This Week in Theatre: The Sankofa Trilogy, Like the First Time, Those Who Can't Do, Pteros Tactics, Ghosts

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This week in theatre rounds up the most noteworthy live theatre playing right now in Toronto. It includes just-opened shows as well as productions that are about to close.

The Sankofa Trilogy / Tarragon Theatre / 8:00pm/2:30pm / $23
d'bi.young anitafrika, the internationally celebrated afrikan-jamaican-canadian dubpoet, performer and educator, is back with a trilogy of stories which brings together three generations of women. On stage at the Tarragon, the artist presents word!sound!powah! along with one-woman shows blood.claat and benu. With previous successes in Toronto, d'bi.young's star continues to rise. It's a strong addition to the Tarragon lineup to compliment the conventional fare.

Like the First Time / Walmer Centre Theatre / 8:00pm/2:00pm / $18-$23
Inspired by Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello, Like the First Time is a play about named Fulvia, who exists somewhere between her current life as a single woman and her past life with a husband and child. Writer-director Adam Seelig leads a talented cast featuring the likes of Andrew Moodie and Cathy Murphy, with sound design by Thomas Ryder Payne. Invoking the name of Pirandello implies there will be much 4th-wall breaking and meta-moments.

Those Who Can't Do / Theatre Passe Muraille / 7:30pm/2:00pm / $25-$30
Erin Fleck has been in residence at Theatre Passe Muraille for over three years, and is also a member of the emerging artists group. Her newest play Those Who Can't Do, profiles health teacher Lilian Campbell, who finds herself embroiled in a sex scandal involving some of her grade nine girls and members of the senior hockey team. It's a play about overcoming shame, which roots itself not only in the young girls, but also in their teacher.

Pteros Tactics / Winchester Street Theatre / 8:00pm/2:00pm / $20 - $26
Toronto Dance Theatre is presenting choreographer Christopher House's Pteros Tactics at the Winchester Street Theatre in Cabbagetown. House and ten TDT dancers animate "the instant of desire" showing scenes of passion and intimacy. A reworking of the 2010 dance of the same name, House zeros in on the figure of Eros and considers the fate of the lover and the beloved. Dance is usually intimate and sexy, but I expect this one to be even more so.

Ghosts / Soulpepper - Young Centre for the Performing Arts / 7:30pm/1:30pm / $28 - $65
The Soulpepper production, with adaptation and direction from Morris Panych, is a straightforward approach to Ibsen's play that takes a long time to get moving. When it narrows in on the relationship between Alving and her son Oswald (Gregory Prest) it illuminates century-old themes that still haunt us today. It's Prest as the young artist -- ironically the character who's dying -- that injects the most life into the story. He at once represents the family's hope for the future and its curse of sexual excess. Check out our full review.