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.

As I Lay Dying / Theatre Passe Muraille / 7:30pm/2:30pm / $25-$35
Following an exciting workshop presentation, Theatre Smith-Gilmour's adaptation of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying gets full scale production this Spring. After the death of their mother, the Bundren family make a forty mile trek across Mississippi to put the body to rest. The blend of tragicomic elements — one part funeral, one part calamity — makes this a fitting story for the Canadian clown experts.

The Four Seasons & Emergence /Four Seasons Centre / 7:30pm/2:00pm / $25-$100+
The National Ballet presents a two course fixe prix of dance favourites. The first, James Kudelka's The Four Seasons, is well timed to help articulate our current shift from Winter to Spring. Set to Vivaldi's recognizable score, Kudelka's choreography presents a delicate balance of levity and heightened emotion. Emergence, from Crystal Pite, is a more frenetic look at the collective energy of artistic expression.

The Seagull in Four Movements / Winchester Kitchen / 8:00pm / $10-$15
Upstart Theatre yanks Chekhov's The Seagull out of 19th century Russia and sets it down in contemporary Toronto at the Winchester Kitchen. The concept places the workers of Sorin's estate in the roles of the bartenders and waiters, while the more artistically-minded characters — Treplev, Nina, and Irina — perform there. The adaptation will focus most closely on each character's relationship to art and the achievement of artistic excellence.

To The Last Cry & The Lost Sagas Of Tjorvi The Flaccid / Factory / 8:00pm/2:00pm / $25
Factory Theatre hosts a double bill of one acts about adventure, challenge, and discovery. To The Last Cry, from Theatre Lab, follows a boy without a name on a quest to find a cure for his ailing brother. Pandemic Theatre presents The Lost Sagas Of Tjorvi The Flaccid, which profiles the self-conscious son of a Viking King who is granted an opportunity to prove himself in an unexpected battle.

The New Groundswell / Berkeley Street Theatre / Various Times / $15
Nightwood's festival of contemporary women's theatre showcases three new plays in addition to a host of industry sessions and open forums. The ten day festival features a reading of Judith Thompson's Who Killed Snow White?, a devised piece from Montreal called Adam's Rib, and Jenna Overton's God's Middle Name. FemCab, Nightwood's annual International Women's day celebration, is part of the festival this year.

Photo of As I Lay Dying