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.

Zadie's Shoes / Factory Theatre - Mainspace / 8pm/2pm / $15-$45
Adam Pettle is as talented a Canadian writer as they come. In addition to Zadie's Shoes, Therac 25, and Sunday Father (all Dora-nominated for best new play), Pettle is the co-creator and head writer of Afghanada, heard on CBC Radio. Zadie's Shoes returns to Factory Theatre with two Pettle brothers for the price of one (Jordan co-directs with his brother). The play moves from the racetrack to the synagogue where Ben, a compulsive gambler, has 72 hours to win back the money for his girlfriend's cancer treatment. PWYC Sunday.

Agokwe / Buddies in Bad Times Theatre / 8:00pm/2:30pm/ $33
Waawaate Fobister's tour de force returns to Toronto after a stint at the National Arts Centre. The winner of six Dora awards in 2009, Fobister's play follows the budding relationship between Mike, a hockey player, and Jake, a dancer. Add Nanabush to the mix--a trickster character in Native storytelling--and Fobister's play is a clever and relevant piece about growing up gay on the rez. If you didn't catch it the first time around, now you've got a second chance.

Double Bill / Young Centre for the Performing Arts / 8:00pm/2:00pm / $28-60
Created by Soulpepper Academy members, Double Bill features two intriguing performances: re(Birth) e.e. cummings in Song and Window on Toronto. The former blends poetry, song, movement, and staging in its spirited embodiment of the punctuation and syntax manipulator e.e. cummings. Window draws its inspiration from an iconic hot dog truck parked in front of Nathan Phillips Square. Over the course of 45 minutes we are introduced to dozens of characters that populate our streets.

Masques of Orpheus / Harbourfront Centre - Enwave / May 5, 6, 8pm / $20-$40
The high-brow selection of the week comes from Toronto Masque Theatre which is offering two versions of Orpheus's trek to the underworld to rescue his love Eurydice. One performance takes a traditional baroque approach, while the other is given a modern treatment--a 2003 adaptation by Canadians James Rolfe (music) and AndrĂŠ Alexis (libretto) that offers a fresh retelling of this classic story. For only $20 for under 30s, and a regular price of only $40, it's an affordable double feature.

Under Milk Wood / Abrams Studio Theatre / 8pm/2pm / $10-$20
Dylan Thomas, not to be confused with the other Dylan poet, has sketched an array of compelling characters in Under Milk Wood, often considered his greatest work. Taking place in the Welsh fishing village of 'Llareggub' ('Bugger All' backwards, implying there's nothing to do there), a narrator tempts us into the dreams and desires of the village inhabitants. It's an impressive work of immense scale presented by The Empty Room and BergARTS.

Photo by SirCharlie on Flickr.