaim in NOW Magazine for its run in the 2014 Toronto Fringe, and previously toured women’s shelters around the G.T.A.

Hamlet...A Puppet Epic!
Shakey-Shake and Friends
High Park Library (228 Roncesvalles Ave.)
May 3 at 2pm
Jones Library (118 Jones Ave.)
May 4 at 1:15pm
From award-winning children’s company Shakey-Shake and Friends comes Hamlet...A Puppet Epic! the Best of FringeKids and Critic’s Pick smash hit that offers a playful re-telling of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy in the tradition of the Muppets.

Situation Unknown
The Guerilla Ruffians
High Park Branch Library (228 Roncesvalles Ave.) April 7 at 7pm
Gerrard/Ashdale Branch Library (1432 Gerrard St. E.)
April 12 at 7pm
From the Guerrilla Ruffians comes Situation Unknown: a playful improvised staging of various Shakespearean scenes immersed among the shelves to explore the spontaneity of the bard’s words.

Debate Series: Lend Me Your Ears

Join Toronto’s various Indie Shakespeare All-Stars as they discuss current and important topics in regards to Shakespearean text and performance.

All The World’s A Stage, Or Is It?
Runnymede Branch Library (2178 Bloor St. W.)
April 7 at 6:30-8pm
Featuring Shakespeare-In-Action’s Michael Kelly and Wolf Manor Theatre’s Dylan Brenton

Women in Modern Shakespearean Production
Deer Park Branch Library (40 St. Clair Ave. E.)
April 21 at 6:30-8pm
Featuring members from Shakespeare-In-The-Ruff’ and Shakespeare Bash’d’

It’s The Apocalypse and You Can Only Save One Play: Which One?
Danforth/Coxwell Branch Library (1675 Danforth Ave.)
April 12 at 6:30-8pm
Featuring Shakespeare-In-The-Ruff’s Brendan McMurtry Howlett and Driftwood Theatre’s Jeremy Smith

Play-In-A-Day Workshop

Lillian H. Smith Library (239 College St.)
April 9 from 10am – 4pm
Want to immerse yourself in the work of the Bard? The festival doesn’t stop there! Join our Play-In-A-Day workshop with Dauntless City Theatre’s Scott Emerson Moyle as he leads the public on a page-to-stage journey through a collection of scenes and monologues.

#SHAKESBEERSSHOWDOWN

The Rivoli (334 Queen St. W.)
April 24 – Doors open at 6pm and show begins at 7pm
For our 19+ friends, you can join in Shakespeare’s more raucous revelries through the #ShakesbeersShowdown. Various Indie Shakespeare companies will raise a glass to competitively read the first folio text. The rules are simple: If you mess up a line, you drink!

Tickets: $15 Tweet-Seats: $20
Proceeds go towards the Shakespeare-In-Hospitals 2016 Program.

All programming within the #ShakespeareLives Microfestival (save the #ShakesbeersShowdown) is free to members of the public.

SPUR