The SummerWorks Performance Festival is making its return to Toronto from August 1-11 with a selection of 40+ live performances, events and activities all under the theme of Survival Mode! 

Best known for their one-of-a-kind performances, SummerWorks is a must-attend event for any arts lover in the city. This year, each contribution to the festival will serve as a pathway toward understanding, reconciliation and joy. 

“Arriving at Survival Mode as this year’s Festival theme underpins what has always been true about SummerWorks – we deeply listen to our artists and audiences and respond accordingly with innovative, risky, and boundary-pushing Festival programming,” says Michael Caldwell, Artistic Director of SummerWorks and Morgan Norwich, Managing Director. 

The festival takes place all around the city so take a look at what shows call your attention. We put together a guide for some of the most exciting offerings at SummerWorks 2024 so that you can narrow your choices down to a few! 

Photo by Teryn Lawson

Bimbos in Space!

Watch Captain Shadowban and her crew of space bimbos save the galaxy from evil! For anyone who enjoys sci-fi geeks, riot grrls and disaster queens, this show will have you at the edge of your seat. Since its sold out premiere last year, Bimbos in Space! has been proclaimed a “fascinating piece of absurdist, feminist theatre,” with psychic slugs, cunning heroes, libertarian cowboys, and an immortal tampon deity. There is room for laughter at any given line throughout the show, if you dare to watch don’t forget to get tickets! More info here.

It’s a Shame

Approach theatre from a different angle with this digital site-specific performance that takes place on OnlyFans. This performance will provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the complexities of sex workers. It’s a Shame digs into the tension that many people need to work and provide for themselves while trying to balance rest and care. This informative, hybrid performance reflects on material generated from interviews and other sex workers around Toronto. This is a great opportunity to situate sex work simply as a form of work as audience members will experience this performance as part of a small group. They will be encouraged to sit in front of a laptop with headphones and settle into spaces around the venue. More info here.

Photo by Lin Hsuan Lang

Girl’s Notes III

Surely the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was no easy feat for anyone. However, the best art has presented itself at the hand of these experiences for audiences to see. Girl’s Notes III is the only creation based entirely on Pin-Wen’s personal experiences in 2020. Pin-Wen pays attention to women who have retreated from public to private spaces and navigating those effects in a post-pandemic world. The limits of self-expression were boundless for quite some time during the pandemic, but when gender loses the eye of the social gaze, how is it performed? More info here.

Photo by Andy Carroll

slip away

This one-woman show created and performed by Samantha Sutherland explores themes of loss and hope related to the endangered state of the Ktunaxa Language. Motivations look different for everyone but what happens when it is through fear? What needs to happen to develop a sense of hope for the future? This introspective dance solo shares the accounts of the current efforts towards preservation of the endangered language and how it may continue to be enlivened in the future. The loss of a language is close to the loss of a culture and it is important for audiences to learn more so that it will not be forgotten. Widen your cultural understanding with this performance! More info here.

Photo by Christopher Snow

Beth-Anne

Horse girls are often the nicest people you will ever meet. Speaking of which, meet Beth-Anne! Your new favourite horse girl who is chomping at the bit for her happy ending. She just needs the confidence to ask out her crush… so she turns herself into a horse. This is a hilarious, fast-paced solo comedy about a journey of self-acceptance. You can get tickets to a horse play but you will want to stay for the horseplay. Audience participation will be highly encouraged at this performance so if that intrigues you, come on out! More info here.

Photo by Sheena D. Robertson

Growing up Regent

What would you do for the people you love? It is a question that is passed around a lot but truthfully, how far would you go? Growing Up Regent is a play created from within Toronto’s oldest public housing community. After the shooting death of sixteen-year-old Travis, his chosen family will struggle with grief, guilt, the police and adult decisions made way too young. Will Lila find solace in her spoken word? Will Kalima foray into social media help or hinder? This is a testament to the love of family in hard times and pushes audiences to look deeper into many sensitive subjects. More info here.

Photo courtesy of the artist

What is left of us

Get introspective with What is left of us. This 20-minute interactive narrative piece is designed for one person at a time in the intimate confines of a phone booth. There are certain spaces where you feel as though the world stops for a few minutes on end. Everything is still and it is just you and what lies in front. Upon entering, attendees will be greeted by a ringing telephone that initiates a journey shaped by your choices. The artist asks ‘what are the traces we leave behind for future generations?’ The telephone booth is a forgotten artefact of this generation but somehow they remain everywhere, invisible. This experience is offered both in English and French for those who wish to attend. More info here.

For more information and the full lineup of SummerWorks performances, see their website.