June 6 till 15, @ 8 pm
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Canon Theatre , 244 Victoria Street, Toronto
Tickets $50 - $70

Dash Arts Production

“Ravishing and enchanting. Tim Supple’s all-Indian production is a Dream as you’ve never seen it.” - The Daily Mail (UK)

Presented by a company of 23 Indian and Sri Lankan artists whose skills are as diverse as their backgrounds - not only actors but also dancers, singers, musicians, street acrobats and martial arts experts - this Indian Dream combines ancient traditions and modern urban sensibilities in a glorious fusion of styles and techniques.

A fusion, too, of language, for the play is spoken not only in English but also in tongues native to its performers: Tamil, Malayalam, Sinhalese, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and Sanskrit. The result is a Dream that transcends language itself; a Dream as gorgeous to the senses as it is thrilling to the mind.

Following its sensational first run in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, the production played to packed houses at the Roundhouse in London, England, and twice in Stratford-upon- Avon as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works festival. After a sell-out British tour, it is now playing to audiences around the world. Don't miss this Canadian premiere of a Dream beyond your wildest imaginings.

By arrangement with Roger Chapman, Matthew Byam Shaw and Act Productions. Original production commissioned by the British Council. First presented in the UK at the Royal Shakespeare Company Complete Works Festival in June 2006.

For tickets and more information click HERE

June 6 till 14
Sanctuary Song
Berkely Street Theatre , 26 Berkeley St, Toronto
Tickets $15 - $25

Tapestry and Theatre Direct

"No more circuses. No more zoos.... You will be free!"

A dynamic collaboration between two award-winning Toronto companies, Tapestry and Theatre Direct, Sanctuary Song weaves opera, dance and theatre together to tell a story from the point of view of a most unusual protagonist.

Composed by Abigail Richardson and written by Marjorie Chan, Sanctuary Song takes place on a journey to sanctuary in the hills of Tennessee, as an aging elephant recounts her life in captivity to her friend and keeper of 22 years. From her abduction by poachers in the jungle, to her time in the circus, and finally through her solitary years in a zoo, Sydney relives her memories of roaming freely with family and friends. Upon their arrival, her keeper's promise of freedom is fulfilled, and a bittersweet goodbye turns to joyous reunion.

For tickets and more information click HERE

June 7 till 13
Festival of the Short Story
FREE - no tickets required

Eight authors, six collections of stories and four libraries across the city.

From inter-linked tales of Toronto's Portuguese community in Anthony De Sa's Barnacle Love to the dark and humorous tales of Elyse Friedman's Long Story Short, the sheer variety of short fiction being produced in Canada today is truly breathtaking.

The Festival of the Short Story brings together unique combinations of Canadian writers to read from their work and discuss their common craft. With: Pasha Malla (The Withdrawal Method); award-winning short story writer Ahmad Saidullah (Happiness and Other Disorders); Sharon English (Zero Gravity) whose work has been long-listed for the Giller Prize; award winning author Caroline Adderson (Pleased to Meet You), and Journey Prize writers Rebecca Rosenblum and David Whitton.

Moderated by Jane Urquhart, Lynn Coady, Caroline Adderson and Russell Smith.

SCHEDULE

Elyse Friedman and Pasha Malla
(moderated by Caroline Adderson)
Saturday, June 7,2:00p.m.
Toronto Reference Library,
789 Yonge St.

Anthony DeSa and Caroline Adderson
(moderated by Russell Smith)
Monday, June9, 12:30p.m. Parkdale Branch,
1303 Queen Street West

Ahmad Saidullah and Sharon English
(moderated by Jane Urquhart)
Thursday, June 12, 7:00p.m. Palmerston Branch,
560 Palmerston Ave

David Whitton and Rebecca Rosenblum
(moderated by Lynn Coady)
Friday, June 13, 12:30p.m. Northern District Branch,
40 Orchard View Blvd

Tuesday, June 10, @ 7:00 pm
ILLUMINATIONS South Asian Expressions: East Meets West
Berkely Street Theatre , 26 Berkeley St
FREE - no tickets required

A panel of internationally renowned artists shares its thoughts on one of the most fruitful relationships ever to have arisen between two cultures half a world apart.

The influence of South Asian artistic expression on the culture of the West has become inestimable, and shows no signs of abating. That influence is apparent in music and the cinema, in literature and dance - and it achieves a glorious theatrical apotheosis in British director Tim Supple's multilingual, multidisciplinary reimagining of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Don't miss this opportunity to hear Supple in public dialogue with fellow director Charles Roy, currently preparing a production of the great Indian classic Shakuntala; A Throw of Dice composer Nitin Sawhney; and Indian-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta, director of the acclaimed trilogy Fire, Earth and Water. Moderated by Luminato Curator of Literary Programming, Devyani Saltzman.

Wednesday, June 11, @ 8 pm
Diaspora Dialogues: Launch of TOK Book3
The Drake Hotel Underground
1150 Queen Street West.
FREE - no tickets required

Toronto leads the world as one of its most ethnically varied cities. That reality is reflected in the new fiction, poetry and drama commissioned and presented by Diaspora Dialogues, an organization dedicated to building artistic and literary bridges between the city's many cultures.

Luminato is proud to partner with Diaspora Dialogues in launching TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 3, the third installment of an anthology celebrating the diverse voices of the city in short stories, plays and spoken-word poetry. The launch event is a star-studded literary cabaret, showcasing new work from Giller nominee Alissa York (Effigy); American Library Association Alex Award winner Judy Fong Bates (Midnight at the Dragon Café); award-winning playwright and poet Daniel David Moses (Almighty Voice and His Wife); spoken-word performer and musician Shauntay Grant; and playwright Yvette Nolan, Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts. The evening will also showcase debut work from two emerging Toronto writers and a performance featuring the salsa rhythms of vocalist Lady Son (a.k.a. Yeti Ajasin) and her Latin fusion band Articulo Veinte.

June 13, @ 9:30 PM
Nitin Sawhney: A Throw of Dice
The Molson Amphitheatre , 909 Lakeshore Blvd West
Tickets $20

A film by Franz Osten with a new score by Nitin Sawhney

Composer and cultural prodigy Nitin Sawhney and Members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra breathe new life into a classic of Indian cinema.

Ancient South Asian legend, early cinema and new music entwine in one shining example of Luminato's interconnectedness: the screening of India's 1929 silent classic A Throw of Dice, with a new orchestral score by the multi-talented British phenomenon Nitin Sawhney, performed live by Members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

A sumptuously filmed tale of love and hazard, A Throw of Dice was inspired by an episode from the Mahabharata, the great Hindu epic of ancient India. In it, two neighbouring kings are pitted against each other, risking their kingdoms and the woman they both love, in a fateful game of dice.

For tickets and more information click HERE

Saturday, June 14, @ 7 pm
Spotlight on New South Asian Writing
The Al Green Theatre in The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Center
750 Spadina Avenue
Tickets $10

An evening of readings and discussion from new South Asian voices of the Diaspora exploring the nature of exile and belonging through poetry and fiction.

Join host, Shyam Selvadurai, bestselling Canadian author of Funny Boy, Cinnamon Gardens, and Swimming in the Monsoon Sea, for an evening featuring three authors' very different perspectives on the cultures of South Asia and the West. Hear readings from British poet Daljit Nagra (Look We Have Coming to Dover!), winner of the 2007 UK Forward Poetry Prize for best new collection; Canadian author Jaspreet Singh, whose new book Chef explores the complexity of Kashmir; and Padma Viswanathan (The Toss of a Lemon), one of Random House of Canada's New Faces of Fiction, 2008.

*Tickets are available at Ticketmaster outlets and at TO Tix in Yonge-Dundas Square. Additional fees apply to internet and telephone bookings.

Shyam Selvadurai was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Funny Boy his first novel was published to acclaim in 1994 and won the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award and The Lambda Literary Award in the U.S. He is the author of Cinnamon Gardens and Swimming in the Monsoon Sea and the editor of an anthology, Story-wallah! A Celebration of South Asian Fiction.

Daljit Nagra was born and raised in West London, then Sheffield, and currently lives in Willesden where he works in a secondary school. Look We Have Coming to Dover! won the 2007 Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award.

Jaspreet Singh's Seventeen Tomatoes: Tales from Kashmir won the Quebec Writers' Federation 2004 First Book Prize. It has been translated into Spanish and Punjabi. In 2002, Quill & Quire magazine identified him as one of "five new talents to watch." His stories have appeared in Alphabet City (MIT Press), ascent, Coming Attractions, subTerrain, Maisonneuve, Fiddlehead, Walrus, Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope, and CBC Radio.

Padma Viswanathan is a fiction writer, playwright and journalist from Edmonton, Alberta. Her writing awards include residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Banff Playwrights' Colony, and first place in the 2006 Boston Review Short Story Contest. She received her Creative Writing MA from Johns Hopkins and her MFA from the University of Arizona, and lives with her family in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Al Green Theatre in The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Center
750 Spadina Avenue
June 14th 7pm

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June 14, @ 10:30 PM
Nitin Sawhney: Club Night
Revival , 783 College Street West
Tickets $15

On the closing Saturday of the Festival, Sawhney works the dance floor as he spins at the eclectic, ever-evolving dance club, Revival. He will be joined by musicians Aref Durvesh on Tabla and Ashwin Srinivasan on flute. Nitin's sets are comprised of sounds ranging from Latin house, Asian breaks, and drum n' bass (DnB).

Opening and closing for Sawhney are Version Xcursion, DJs Sassa 'le and Aram Scaram, bringing the flavours of early trip hop, tabla and string arrangements, and DnB. For a preview, Version Xcursion spin live every Saturday 8-10pm on CKLN 88.1FM

For tickets and more information click HERE

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For more details and for full festival line-up please visit http://www.luminato.com