Solo Show

Chronicles of a War Child

Solo Show

Lapine-Moi / Rabbit-I

The first instalment Rabbit-I (2005) is a free study about the forces opposing the multiple personalities that define us. The piece is built like a children’s fairytale but somehow a little distorted. A giant blue rabbit, transforms into a caricatural hunter, on the quest for hunting rabbits, but along the way transforms into a “Nathalie Claude” searching for herself, trying to catch her own tail, her own essence.

Solo Show

Dividing Lines | Líneas Divisorias

"The one thing everyone knows is that we’re all going to die. Which means our loved ones are going to die. So how can we prepare for, experience, and honour their deaths? And does that look different if we have to make the decision to end their lives for them if they’re suffering? Dividing Lines | Líneas Divisorias is one woman’s story that offers a space for communal grieving through a celebration of life. Traced by the historic world events that coincide with her memories of independence and immigration, Beatriz reflects on how she spent over a decade caring for her mother—the one person she promised she’d be there for all the way until the end—as she lost her more and more to Alzheimer’s, and ultimately had to make the tough call to end her mother’s pain. A meditation full of light that doesn’t shy away from fear of the unknown, Beatriz’s narrative comes from a vulnerable and recognizable place of love that will invite our memories and choices in to heal." - from the publisher

Historical

Masada

"A one-person play about the history of Zionism. The play is told as a monologue through the character of an Israeli history professor who begins the lecture as a critic of Zionism but moves into an emphatic pro-Zionist stance, shifting from reason to passion or to put it another way from the rational to the irrational." - Arab Digest

Solo Show

The Auden Test

"A play about a poem about a painting about a myth - and what it means to be human. A queer tale, interweaving the lives and works of the poet W.H. Auden and the mathematician Alan Turing." - fromt the publisher.

Realistic

The Good Bride

Every night from 3pm to midnight, 15 year old Quiverfull Christian Maranatha Graham puts on her wedding dress and hopes that today will be the day her 28 year old groom Pete comes to claim her. Daddy, the paster, sent her to the Pullmans’ house to wait until God tells him it’s time for her marriage. Maranatha is so excited to submit to Pete's godly leadership in marriage and fill his quiver with arrows for Christ. But as her pre-wedding wait wears on and on, Maranatha has an increasingly difficult time ignoring Satan's constant whispering. Is she making an idol of her nightly Chick-Fil-A shake? If she has "hot shivers" for someone other than her fiance, is that adultery? And what should she do about this card from her estranged mother, who abandoned the family seven years ago?

Solo Show

Bang! Boy Bang!

Bang! Boy Bang! is a multi-media one-person show. The play follows a teenager named Rod Clarke as he struggles to retrace his activities at a party that took place one drunken night. His distorted memory eventually reveals his relationship with his troubled family, his chauvinistic brother, and a girl named Laura he met at the party. Bang! Boy Bang! explores social and sexual mores and the explosive issue of date rape.

Solo Show

Boys

ARMY SLUT BOY just wants real love. HAM and CHEESE BOY just wants to change the world. And TAMBOURINE BOY? Well... he's got rhythm. Lotsa rhythm. A one-man show about three BOYS (sorry... young men) and their lives, loves or lack thereof. Paul Dunn's tour-de-force solo show - which features the favourite "Tambourine Boy at Christian Summer Youth Camp" monologue - is a look at three 20-somethings in the late 90's, seeking to come of age.

Solo Show

Altar

Eugenio is a queer young immigrant living in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. Less than a year has passed since his move from Mexico, but in that time, he experienced deep love and deeper heartbreak when his new boyfriend, Benjamin, inexplicably “ghosted” him. No, Benjamin isn’t dead; he just stopped calling and texting. And the thing is…Eugenio’s still not over it. Looking to the traditional Mexican holiday Día de Muertos (The Day of The Dead) and his father's previous experience with paranormal activities, Eugenio decides to build an altar (a central part of the Día de Muertos ritual) in the hopes that he will be able to summon his boyfriend’s ‘ghost’ to sort out the end of their relationship once and for all. Through the altar, Eugenio realizes that he has been something of a ghost himself to the loved ones he left behind in Mexico. Will setting up an altar be enough for Eugenio to forgive, forget, and love again? Or enough to help him heal the relationships with his friends and family far away?

Solo Show

Secret Life of a Mother

The raw and untold secrets of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and mothering are revealed in this true story of motherhood for the twenty-first century. A playwright writes an exposé of modern motherhood full of her own darkly funny confessions and taboo-breaking truths. One of her real-life friends, an actress, performs the piece, and through it her own experiences of motherhood start to surface. These mothers are not the butts of jokes, the villains, or the perfect angels of a household. This empowered and relatable play was written collaboratively between award-winning theatre artists Hannah Moscovitch, Maev Beaty, and Ann-Marie Kerr, with co-creator Marinda de Beer. Uplifting and full of love, Secret Life of a Mother is a generous and powerful act of truth-telling for anyone who has thought about, been, loved, known—or come from—a mother.

Solo Show

Deafy

"Deaf public speaker Nathan Jesper has arrived at his venue desperately late. As he launches into his speech, he soon realizes that things are not what they seem. Written and performed by Deaf actor Chris Dodd, Deafy is a stand-up/sit-down tragicomedy blending ASL, the spoken word and surtitles which reflects on the experience of what it is like to be a Deaf person in a hearing world and leads you on an unexpected journey of what it really means to belong." - Pi Theatre

Realistic

Everybody Just C@lm the F#ck Down / Everybody Just Calm the Fuck Down

After an unexpected night in a Regina hospital emergency room, Robert Chafe can’t shake the burning question of whether he’s Tennessee Williams or Dorothy Zbornak. Are his symptoms a harbinger of a terrifying undiagnosed condition, or is it all just in his head? Frenetic, tender, and sometimes scary, Everybody Just C@lm the F#ck Down is a stumbling folly about the aging body, mid-life anxiety, and what it means to live when you can’t know what’s next.

Solo Show

Let’s Run Away

Peter is putting on a show. He’s a bit stressed. In the show, he will read from a manuscript. It’s a large manuscript, but don’t worry, he’s only going to read the parts about him, and there aren’t many. It’s a memoir written by someone who abandoned him twice—once as a baby and once when he was a young man of thirteen. This person has figured prominently in Peter’s life for over fifty years now, but judging by the memoir, he has not figured so much in theirs. So perhaps it’s going to be a very short show? Again, don’t worry, Peter has other skills which he will share. And if Peter can keep his cool, and if the people who work at the theatre can help him set everything up, and if the audience can just give him a little bit of their time and their attention and their silence, maybe he can tell everyone something about who we really are and who we are to others and who we might be to ourselves when we’re alone. And maybe that can make it all a little bit easier.

Realistic

Crybaby

"A young woman falls in love for the first time, opening up a well of feeling about her Blackness, her identity, her childhood, sexuality, and womanhood in a poetic performance that uses memory and projections to ask the question: How can we be whole when a part of us is missing?" - From a FB post from the Black theatre workshop in Montreal

Solo Show

The Sender

Cil Brown loves her work. Her job as a Sender on a global racism-elimination project has resulted in a peaceful, logical and sustainable world. However, she encounters technical difficulties when a Sendee objects to restrictions on the lives of residents of White Supremacist Island.

Stylized

Pretty Goblins

From holding hands in the womb to holding each other’s hair back when they puked, twins Laura and Lizzie grew up only having each other. They couldn’t count on their practically feral mom, absent dad, or even the boys they liked. They’re polar opposites—Laura’s reserved while Lizzie’s reckless—but their shared mischievous giggles and dreams for the future kept them going. One day, Laura finds a familiar book of poems in Lizzie’s apartment and is dragged through their turbulent past. Together, the sisters relive their complicated history in an effort to make sense of the present. Framed by the beauty of a well-loved poem, this story of ferocious sisterhood, addiction, and the aftermath of trauma will leave howls echoing in your ears.

Historical

Silence: Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell

It only takes one spark of love to change the world forever. Mabel Hubbard Bell was a strong, self-assured woman—bright, passionate, and a complete original. Despite a near-fatal case of childhood scarlet fever that cost her the ability to hear, she learned to talk and lip-read in multiple languages. At nineteen, she married a young inventor named Alexander Graham Bell and became the most significant influence in his life. This is Mabel's story, offering the unique perspective of a woman whose remarkable life was forever connected to her famous, distracted husband. From inspiring invention to promoting public service, Mabel and Alec challenged each other to become strong forces for good. Silence is a beautiful and true love story about how we communicate.

Realistic

Andy’s Gone

What stories do we tell ourselves to keep our walls up and our privilege intact? What is the cost of revolution? In this contemporary retelling of Antigone, denial of what rages outside of a city’s perimeter comes to a head when a young princess named Alison tries to expose the truth of her beloved cousin Henry’s death. By night, Henry went as Andy, as together he and Alison scaled the walls of their kingdom to help the migrants who are kept out of sight. Burdened by the weight of the inequality that his future reign represented, he killed himself. But his mother, Queen Regina, hails his death as a valiant knight and will do anything she can to keep Alison silent. The two women become locked in a poetic battle of power and prejudice, until a push turning into a shove might mean it’s too late to find peace.

Stylized

Six Essential Questions/”6 Essential Questions”

6 Essential Questions tells the story of Renata as she travels to Brazil to reunite with the mother who abandoned her when she was just five years old. In Rio, Renata discovers more than she bargained for in her quest to uncover the truth of who abandoned whom. She is continually tossed about by her undead grandmother and a semi-invisible uncle as they choreograph the ultimate dance of mother and daughter, both of whom must confront their dreams before they can ever attempt to confront each other. Imaginations run wild in this strangely beautiful and funny story loosely based on Uppal’s critically acclaimed memoir, Projection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother, a finalist for both the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction.

Realistic

The Little Years

"Kate possesses the makings of a gifted mathematician with an enthusiasm for exploring the mysteries of space and time. But this is the 1950s and women are routinely laughed out of scientific circles. Besides, every family has its star, and Kate's brother already holds that distinction. Hindered by prejudices against women, Kate is confined to a life of unfulfilling jobs, leading her to become bitter and unhappy. The Little Years confronts the impact of chauvinism and explores the nature of fame, the value of art, and the passing of time." - from publisher

Solo show

Watching Glory Die

Glory is a troubled teenage inmate who, in her solitary prison cell, is tormented by hallucinations. While she battles the creature in her mind, her adoptive mother Rosellen struggles to remain connected to her daughter, believing that she can sense Glory’s feelings no matter the distance. In the prison halls, Gail, a working-class guard, glides between her conscience and her professional duties, knowing her actions could ultimately lead to a tragic end.

Musical

Suzie Goo: Private Secretary

Suzie Goo works for Corporeal Can Inc. in the early 1960s. As a modern-day career gal, the last thing she has time for is her "hands on" boss, Vincent Bag. When Suzie takes matters into her own hands, we all learn a thing or two about what it takes to climb the corporate ladder.

Historical

SPIN

One part documentary and another part musical activism, Spin is inspired in part by the incredible true tale of Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride around the world on a bicycle in 1895. Parry spins a fascinating web of stories that travel from 19th-century women’s emancipation to 21st-century consumer culture, peeling back layers of history to reveal a surprising and contemporary heart to her theme of liberation. A vintage bicycle, hooked up to simple electronics and suspended in a mechanic’s stand, is played – from fenders to spokes to vinyl seat, from whirling pedals to bells – by percussionist Brad Hart, providing a captivating sonic accompaniment to parry’s songs and monologues. Staged by award-winning director Ruth Madoc-Jones, with stunning visual projections by acclaimed designer Beth Kates, this unique show has delighted audiences across the continent.

Historical

Hiding Words (for you)

The play takes us to nineteenth-century China and into the heart of the private relationship of two women that is facilitated by a secret phonetic (and feminine) adaptation of Chinese script called Nushu. Hiding, here, becomes an act of rebellion that creates new means of communicating and new ways of achieving intimacy among women. Wong's play will surprise and move you with its nuanced images and loving attention to the historical tools of feminist freedom.

Realistic

Trapped!

Set in an imaginary 1950s where gay marriage is the norm, Trapped! tells the story of Claire, a bedridden heiress who overhears a murder plot in which she is the intended victim. Claire must solve the mystery of her own murder before it happens.

Solo shown

Dirty Plötz: Witness the Hidden Vagenda

"Tricksters, witches, whores, hags and the Holy Bitch all feature prominently in Dirty Plötz. “Anasyrma” is a word you will hear in this work. The definition of this word is to lift one skirt’s to curse the viewer. There is no similar word for men – men cannot curse people with their genitals. Syrma herself is the star at the hem of the constellation Virgo’s skirt. You will meet her and she will tell you her own story. You will also meet a live embodiment of the Sheela na gig, a small sculpture found on churches in Ireland and an expression of a pre-puritanical female empowerment. And of course, The Designated Hand Wringer will be available to be outraged on behalf of your oppression." - buddies in bad times theatre

Solo show

Broken Brain One-O-One/”Broken Brain 101″

Broken Brain 101 is a burlesque exposé on clinical madness throughout women’s history, where the heroine reveals her splendour in a free but alarming way. Trapped in a lemon-yellow straightjacket, she takes back her own dignity by totally giving herself in front of the audience, revealing her whole body and soul through shamanic and ecstatic transformations.

Realistic

Graceful Rebellions

"Graceful Rebellions, playing in the SummerWorks Festival, tracks experiences of (and with) queerness in war-torn Afghanistan to Canada through two generations and four characters. We start with an idealistic fourteen year old, probably around sixty years ago, imagining her own future wedding on the eve of her sister’s. She is so good-natured and naïve that it is hard for us, the audience, who know her reality will not be able to meet her fantasy." - Mooneyonthetheatre.com "In this brilliant and engaging one-woman show, playwright and performer SHAISTA LATIF transitions seamlessly between distinctly complex characters in a deeply personal work. Moving across cultures and generations, Graceful Rebellions tells the stories of three Afghan women, each bartering for small joys and challenging the cultural norms that exist under Afghanistan’s patriarchal rule. Shaista lovingly portrays characters, by turns funny and heartbreaking, who struggle in a world where women commonly have no power, in a culture that has long been dominated by war." - National Arts Centre, Ottawa

Historical

Gertrude and Alice

Visiting the audience in the present day, Gertrude and Alice come to find out how history has treated them. The couple recounts stories of their forty-year relationship; of meetings with iconic artists and writers; and of Alice’s overwhelming, consuming devotion to Gertrude’s genius. Before they leave, they want to find out what has become of their artistic and cultural influence, and how their lives and work are—or are not—remembered.

Solo Show

Dividing Lines | Líneas Divisorias

"The one thing everyone knows is that we’re all going to die. Which means our loved ones are going to die. So how can we prepare for, experience, and honour their deaths? And does that look different if we have to make the decision to end their lives for them if they’re suffering? Dividing Lines | Líneas Divisorias is one woman’s story that offers a space for communal grieving through a celebration of life. Traced by the historic world events that coincide with her memories of independence and immigration, Beatriz reflects on how she spent over a decade caring for her mother—the one person she promised she’d be there for all the way until the end—as she lost her more and more to Alzheimer’s, and ultimately had to make the tough call to end her mother’s pain. A meditation full of light that doesn’t shy away from fear of the unknown, Beatriz’s narrative comes from a vulnerable and recognizable place of love that will invite our memories and choices in to heal." - from the publisher