Harvest good theatre this fall

Byron Toben

November 2011

Mother Nature governs the theatre scene here. In summer, folks are in their chalets; in winter, in Florida. As the song laments, It’s Either Too Hot or Too Cold.

Thus so many shows are bunched in spring and fall. Here are six picks for November.

The Wild Party: In this 1920s jazz-age setting, music and dance, bathtub gin and other substances fuel an evening as vaudeville deconstructs into tragedy. Fifteen talented performers are brought to you by Nadia Verrucci’s In Your Face Entertainment company. Verrucci performs and choreographs. Readers may remember her from several Segal Centre shows, including The Jazz Singer.

Mainline Theatre, November 2-12. 514-849-3378.

Jane Eyre: The classic Victorian Gothic novel has been the subject of myriad film and TV versions. In part a Cinderella story, Charlotte Bronte’s heroine has an inspiring tale for us moderns. For those who enjoyed the recent Far From the Madding Crowd, also set in the mid 19th-century, this is a must.

Louise Chalmers Theatre, November 3-12. 514-631-8718.

My Pregnant Brother: If anyone can challenge Catherine Kidd as a one-woman show genius, it is Johanna Nutter. Her award-winning show has toured the country. She has translated it into French, but also does it in English on Fridays.

La Petite Licorne, November 7-25. 514-523-2246.

God of Carnage: This Tony-winner is the seventh play by French Jewish writer Yasmina Reza. The carnage here is among parents reacting to a schoolyard brawl with dental damage.

Centaur Theatre, November 8-December 4. 514-288-3161.

Stori Ya: The charismatic Warona Sethshwaelo relates this journey from Africa to Canada as she portrays various characters with tales, song and dance in this Black Theatre Workshop production.

Black Theatre Workshop, November 16-December 4. 514-932-1104, ext 226.

Cornered: Paul Van Dyck, fresh from a remounting of his Halloween epic, Haunted, at the Hudson Village theatre, returns downtown to direct Manchester’s best new play set in the murky world of small-time boxing.

Thêatre Ste. Catherine, November 23-December 3.