situation room

This is what's coming to Toronto's abandoned power plant

Toronto's once abandoned Hearn Generating Station is getting a new life in June. That's because the Luminato Festival is hosting all of its ticketed programming at this decommissioned Port Lands power plant.

So, what can you expect to see? The 10-year-old arts extravaganza announced its first three projects today. And those who experienced the inaugural Unsound Festival last year will be happy to note that it's returning to the Hearn for 2016.

Unsound, imported from Poland, will unfold over two nights on June 10 and 11. Tickets cost $25 and are on sale now.

The Hearn will also be getting a new 1,200-seat theatre for The James Plays about the Stewart Kings. This trilogy from the National Theatre of Scotland will be making its North American debut. Together, these three plays are more than 11 hours long; you can see them each individually or binge watch them in a single day.

Along with The James Plays, Rimini Protokoll's Situation Room will also appear in North America for the very first time during Luminato.

As its name suggests, this production from Germany (by Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi, and Daniel Wetzel) is inspired by the now-famous photos that emerged when President Obama - and other high ranking officials - learned American forces had killed Osama Bin Laden.

For this show, each audience member gets an iPad mini and headphones, allowing them to physically follow 10 different characters that are all based on real people involved in the global arms trade.

If you choose to this immersive production, you'll travel through a variety of realistic sets, which contain more than 4,000 props.

Luminato runs from June 10 to 26, 2016.

Photo of the Situation Room.


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