Lgbtq theatre toronto
Buddies Bad Times Theatre
A Short History of Queer Toronto
Buddies In Bad Times, the eventual resident of 12 Alexander Lane, was established in 1979 by Sky Gilbert, Matt Walsh, and Jerry Ciccoritti. It lived for a time in the Charm Factory, a brewery-turned creator hub on Queen Street East modelled after Andy Warhol’s studio in Novel York.
Under the creative direction of Sky Gilbert, Buddies articulated a vision for their work that was unapologetically political, pro-sexual, and anti-establishment. Their early shows featured gay and lesbian characters that were honest about their lives, and created role models for queer audiences.
1979 places Buddies neighboring the late side of the alternative theatre movement in Toronto, but right in the middle of gay movement in Toronto. In 1971, the “We Demand” rally in Ottawa advocated for gay rights. In 1981, Toronto’s morality squad raided bathhouses, charging 306 people in the largest single arrest at the time, prompting the queer group to respond with a midnight pride against police brutality. In 1982, Toronto saw its first case of HIV/AIDS.
Rhubarb Revives Avant-Garde Theatre
In their first year, Buddies started what would be a
These are our picks of the best gay theater festivals from around the world.
‘The theatre's so obsessed
With dramas so depressed
It's strenuous to sell a ticket on Broadway
Shows should be more pretty
Shows should be more witty
Shows should be more…
What's the word?
Gay…?'
These words were sung by the character of Roger in the Broadway display, ‘The Producers', and we couldn't agree more. When it comes to seeing a show, it needs a dash of campy flair that only same-sex attracted people can bring.
What is it about the theatre that gay people love? Is it the costumes? The actors? The stories?
With both of us being big drama fanatics (both inside and outside the theatre house), we've particularly found theatre to be a much more inclusive and open-minded mode of entertainment than clip or TV.
“Gay stories were allowed to be told on stage years before the ‘big dogs of Hollywood' would even hint at queer peoples' existence.”
With the pink wave riding across the society, and more countries polishing up their LGBTQ rights records, queer representation is at a crucial aim to help push those lawmakers over the rainbow picket line.
This is why we f
No Ordinary Man
Mon, Aug 11
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to reach on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the reviewing will start after midnight.
Director: Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase JoyntRun Time: 80 min.Format: DCPRelease Year: 2021
Starring: Billy Tipton, Kate Bornstein, Stephan Pennington, Susan Stryker, Zackary Drucker
The legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans representative, is brought to being by...
Queer Cinema Club
Lingua Franca
Wed, Aug 20
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Isabel SandovalRun Time: 95 min.Release Year: 2020
Starring: Eamon Farren, Isabel Sandoval, Ivory Aquino, Lev Gorn, Lynn Cohen
Olivia, an undocumented Filipina immigrant paranoid about deportation, works as a caregiver to a Russian-Jewish grandmother in New...
Queer Cinema Club
Kajillionaire
Background
Theatre Topikós was established in 2014 by Nick May and Jess Bryson to produce their first demonstrate Wordplay for Toronto’s Queer Play Day festival at the Alumnae Theatre. Wordplay has since been performed at the Bad Pup Theatre, Toronto’s One More Night Festival, the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In Dublin, the show was nominated for Best New Writing and Jess Bryson was nominated for Best Female Performance.
In 2017, Theatre Topikós produced a series of events called Shit Show: A Queer Comedy Night, which featured a rotating cast of standup, improv and burlesque performers.
5 Guys Chillin’ by Peter Darney is the collective’s standout production; performed at Toronto’s Kensington Hall in November 2017. The show was later remounted at the 2018 Guelph Sexuality Conference.
In 2021 Theatre Topikós will start producing the Toronto Gay Theatre Festival!
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Established in 1979, Buddies in Poor Times Theatre is Toronto’s leading destination for artistically rigorous alternative theatre and a world public figure in developing gay voices and stories for the stage. Buddies offers a year-round program that includes a complete season of gay theatre, new works festivals, artist residencies, and intergenerational development and education initiatives. In its 47-year history Buddies has welcomed over one million people into its home in the heart of Toronto’s queer village and has premiered over 1,000 unused works for the stage, making it the largest and longest-running queer theatre company in the world.
Our Artistic Mission
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre creates essential Canadian theatre by developing and presenting voices that doubt sexual and cultural norms. Built on the political and social principles of queer liberation, Buddies supports artists and works that express and advance these values. As the world’s longest-running and largest queer theatre, Buddies is uniquely positioned to evolve, promote, and preserve stories and perspectives that are challenging and alternative. Buddies achieves artistic excellence through