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.

Next to Normal / Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts / 7:30pm / $40-$65
Winner of three Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, Next to Normal is at the Four Seasons until the end of this week. Snatching up an incredible amount of buzz since its run in New York, it's a shame that the critically acclaimed musical isn't around for very long. From the director of Rent and featuring Tony Award-winning star Alice Ripley, this is as sure a bet as they come for musicals.

Lysistrata - The Sex Strike / The Philosopher's Walk / 8pm / $8-$10 PWYC Wednesdays
What could pair better with the sweaty, sticky heat than a Greek play about sex? The only hitch is that in Lysistrata, the woman are withholding it (in every form?) until the men declare peace and put an end to civil war. Talk about an ultimatum. Canopy Theatre returns with an annual production in the Philosopher's Walk on the University of Toronto campus sure to be chock full of sexually charged hijinks.

Spent / Young Centre for the Performing Arts / $8:00pm / $20
Spent is an absurdist comedy about the financial crisis on its way to the Edinburgh Fringe in August. Created by clown masters Michele Smith, Dean Gilmour, Ravi Jain and Adam Paolozza, the show donated 100% of its profits of this past weekend's show to the Summerworks Festival, which saw $20,000 of its funding cut recently. A show about money giving some back -what a novel idea.

Blue Man Group / Princess of Wales Theatre / 8pm/2pm / $40-$99
The blue men with no ears are back to Toronto stages this summer with another multimedia extravaganza. For the next week, the Blue Man Group invades the Princess of Wales Theatre with their over-the-top theatrics and wildly entertaining displays. You'll either really enjoy all the pretty visuals, or you'll be maddened by their silence. See if they survive the Toronto heat, or end up in a Blue Man Puddle.

The Kreutzer Sonata / Young Centre for the Performing Arts / 8:00pm/2:00pm / $25 - $35
Ted Dykstra is a force to be reckoned with as part of the wealth of talent at Soulpepper. This summer, his Kreutzer Sonata, a work he adapted from a Leo Tolstoy novella, is a subtle one-act performance about marriage and sexual jealousy. Oh, and Dykstra directs and stars in the work. If you like Beethoven, Tolstoy, or Dykstra, this one's for you.

Photo of a previous iteration of Next to Normal via Arena Stage