Trending in Theatre This Week: the best of the SummerWorks festival

By Brianne Hogan

Fierce Monsters plays at this year's SummerWorks

We don’t know what’s more terrifying about Rebecca Buttigieg’s play: the thought of an 800 man stampede, or the two women who have to first survive it and then an intruder in 1858 British Columbia.
Lower Ossington Theatre, Aug. 10-19

In a plot that hints at a Grey Gardens-esque theme, best friends Edna and Edith have lived together for over 50 years in a daily routine that’s suddenly threatened when a strange idea is put on the table, challenging their lifelong friendship.
Factory Theatre Mainspace, Aug. 9-18

In Toronto playwright Jason Maghanoy’s latest offering (he’s been an exciting fixture on the Toronto theatre festival circuit for a few years now), Ally and Kevin, brother and sister, have broken into someone’s house and now they’re waiting for his return. Spooky.
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, Aug. 9-18

Things get downright weird and tragic in playwright-extraordinare Daniel MacIvor’s newest project, which features three characters’ tales of love and loss, including a ruined vacation and a dead cat.
Factory Theatre Mainspace, August 9-19

In this Live Art Series, The Torontonians (along with the Mammalian Diving Reflex) present a horrifying sleepover called Dare Night: Lockdown. It goes down at the Gladstone for fifteen frightening hours, complete with a scary pizza dinner that apparently “EATS YOU” and some pretty freaking scary ghost stories. Survivors get to partake in the Mourning Wiener Feast.
Gladstone Hotel, Aug. 10

Ticket info for all shows playing at SummerWorks can be found here.