A Blue Jays art show, an all-you-can-eat fundraiser and seven other things to do this week

A Blue Jays art show, an all-you-can-eat fundraiser and seven other things to do this week

(Image: Kenneth Lochhead, courtesy of Bau-Xi Gallery)

Kenneth Lochhead’s ode to the Blue Jays
The late artist Kenneth Lochhead is best known as a member of the Regina Five, a group of abstract painters who gained prominence in the 1960s. But he had another oeuvre dedicated to his favourite baseball team: the Toronto Blue Jays. To mark the squad’s first trip to the postseason in 22 years, Bau-Xi Gallery is exhibiting a number of Lochhead’s impressionistic works from the early 1990s. They’ll be on display as long as the Jays are still in the running. From Tuesday, Oct. 13. Bau-Xi Gallery, 340 Dundas St. W., bau-xi.com.

(Image: courtesy of Action Against Hunger Canada)

Love Food Fest, an all-you-can-eat event to end hunger
On Thursday night, Love Food Fest takes over 99 Sudbury in support of Action Against Hunger. The all-you-can-eat event features dishes from over a dozen Toronto chefs, including Matt Blondin (Omaw), Nuit Regular (Pai, Sabai Sabai) and Chris Kalisperas (Mamakas). Oh, and did we mention it’s also all-you-can-drink? Attendees will have unlimited access to booze from Pommie’s, Junction Craft Brewery, Pondview Estates Winery and more. Thursday, October 15. $125. 99 Sudbury St., lovefoodgivefood.ca.

(Image: Carmen Cheung)

Kent Monkman’s new sculpture
The Toronto-based Cree artist debuts The Rise and Fall of Civilization, a new sculpture that examines the history of Aboriginal peoples through the lens of queerness and colonialism. The site-specific installation, which is part of the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, features a nine-foot buffalo jump, topped by two full-sized bison and a sculpture of Monkman’s alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle—a reminder of how settlers’ wasteful hunting decimated the Indigenous food supply and destroyed native Canadian culture. Thursday, October 15 to January 10. $15. Gardiner Museum, 111 Queen’s Park, gardinermuseum.on.ca.

(Image: Christie Greyerbiehl)

Dream Serenade, a moving musical variety show
Toronto troubadour Hayden Desser launched this annual benefit concert last year to support services for children with developmental disabilities. In the style of Jason Collett’s beloved Basement Revues, the concert features a wish list of Canadian folk talent, including staple Serena Ryder, local gem Bahamas, Sloan offshoot TUNS, East Coast hero Joel Plaskett, ubiquitous choristers Choir!Choir!Choir!, and Hayden himself. Saturday, October 17. $35–$200. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St., masseyhall.com.

(Image: Weegee, Anthony Esposito, Accused “Cop Killer,” January 16, 1941. Gelatin silver print © Weegee/International Center of Photography)

An exhibition of Weegee’s gruesome crime photos
Ambulance chasers and tabloid crime reporters owe their craft in large part to Arthur Fellig, the New York photographer better known as Weegee. He blueprinted the tarred, gritty film noir aesthetic of the ’40s, shooting carnage and corpses just minutes after they were reported to the authorities, often beating police to the scene of the crime. Wednesday, October 14 to December 13. FREE. Ryerson Image Centre, 33 Gould St., ryerson.ca.

(Image: John Haynes)

The Beckett Trilogy, a one-woman, three-part play
The Irish actress Lisa Dwan stars in Beckett Trilogy, a string of solo plays by Samuel Beckett. The highlight: Not I, where all the audience sees is Dwan’s spotlit mouth reciting a garbled monologue. In the two other acts, a woman paces outside her dying mother’s room (Footfalls) and an elderly woman contemplates the past as she retreats from the world (Rockaby). Thursday, October 13 to November 1. $24–$69. Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley St., canadianstage.com.

(Image: courtesy of Angell Gallery)

An exhibition of Talwst’s bite-sized dioramas
Seven years ago, a Parisian street vendor gave Talwst an antique velvet ring case and told him to do something with it. Since then, the mononymous Trinidadian-Canadian artist has transformed dozens of bauble boxes into miniature worlds, including a portrait of Kim and Kanye on vacation, a small-scale Star Trek film set and a riff on 18th-century erotic Japanese art. Friday, October 16 to November 14. Angell Gallery, 1444 Dupont St., angellgallery.com.

(Image: John Lauener)

They Say He Fell, a deeply personal play about death
Before his death in May, the Canadian photographer Nir Bareket wrote this autobiographical play with Dora Award winner Donna-Michelle St. Bernard. Here, in its world premiere, Toronto actor Steven Bush plays Bareket at age 68 as he recalls the death of his older brother during the repartition of British Palestine. As Bareket meditates on family photos, actors, puppets and projections recreate his memories: a happy childhood, growing up in a crowded bomb shelter and the familial aftereffects of his brother’s death. To Sunday, October 18. $30. Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave., artsboxoffice.ca.

(Image courtesy of Deathgasm)

After Dark Film Festival, a gritty and gruesome cinema experience
The festival lineup spans sci-fi, action and horror, and perverse permutations of the three. Among the highlights: The Hallow, a freaky forest survival flick; Night of the Living Deb, in which a one-night stand turns into the zombie apocalypse; Backtrack, a ghost story starring Adrien Brody; and Deathgasm, a metalhead-versus-demon showdown set in a sleepy suburb. $13; festival pass $149. Thursday, October 15 to Friday, October 23. Scotiabank Theatre, 259 Richmond St. W., torontoafterdark.com.