From a larger-than-life mirrored maze and provocative new work by one of Canada’s most renowned puppet masters, to a massive choral event along Toronto’s waterfront and the North American premiere of a re-imagined dance classic, the 13th annual Luminato festival lights up the city of Toronto with bold, high-energy, ambitious work from Canada and around the world June 7-23, 2019.

 

RONNIE BURKETT THEATRE OF MARIONETTES

FORGET ME NOT

ORIGINAL LUMINATO COMMISSION

 

WORLD PREMIERE

June 5 – 23
Joey & Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre

Internationally lauded and beloved puppet master, Ronnie Burkett, returns to Luminato with the world premiere of Forget Me Not, a tender and provocative call-to-arms for hope and the enduring power of love.

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CHRISTIAN WAGSTAFF AND KEITH COURTNEY

HOUSE OF MIRRORS

 

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

June 7 – 23
Harbourfront Centre, Exhibition Common

Standing over 12.5 feet and weighing over 55 tonnes, House of Mirrors is an awe-inspiring kaleidoscopic maze designed to mesmerize.

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MAADA’OOKII SONGLINES

ORIGINAL LUMINATO COMMISSION

 

WORLD PREMIERE

FREE

June 23
Harbourfront Centre, Lakeside

free massive choral event with 200 diverse voices from 8 choirs, 4 soloists and an Indigenous musical ensemble, braiding together their songs and styles, voices and cultures, set against the backdrop of Toronto’s picturesque waterfront.

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LA COMPAÑÍA CUERPO DE INDIAS

FLOWERS FOR KAZUO OHNO (AND LEONARD COHEN)

 

CANADIAN PREMIERE

June 19 – 22
Bluma Appel Theatre

Lose yourself in breathtaking moments as the dancers
of La Compañía Cuerpo de Indias sweep you away into 

a serendipitous homage to the spirits of Leonard Cohen
and Kazuo Ohno.

Presented by 
Cheryl and Rob McEwen, YPO Toronto and St. Joseph Communications

Friends of Luminato
Gretchen and Donald Ross, OC; Tiana Koffler Boyman and Marc Boyman; and many others.

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THE DRAWING ROOM

 

FREE

June 8 – 23
Artport Gallery, Harbourfront Centre

A visual dialogue between five North American visual artists, whose work questions how art can be employed as a testament to love, resilience, resistance, and belonging.

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6th MAN COLLECTIVE

MONDAY NIGHTS

PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE THEATRE CENTRE

 

June 6 – 16
291 Lake Shore Boulevard East

Staged in a found space, Monday Nights is an an interactive basketball clinic/theatre hybrid that highlights how a simple game can help us understand ourselves and connect us to our community

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THE CAVE COLLECTIVE

THE CAVE

 

June 18 – 23
Tank House Theatre, Young Centre for the Performing Arts

A forest fire rages as a group of animals escape to the safety of The Cave; an entertaining cabaret that responds to our changing environment, created by John Millard, Tomson Highway, and Martha Ross.

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PARADIGM PRODUCTIONS

FOUR SISTERS

 

WORLD PREMIERE

June 11 – 16
The Theatre Centre

Time itself begins to erode while a family of women struggle to face the apocalyptic world around them in this new theatre movement hybrid created by critically-acclaimed artists Susanna Fournier and Amanda Acorn.

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LUA SHAYENNE DANCE COMPANY

KIRA, THE PATH | LA VOIE

 

June 6 – 9
Fleck Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre

Celebrate humanity as one village, and its sacred bond to nature in this dynamic dance production from innovative African choreographer Fara Tolno and the Toronto-based 
Lua Shayenne Dance Company.

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LUMINATO 2019 IDEAS PROGRAM
ILLUMINATING IDEAS

 

June 15  22
Harbourfront Centre, Studio Theatre

Luminato’s ideas program features a series of panel discussions, films, workshops and masterclasses that are designed to frame the festival within a real world context and engage audiences in meaningful and thought-provoking conversations that carry on well after the final curtain.

Through forums and films, this year’s ideas program, Illuminating Ideas, takes a deeper look into LGBTQ censorship in art, climate change in the North, building healthy male communities through sport and witch hunts through history.

Luminato’s 2019 film series is curated in partnership with Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.

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PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED…

ELECTRIC COMPANY THEATRE

THE FULL LIGHT OF DAY

A LUMINATO AND CANADIAN STAGE CO-PRESENTATION

 

TORONTO PREMIERE

June 7 – 13
Bluma Appel Theatre

From award-winning artists Daniel Brooks & Kim Collier comes a provocative film theatre hybrid about an aging matriarch who must contend with her family’s corrupt legacy before she dies.

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VAKHTANGOV STATE ACADEMIC THEATRE OF RUSSIA

MASQUERADE

PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH SHOW ONE PRODUCTIONS

 

June 9 – 10
John W.H. Basset Theatre

One of Moscow’s oldest theatre companies returns to Toronto with a show that will sweep you off your feet and into a storm of intrigue, hidden truths, and heaps of snow.

 

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BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE

KIINALIK: THESE SHARP TOOLS

June 12 – 16
Berkeley Street Theatre, Downstairs

Following a sold-out run at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in 2017, the 2018 Dora Award-winning Kiinalik: These Sharp Toolsreturns; witness two powerful storytellers as they map new territory, giving voice, music, and ceremony to the histories, cultures, and climate we have all inherited.

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ASAH PRODUCTIONS – A NICOLE BROOKS VISION

OBEAH OPERA

ORIGINAL LUMINATO COMMISSION

 

WORLD PREMIERE

June 13 – 22
Fleck Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre

Back by popular demand! See the world premiere of the full-length version of Obeah Opera, a hypnotizingly rhythmic, a capella retelling of the Salem witch trials, from the perspective of the Caribbean slave women who experienced it.

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HELL’S FURY: THE HOLLYWOOD SONGBOOK

A LUMINATO AND SOUNDSTREAMS CO-PRODUCTION

 

WORLD PREMIERE

June 19 – 23
Harbourfront Centre Theatre

Following its work-in-progress presentation at Luminato 2018, see the world premiere of the musical theatre production featuring internationally-renowned baritone Russell Braun portraying the rise and fall of famed Austrian exile, Hollywood film composer and “unperson”, Hanns Eisler.

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Don’t forget! The more you see, 

the more you save!

See three shows and save 15%, see four shows and
save 20%

Some exclusions may apply. Multi-show savings are calculated at check-out online, no promo code required. Tax extra, no refunds. Subject to availability. Prices subject to change.

Luminato is Toronto’s international festival of arts and ideas dedicated to presenting programming that cuts across traditional artform boundaries.
Luminato 2019 | June 7-23

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.