As the summer stock and festival theatres wrap up their seasons, many of Toronto's leading companies are just about to get thiers underway. As this is the 'Calm before' there isn't a great deal going on in the city. There are, however, two shows I recommend for this week:

1) Soulpepper 's season is in full swing and their newest production of Shakespeare's King Lear will not disappoint those who feel like they didn't get enough of the bard this summer. With Bill Webster in the title role leading an all star cast, the show is something to definitely see. Until October 18th .

2) MacHomer , on a different note, playing at the Young Centre in the distillery district, is an altogether different take on Shakespeare. The one man show staring Rick miller (Of Bigger than Jesus fame) takes on the story of Macbeth with all of 50 characters from the television classic The Simpsons. Until September 30.