From Sunday, September 15 to Saturday, October 5, 2024, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre opens its 46th season with the rarely performed neo-noir masterwork Roberto Zucco by French post-modernist writer Bernard-Marie Koltès, translated by Martin Crimp and directed by Buddies Artistic Director ted witzel.
Witness the living through the eyes of the dead
Roberto Zucco lures us into the wet streets and gloomy rooms of 1980s Europe, where a charming antihero battles his cosmic urge to kill. Written as he was dying in 1989, Koltès’ sordid swan song combines the violence of Tarantino with the rage of David Wojnarowicz.*
Working over the themes of Hamlet, Oedipus and Icarus, Roberto Zucco brings the suspense of film noir to the stage. Breathlessly violent, with a pitch-black wit and occasional syrupy sweetness that leaves you disarmed – and caught between the realms of true crime and grotesque fantasy – the play shines a blistering sun on our darkest impulses. By the end, you’ll wonder if we’re just flightless birds in the face of our fates.
The cast features Jakob Ehman in the title role, with Samantha Brown, Fiona Highet, Kwaku Okyere, Oyin Oladejo and Daniel MacIvor.
“Roberto Zucco is a piece so exciting and challenging that it begs to be done at Buddies. It’s wild and violent, but it’s also tender, funny and epic. The queerness of the piece lurks just beneath the surface, as an experience of the world’s violence—it’s a lens and not a storyline.”
– ted witzel, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Artistic Director & production director
About Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is the world’s largest and longest-running queer theatre. For 46 years, Buddies has carved out a sexy, disobedient edge in Toronto’s theatre scene and has been a world leader in amplifying queer voices and developing their stories for the stage. In its year-round theatre season, Buddies is a home for artistic risk—a place where emerging talent hone their radical visions, and where established artists to do the daring works other theatres might shy away from. Since 1979, Buddies has welcomed over one million audience members and premiered over 1,000 new works for the stage.
*David Wojnarowicz (1954 – 1992) was an American painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, songwriter/recording artist and AIDS activist prominent in New York City’s East Village art scene.
(Photo credits: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Photography and treatment by Fran Chudnoff.)
Event details
Hosted by: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Type of event: theatre performance
Written by: Bernard-Marie Koltès, translated by Martin Crimp
Director: ted witzel
Cast: Jakob Ehman, Samantha Brown, Fiona Highet, Kwaku Okyere, Oyin Oladejo & Daniel MacIvor.
Dates: Sunday, September 15 – Saturday, October 5, 2024. Masks will be mandatory for performances on Saturday, September 21 @ 2:00 PM ET and Tuesday, October 1 @ 7:30 PM ET
Start times: Tuesday – Saturday @ 7:30 PM ET, with matinées on Saturdays @ 2:00 PM ET
Duration: 95 minutes (no intermission)
Cost: C$10.00 – $75.00 (+ $3.00 order fee)
Location: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1B4
Booking link: Book your tickets here
Contact Details: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1B4, Canada; 416-975-8555, Buddies box office: tickets@buddiesinbadtimes.com, buddiesinbadtimes.com
Content warning: Depictions of violence. For audiences 16+.
Accessibility: Info here.
COVID-19 policy: See info here. Masks will be mandatory for performances on Saturday, September 21 @ 2:00 PM ET and Tuesday, October 1 @ 7:30 PM ET.
Refund policy: If you would like to exchange your ticket or be granted a refund, please email tickets@buddiesinbadtimes.com. Requests will be approved at the discretion of Buddies in Bad Times and Tallulah’s Cabaret, as well as any producing partners. No refunds or exchanges will be granted within 48 hours of the event start time. If approved, a full refund of the ticket cost minus any applicable service fees will be credited to your account within 30 days.