I recently wrote a post for Explore Waterloo Region about some upcoming festivals. You can find that post here. Downtown Kitchener has a summer music and events guide that's available in hard copy at various locations in Downtown Kitchener or you can find it online here.
This post is going to focus on theatre happening in Waterloo Region in June. I always joke that I need a clone in order to be able to make it out to all of the arts and culture events I want to go to, and after you see all the events that are happening in the region, you may need a clone too.
CAMBRIDGE
The Birds and The Bees (May 23-June 10)
Hamilton Family Theatre Cambridge (formerly Dunfield Theatre Cambridge)
This winning courtship comedy about chance encounters and fresh starts is a racy recipe for relentless laughter.
KITCHENER
Playground Festival (June 2-10)
This is the inaugural year of Playground: Festival of New Work. Evolving out of the ACTOne Play Festival, Playground solicits original works from Waterloo Region creators.
Free Events:
-7:30 pm on June 5th - Staged Readings @ Sandbox Stage
Open Sesame, Kitchener City Hall
-2:00 pm on June 9th - Performance Installation @ Festival Stage
The Registry Theatre, Frederick St
Ticketed events:
-7:30 pm on June 7/ 8/ 9th - Mainstage Shows @ Festival Stage
The Registry Theatre, Frederick St
$20 General, $15 Student/Senior
-7:00 pm on June 10 - Festival Limelight @ Festival Stage
Janice Jo Lee presents Ancestor Song (Fundraiser)
The Registry Theatre, Frederick St
$20 General
Tickets/Inquiries: registrytheatre.com / 519-578-1570
Spring Awakening (June 6-9)
One of the most revolutionary musicals of the 21st century explodes onto the stage bursting with honesty, heart, and hormones as youth in revolt search for truth and belonging amidst austere adults who refuse to hear them. Winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Asphalt Jungle Shorts XV (June 14-23)
At the intersection of Theatre & Reality, Asphalt Jungle Shorts is a series of short site-specific theatre performed in downtown Kitchener. Tickets - $20
Reserve tickets - tickets@flushink.net
(give your name, how many tickets and for what night)
Stories Within The Forest (June 21)
An exciting theatrical production with 17 talking trees, members of the Six Nations Community, the Illuminative Forest Cast, and a few special guests. Enjoy music and live performances in a magical forest for adults with 17 interactive sculptures, and an art exhibition. Art exhibition runs from June 7-26 at The Registry Theatre. Come celebrate the first day of summer and National Indigenous Peoples Day!
The B Party (June 28th)
A one night only event! Created by Viktorija Kovac, 2017/2018 Artist-in-Residence for JM Drama and The Registry Theatre. Co-created with Andy Houston and Nada Abusaleh.
Cosmic Fishing Theatre presents The B Party, its second project in development, in the pursuit of evocative, relevant, and exciting performance.
The B Party takes a plunge into the semiotics of Barbie, in an auto-ethnographic performance that takes the audience on a journey inside the consumerist culture sold to girls and women in guise of a - perky, can-do-anything, has an outfit for every occasion - doll!
Tickets available at the door (The Registry Theatre) or online at ticketscene.ca
$20 general, $15 students, seniors, cultural sector workers
WATERLOO
She Kills Monsters (May 31-June 16)
After a fatal accident, Agnes comes to the uncomfortable realization that she knew nothing about her nerdy little sister, Tilly. To fix this, she recruits Tilly's friend Chuck to help her play through a Dungeons & Dragons module that Tilly had created. Within the game, Agnes and Tilly go on a quest together through a world full of magic and monsters, giving Agnes a chance to learn about her sister’s life and to finally be able to say goodbye. She Kills Monsters offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all.
7th Cousins (June 8-10)
Green Light Arts is proud to present a piece that has such strong ties to the Region of Waterloo.
When theatre creators Erin Brubacher and Christine Brubaker met, they decided to make something together, based on no more or less than a shared name. After discovering the story of a common ancestor, who arrived in Ontario on foot in the early 1800s, these two secular women began plotting an adventure to walk the same 700 km, through what's now the Bible Belt of Pennsylvania, tracing the migration of their Mennonite ancestors to Brubacher House, here in Waterloo Region.
7th Cousins is the theatrical creation that was born out of the stories, people, and experiences they encountered on their journey. Informal and interactive, spectators are invited to choose from hundreds of photos Brubacher took on the walk, and one of the two performers will retell the story behind the picture.
Reading Plays In The Park (June 17)
Get together and read a play out loud in the park! Meet at the picnic tables up the slope from the Waterloo bandstand. Anyone can read. Anyone can listen. (Recurring Sundays until August 26).
The Rainmaker (June 20-July 7)
The forecast calls for showers of laughter with a romantic comedy that makes a handsome case for miracles. The Rainmaker proves that dreams can come true, and with enough faith, all things are possible – magic, rain ... and yes, even love.
What shows are you planning on catching in June?
Story by Glodeane Brown
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