Museum: MOCA
The Museum of Contemporary Art (158 Sterling Rd.) debuted a very exciting slate of spring exhibitions this week that make it well worth a visit. Justin Ming Yong turned the MOCA elevators into art spaces with his mother’s quilts, and Margaux Williamson presents paintings of both the personal (her home, her studio) and public (city streets, bars). Visitors can also venture into dreamlike videoscapes from Alex Da Corte, and check out a new immersive experience from Jessica Stockholder, known for her “paintings in space.” —Briony Smith
Theatre: ‘Poz’
This autobiographical play by Mark Keller, one of my favourite shows from the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival, is now back for a weeklong remount at Aki Studio in the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas St. E.). Winner of the Fringe’s prestigious New Play Contest, “Poz” chronicles Keller’s 10-year journey living with HIV. Told through a series of fleeting yet gut-punching vignettes, it’s a touching, painful and sometimes humorous account. By the end of director Nick May’s production, you may be left in tears, as I was. —Joshua Chong
Music: DJ Koze, ‘Music Can Hear Us’
“Music Can Hear Us,” the latest full-length album from DJ Koze, an influential electronic producer from Germany, is an entrancing odyssey through sound and language, and one of the best releases of 2025 so far. Featuring a diverse roster of collaborators — among them Damon Albarn, Sophia Kennedy and Marley Waters — the project incorporates elements of deep house and techno but never feels distant or inaccessible. Like the arrival of spring, the music washes gradually over listeners, until they are suddenly overwhelmed with warmth and colour. —Richie Assaly
Comedy: Troy Hawke
For a guaranteed mood booster, click on any of British comedian Milo McCabe’s viral videos as Troy Hawke of the Greeters Guild, in which — replete with Errol Flynn moustache, smoking jacket, elegant cravat and two-tone brogues — he plummily compliments unsuspecting passersby in front of stores or on busy high streets (“Sir, that is a well-ironed shirt. I appreciate the effort”; “I adore your peach cap. You have a fabulous prototype grandfather energy”). On Saturday, he takes his act indoors to the Royal Theatre (608 College St.) for a command performance — meaning, he also played there last week. —Doug Brod
