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.

Prisoner of Tehran / Theatre Passe Muraille / 7:30pm/2:00pm / $20-$35
Prisoner of Tehran is the stage adaptation of Marina Nemat's international bestselling memoir which details her arrest on false charges at 16 for speaking out against the Ayatollah Khomeinis regime. At the moment of her scheduled execution, her interrogator forces her into marriage, a decision that prolongs her imprisonment. Produced by Contrary Company and the Prisoner of Tehran Collective in association with Theatre Passe Muraille, Maja Ardal brings this raw and gripping memoir to the stage.

Heartstrings, The Musical / The Annex Live / 7:00pm / $20-$25
Set in 1908, Heartstrings is a musical about a young Italian apprentice who travels all the way from Germany to Ireland to deliver a rare and special twenty-fifth wedding anniversary present. The gift of note is a Phonolistz Violina, a piano with violins inside (no joke). The instrument can play by itself or is played by pressing lower pedals. The plot centres around the strange gift, which ultimately tempts the charms of the giver. The Annex Live is the setting for this Canadian musical, written by Reynold Nathaniel and directed by David Ludwig.

Projections / Winchester Street Theatre / 8:00pm/2:00pm / $20-$25
Inspired by music in cinema, Projections is Momentum Dance Toronto's second annual production featuring new choreographed works. MDT is a member-based performance dance company with a focus on ballet, modern, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, tap, and hip hop. Company members tackle the melodies that have inspired us on-screen. Maybe your favourite cinematic track will be featured on the floor, but we're praying the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking won't mean Celine Dion's hit will make its way into the programme.

The Tales Of Hoffmann / Four Seasons Centre / 7:30pm/2:00pm / $18-$100+
Jacques Offenbach's The Tales Of Hoffmann details the fantastical stories of a young poet who can't keep his head out of the clouds. A bar full of entranced patrons are privy to Hoffmann's desire for Stella, a woman he feels is all the women he's ever loved in one. To help them understand his meaning, he takes the crowd through each of his failed romances: Olympia, Antonia, and Giulietta. Hoffmann is widely believed to be Offenbach's operatic masterpiece.

The Melville Boys / Alumnae Theatre / 8:00pm / $25
A lakeside cabin for a weekend of fishing is the idyllic setting for Norm Foster's The Melville Boys, opening this week at the Alumnae Theatre. As the brothers settle in for a peaceful weekend, the natural balance is thrown off-kilter with the arrival of two sisters. As with many of the playwright's neat comedies, the humour results from a mixing of different personalities, but it's the older brother's terminal illness which lends the play some gravity.

Photo by Anthony R Taylor from The Melville Boys