THEATRE: Hart House Theatre's 2008–2009 season officially begins this evening with Shakespeare's King Lear, which runs until October 18. This production of the classic tragedy stars Peter Higginson as Lear and is directed by Jeremy Hutton. Hart House Theatre (7 Hart House Circle), 8 p.m., $12–$20. FILM: There is a free advanced screening of Guy Ritchie's new film, RocknRolla, presented by U of T's Cinema Studies Student Union tonight at Innis Town Hall. The film—which......

MUSIC: Tonight's No Shame music showcase is over at the Silver Dollar Room, and will serve as a Pop Montréal preview for those lucky enough to attend the festival this weekend (and presumably as some sort of compensation for those who are not). Toronto favourite the Rural Alberta Advantage will be playing, along with the similarly indie pop groups Hooded Fang and Mt. Royal. The Silver Dollar Room (486 Spadina Avenue), 9 p.m., $7.......

Agokwe sounds like a good idea on paper. The Kent Monkman-esque promo pics featuring the play's writer/performer, Waatwaate Fobister, glammed up like a cross between "Half Breed"-era Cher and St. Sebastian (Seb's basically Gay Jesus, for those who aren't in the club) are certainly eye-catching, if a tad cheesy, and seem to suggest a camp and tongue-in-cheek exploration of two-spirited sexuality. And camp we certainly get. Fobister, who plays all the characters in his......

MUSIC: The Polaris Music Prize Gala is happening tonight at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, where the winner of this year's best Canadian album will receive $20,000. The gala will include performances from nominees Holy Fuck, Shad, Two Hours Traffic, Basia Bulat, and Plants and Animals—but it's also invite-only. Those of you who can't get in have still got a number of options, though: CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence will be hosting a live broadcast......

A critic once famously said of seminal Canadian playwright Judith Thompson that it was typical of her to include a gang-rape in one of her plays when only a rape was necessary. It's a flip and condescending remark about one of our country's most respected playwrights; at the same time, Thompson's plays are known for their dramatization of extremely unpleasant, if realistic, incidents. Recently, Thompson's writing has turned political with her critically-acclaimed Palace of......

Tarragon Theatre is poised for a banner year, kicking things off with a remount of their highly-acclaimed production of Wajdi Mouawad's Scorched (which you should probably see if you haven't already: come for the political intrigue, stay for the tawdry family soap opera!). But there's another show playing in the theatre's Extra Space right now that is also deserving of attention: Theatre Smash's production of Norway, Today. The young company (which will also be......

THEATRE: Back by popular demand, Monty Python's Spamalot is having a month-long return engagement at the Canon Theatre. The Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Spamalot follows King Arthur (played by the hilarious Gary Beach) and his knights on their quest for the Holy Grail. The show is a must-see for Monty Python fans, but will still be lots of fun for everyone else, even if they don't grasp the multitude of subtle Python......

BENEFIT: In support of international children's aid organization ONEXONE, Maple Leaf Gardens will be opening its doors to the public for the first time in eight years. The 2008 ONEXONE Benefit Concert will feature performances by Grammy Award–winner John Legend; the African Children's Choir; The Canadian Tenors; and the ultimate ambassador for children and strippers alike, Wyclef Jean. Maple Leaf Gardens (60 Carlton Street), 8:30 p.m., $150. THEATRE: Toronto burlesque troupe Les Coquettes are......

MUSIC: David Berman and the rest of his Silver Jews are stopping by Lee's Palace tonight as part of their North American tour. They're joined by Boston rock group Hallelujah The Hills. Lee's Palace (529 Bloor Street West), 9 p.m., $15. THEATRE: The Dora Award–winning production of Wajdi Mouawad's Scorched is being remounted briefly at Tarragon Theatre, after a successful run in February 2007. The show is directed by Richard Rose, and runs until......

SPORTS: It's Labour Day weekend, and you know what that means! It's time for the annual three-day soundtrack of the pending apocalypse. In layman's terms, it's the Canadian International Air Show, a celebration of flight and scared looks on tourists' faces as planes fly a little too close to the Toronto skyline. This year's performers include the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team, the Canadian Snowbirds Demonstration Team, and the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Admission to......

BENEFIT: Today is Sunnybrook's Underwear Affair, which is a 5k walk and 10k run in support of colorectal, prostate, ovarian, cervical, testicular, uterine, and other below-the-waist cancers. It's the first race of its kind in Toronto; Underwear Affairs have happened before in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, and Los Angeles. The course starts in Woodbine Park and goes through Tommy Thompson Park. Participants are encouraged to hit the road in their undies or other silly......

FESTIVAL: HobbyStar's annual Fan Expo returns today. The largest of its kind in Canada, the event has grown exponentially since its inception in 1995. The Comic Book Expo, Science Fiction Expo, CNAnime Expo, Gaming Expo, and Rue Morgue Festival of Fear are all happening at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the next three days. There are some pretty hilarious and fun things happening, like a masquerade ball where the best World of Warcraft–themed......

FESTIVAL: The Scotiabank BuskerFest is back for its ninth year. This year's line-up includes over forty of the world's best buskers from Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. BuskerFest is free with an optional donation to Epilepsy Toronto; since its inception, BuskerFest has raised over half of a million dollars for the organization. Come out to enjoy the circus performers, magic shows, and artistic spectacles, and leave knowing it's all......

ART: Photographer/former photo editor of Vice Magazine Tim Barber is celebrating the release of his new limited-edition art and book series, TV Books, adapted from his online art gallery Tiny Vices. Tonight's opening reception is being held at Studio Gallery and will feature appearances by Tim Barber and some of the other Tiny Vices artists. Studio Gallery (294A College Street), 7 p.m., FREE. THEATRE: The Red Light District's production of Witold Gonbrowicz's awkward love story......

It's your absolute last chance to catch something at SummerWorks before the Indie Theatre and Arts Festival closes up shop for another year. Last night, two of the more interesting shows at the festival had their closing night performances. Fewer Emergencies, a collection of three potentially related short plays by British playwright Martin Crimp, is a show unconventional even for absurdist drama that's as likely to be called a masterpiece as a piece of......

Winter Miller's In Darfur, playing now at SummerWorks, is set in 2004, when the world knew little about the genocide in Sudan. Maryka is a reporter for The New York Times who wants to break the story and doesn't care what she risks in order to do so. Carlos is a UN doctor concerned only about the safety of the community he serves. And Hawa is an English teacher who has experienced the genocide......

LECTURE: Dr. Marianne Sommer of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is giving a lecture called "Popular Primates: A Time-Travel Through National Geographic." The talk is a reflection on the history of National Geographic, and how public interest in primates has been shaped since the publication's inception in 1888. Hosted by broadcaster Erika Ritter. OISE (252 Bloor Street West), 6 p.m., $20. THEATRE: The last hurrah of local actor/musician Henry Svec's musical/comedy project The Boy......

The Pastor Phelps Project: A Fundamentalist Cabaret is certainly one of the most talked-about shows at this year's SummerWorks Festival. Although the notorious funeral-picketing pastor's Westboro Baptist cronies didn't actually make it into the country, it certainly can't have hurt the show's ticket sales. A collective creation made up mostly from found transcript text (FOX News, The O'Reilly Factor, The Tyra Banks Show, etc.), the play explores the role Fred Phelps, Sr. has carved......

For years, SummerWorks has been kid sister to the Fringe. Smaller, shier, not quite as well-known (if often more reliable thanks to its policy of juried play selection as opposed to Fringe's random lottery). But there comes a summer in every kid sister's life when she starts going through some "special changes" and suddenly all her older sibling's friends turn their heads when she walks by the pool in her tankini. We already started......

FILM: As the summer continues, so do Toronto's weekly outdoor movies. Tonight, the Harbourfront Centre is screening 1998 Tom Tykwer thriller Run Lola Run in German with English subtitles. Just three subway stops away, 1987 Rob Reiner fantasy The Princess Bride is showing at Yonge-Dundas Square. Both films begin at 9 p.m., and both are FREE. SPARTS: What do you get when you cross baseball and the needle arts? A crocheted baseball, for one.......

The Gladstone Variations is one of the most interesting things to come to the Toronto Fringe in recent years, and now the site-specific wonder is back. Here's what we had to say about it last year: The Gladstone Variations is taking the Fringe by storm. And with good reason. The 90-minute piece is by Convergence Theatre, who were the team behind last year's fantastic Autoshow, which was actually a collection of 7 ten-minute plays......

It's almost August, and some of us know that means it's almost SummerWorks. The juried theatre festival has taken a bit of a different turn this year, under the new artistic leadership of Michael Rubenfeld, and is branching out into music and performance art. In a shockingly tech-savvy move for the Toronto theatre community, it also has a blog. Last week, the blog started posting viral videos, including one where veteran Canadian actor/playwright Michael......

MUSIC: Coldplay's in town. If you're looking for tickets, look no further than the friendly scalpers who will undoubtedly swarm the ACC around 6 p.m. tonight. Make sure you've made a hefty cash withdrawal beforehand, though—even on Craigslist, it's hard to find a nosebleed ticket selling for less than $100. I guess some people still really like "Clocks." Air Canada Centre (40 Bay Street), 7:30 p.m., $49.50–$97.50. SPORTS: The Jays take on the Tampa Bay......

LECTURE: Join urban experts Brian Andrew, Mark Kingwell, and Jay Pridmore at the ROM for a discussion on large-scale urban development. The talk, Shanghai: City of the Future?, is presented by the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum and complements the ROM's current exhibition, Shanghai Kaleidoscope. Royal Ontario Museum (in the Signy & Cléophée Eaton Theatre), 7:30 p.m., $10 ($6 for Friends of the ICC, $8 for ROM Members). THEATRE: Tony Award–winning......

CBC's How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? concludes tonight at 8 p.m. when either Elicia Mackenzie of Vancouver or Janna Polzin of Woodstock will be chosen by the public—over 650,000 Canadians—to spend October as the star of The Sound of Music, yodelling in the Princess of Wales theatre. The show, imported from Britain where a Maria was similarly found, is a hit for the CBC, which must be a relief since the network......

FILM: Andrew Fleming's 1999 comedy Dick is screening tonight as part of the Fido-sponsored Free Flicks series at the Harbourfront Centre. In case you don't know, the movie is about two teenage girls (played effortlessly by Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams) hired as the official dog-walkers of President Richard Nixon, in an attempt to conceal their knowledge of the Watergate scandal. Except, funny! Sirius Stage at the Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West), 9 p.m.,......

When Dylan Thomas began writing Under Milk Wood, his famous "play for voices" about the sleepy Welsh community of Llareggub and its inhabitants, he intended it to be performed as a radio play with a full cast of actors. Over the years, the play has been both recorded and performed for stage in a variety of productions (including a film version with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole), sometimes with a cast as......

We really hope you saw The Swearing Jar by Kate Hewlett (pictured) at the Fringe, because it just had its last performance yesterday evening. Funny, compelling, and at times heartbreakingly sad, Hewlett's top-notch script (developed in the 2007 Tarragon Playwrights Unit) was brilliantly brought to life with Geoffrey Pounsett's direction and an absolutely perfect cast. Carey and Simon are a happy young couple about to become parents. Without giving too much away, there is......

Domestic is an absolutely insane black comedy about a bright-eyed 50s housewife who has to deal with an encyclopedia salesman who keeps dying in her kitchen, pesky phone calls from someone named "God" who keeps talking about the end of the world and her inability to have enough cat food. Also, a pair of fast-talking weirdos with faux British accents (pictured) keep bursting into her home and she may or may not have murdered......

When Antonin Artaud wrote Theatre and Its Double, the manifesto for his so-called Theatre of Cruelty, he called for the actors to bleed on the audience as well as a bunch of other things that are probably best left interpreted metaphorically. Surely, Glen Callendar's Transcendental Masturbation, now playing at the Fringe, was not exactly what he had in mind? During last night's performance, during a "peeling" joke gone awry, Callendar wound up removing not......