With the winter weather waning (hopefully) now is the perfect time to get out of the house and ignite your nightlife with some stunning shows.

During the winter season theatre companies throughout the city have been hard at work preparing one acts, cabarets, plays and musicals that are set to shock, stun and surprise audiences as they grace the stage. Whether you’re an avid theatre-rat or someone who just wants to change up what you do on the weekends, there’s likely a show going on that will spark your interest.

Metamorphosis

Looking to watch something mysterious, unsettling, avant-garde and downright absurd? If your answer was “Yes” or just a soft “maybe” then the Department of Drama’s Greystone Theatre has just the show for you as USask drama professor and director Natasha Martina brings Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis to the stage of the Emrys Jones Theatre. 

Written by famed 20th century novelist and writer Franz Kafka, and adapted for the stage by Steven Berkoff, Metamorphosis follows the story of Gregor Samsa, an overworked and overtired young man who fervently works to support his parents and little sister until one day he mysteriously transforms into a giant beetle. The story then unfolds with him and his family trying to adapt to his new state and their structure as a family as they figure out ways —some good, some bad— on dealing with Gregor’s extraordinary ailment.

Many of Kafka’s works carry themes of anxiety, isolation and alienation, The Metamorphosis is no exception to this standard. With a heavy commentary on the dehumanizing effects of repetitive, mindless, and overly-bureaucratic labour, audiences are sure to be in for an experience that leaves them reflecting on their place in the world, their relation with labour and how such external factors affect our recognizably fragile personal identities. It may leave people asking, “what does it mean to lose something that’s always been a part of you?”, and “what does it mean to become something entirely different?”

If these fundamental questions of personal philosophy, or the aforementioned atomizing themes pique your interest then be sure to grab your tickets for Metamorphosis before they are gone. 

The show runs from Wednesday March 20th through Saturday the 23rd at 7:30pm with a matinee on Friday, March 22nd at noon. Tickets are $13 for students, $19 for adults and $16 for senior citizens.

I Have No Idea.

Mental health and wellness is a constant point of discussion these days, and for good reason – it affects us all whether we think it does or not. And while conversation over it is great, sometimes the subject matter can be easier to digest when put through a different medium, perhaps like that of a play.

Written by and starring SATAward nominee Nathan Coppens, I Have No Idea is “a hilarious and poignant look at adult ADHD through the eyes of people who have it.” Those behind the scenes of the production promise that audiences will have various opportunities throughout the show to laugh, to cry and to think.

With a focus on encouraging positive and thought-provoking discussion around ADHD the show uses  “laughter and songs, to celebrate the stories and illuminate the struggles of four neurodivergent people navigating their way through society and the mental health system.”

Presented by In the Headlights and Live Five Independent Theatre, I Have No Idea will be available for viewing March 15th to 17th and 21st to 24th at The Refinery Arts and Spirit Centre.

Men Express Their Feelings 

The second show audiences should be looking out for is the subversive hockey-comedy Men Express Their Feelings. This power play of a performance — pun intended — centers on a pair of fathers and sons “sequestered to a hockey rink dressing room to sort out an incident” that examines hockey culture, relationships, racism and masculinity through “a series of wild misunderstandings and ridiculous antics.”

Put on by the 25th Street Theatre company, the play is a three period — like a hockey game — production complete with “music, mascots and a raucous crowd.” It is surely a play perfect for theatre lovers and hockey-fans alike who want to spend a night in a comfy seat rather than in the bleachers of a cold stadium.

Men Express Their Feelings will be showing from March 9th to 20th in the BackStage Stage at Remai Arts Centre.

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So there you have it! Three big exciting shows for you to take in during the warming spring months. Make your way out of the house and into the theatre, where you can lose yourself in an amazing story and maybe even learn something about the world or yourself, while doing so.