in a word
Hookman
Crevice
Ching Chong Chinaman
Cambodian Rock Band
The Coloured Museum
Three Part Disharmony
Two Trains Running
The Piano Lesson
Seven Guitars
Radio Golf
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
King Hedley II
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Jitney
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Have you ever found the perfect part? Or read a scene that speaks to you? Or seen a play where the actor on stage matched the writing as if made-to-measure? Don’t you wish it happened more often?

Parallel Play is a tool to help smooth the search for material that really fits. Fits actors, directors, teachers, students, writers, readers and theatre enthusiasts in their quest to find parallels between cast and character.

Parallel Play draws from an extensive database of culturally diverse plays and playwrights. Its foundation is a collection curated by theatre people and designed for all. With new plays added regularly, we think you’ll find our collection unparalleled!

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DiscoverPlays and Playwrights

In our database, there are more than 1000+ plays. Search by title or playwright. Click on a playwright's name to see more of their works.

  • Discover plays with S.Asian + Diasp Characters

    Counter Offence
    Sultans of the Street
  • Discover plays with European & European Descent Characters

    Cyrano de Bergerac
    Pako-shay-imoohk
  • Discover plays with characters of Unspecified Ethnicity

    Cyrano de Bergerac
    The Bears Sleep at Last
  • Discover plays with characters of Unspecified Culture

    Antarctica
    Speed Dating for Sperm Donors

Discover Styles, like 'Play with Music'

SPIN play banner

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.

by Evalyn Parry, 2017
Characters: 1
Cultural issues
Discrimination
Reasonable Doubt play banner

Docudrama

Reasonable Doubt

"A significant moment in Canadian history is portrayed in this documentary musical about race relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Weaving hundreds of real interviews conducted with Saskatchewan residents and the court transcripts surrounding the killing of Colten Boushie and trial of Gerald Stanley, a kaleidoscopic picture is formed of the views of the incident, the province, and relationships between all people in Canada. A verbatim play with music created by Joel Bernbaum, Lancelot Knight, and Yvette Nolan, Reasonable Doubt provides a space to honestly talk to each other about what has happened on this land and how we can live together." - from the publisher "In 2015, playwright and journalist Joel Bernbaum was commissioned by Persephone Theatre to gather interviews with local citizens for the purposes of writing a documentary play on race relations in our province. Then, in 2016, Colten Boushie, was fatally shot on Gerald Stanley’s farm near Biggar, SK. and the interviews changed dramatically." - persephonetheatre.org

by Joel Bernbaum, Lancelot Knight, Yvette Nolan, 2022
Characters: 6
Cultural issues
Discrimination
Is My Microphone On? play banner

Play with Music

Is My Microphone On?

"In another life I was a small bubble of foam on a wave coming to shore, and the wave broke, and I burst, and that was it. Before that I was a small stream, for centuries. And in another life I was a mortal girl. Which is this life. After thousands of years, I have a mouth. So if you don’t mind, Mom, Dad, I’m going to speak. I’m going to shout. When I become a human I’m going to use some words. Can you still hear me? Is my microphone on? Young people have inherited a burning world. In this urgent and lyrical play, they reckon with the generations who have come before them, questioning the choices that have been made, and the ones that they will yet be forced to make. Is My Microphone On? is a play in the form of a protest song, in which a chorus of young performers hold the audience to account, and invite them to experience the world together anew." - from the publisher

by Jordan Tannahill, 2022
Characters: 17
Environment
Intergenerational issues
A Soldier's Tale play banner

Stylized

A Soldier’s Tale

A Soldier's Tale is a multi-disciplinary production written by Tara Beagan. The 13-member cast included actors and dancers, mixing spoken word, music and movement.

by Tara Beagan
Characters: 13
Violence
War
Destiny of Desire play banner

Play with Music

Destiny of Desire

On a stormy night in Bellarica, Mexico, two baby girls are born — one into a life of privilege and one into a life of poverty. When the newborns are swapped by a former beauty queen with an insatiable lust for power, the stage is set for two outrageous misfortunes to grow into one remarkable destiny.

by Karen Zacarías, 2023
Characters: 10
Class
Cultural issues
Cambodian Rock Band play banner

Stylized

Cambodian Rock Band

Part comedy, part mystery, part rock concert, this thrilling story toggles back and forth in time, as father and daughter face the music of the past. Neary, a young Cambodian American has found evidence that could finally put away the Khmer Rouge’s chief henchman. But her work is far from done. When Dad shows up unannounced—his first return to Cambodia since fleeing 30 years ago—it’s clear this isn’t just a pleasure trip. The core of the play is the relationship between the father and daughter.

by Lauren Yee, 2019
Characters: 10
Family
Immigrants
The Coloured Museum play banner

Stylized

The Coloured Museum

The Colored Museum has electrified, discomforted, and delighted audiences of all colours, redefining our ideas of what it means to be Black in contemporary America. Its eleven "exhibits" undermine Black stereotypes old and new, and return to the facts of what being Black means.

by George C Wolfe, 2010
Characters: 7
Black Experience
Race
Indecent play banner

Realistic

Indecent

Indecent is inspired by the true events surrounding the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s "God of Vengeance"—a play seen by some as a seminal work of Jewish culture, and by others as an act of traitorous libel. Indecent charts the history of an incendiary drama and the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it.

by Paula Vogel, 2018
Characters: 44
Antisemitism
Homophobia
Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts I, II, III play banner

Realistic

Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts I, II, III

Offered his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy, Hero, a slave, must choose whether to leave the woman and people he loves for what may be yet another empty promise. As his decision brings him face-to-face with a nation at war with itself, the loved ones Hero left behind debate whether to escape or wait for his return…only to discover that for Hero, free will may have come at a great spiritual cost. Father Comes Home From the Wars is an explosively powerful drama about the mess of war, the cost of freedom, and the heartbreak of love, with all three parts seen in one night.

by Suzan-Lori Parks, 2015
Characters: 14
War
Race
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf play banner

Stylized

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf

A "choreopoem" that blends poetry and music to reveal the experiences of Black women through a tapestry of stories.

by Ntozake Shange, 1997
Characters: 7
Feminism
Racism
One More River to Cross: a Verbatim Fugue play banner

Stylized

One More River to Cross: a Verbatim Fugue

Verbatim texts taken from interviews with former slaves made between 1936 and 1938 as part of the Federal Writers' Project: true testimonies that chronicle American slavery. A strong selection of story-telling, high stakes monologues

by Lynn Nottage, 2015
Characters: 12
Mlima's Tale play banner

Stylized

Mlima’s Tale

Mlima is a magnificent elephant trapped by the underground international ivory market. As he follows a trail littered by a history of greed, Mlima takes us on a journey through memory, fear, tradition, and the penumbra between want and need.

by Lynn Nottage, 2021
Characters: 20
Vietgone play banner

Stylized

Vietgone

An all-American love story about two very new Americans. It’s 1975. Saigon has fallen. He lost his wife. She lost her fiancé. But now in a new land, they just might find each other. Using his uniquely infectious style – and skipping back and forth from the dramatic evacuation of Saigon to the here and now – playwright Qui Nguyen gets up close and personal to tell the story that led to the creation of… Qui Nguyen.

by Qui Nguyen, 2018
Characters: 19
War
Love
The Brothers Size play banner

Stylized

The Brothers Size

The Brothers Size dramatizes the struggle between brothers who have taken different paths: Ogun, single-mindedly running his auto shop, and Oshoosi, recently returned from prison and fallen back with trouble.

by Tarell Alvin McCraney, 2013
Characters: 3
Siblings
Family
Choir Boy play banner

Realistic

Choir Boy

Pharus wants nothing more than to take his rightful place as leader of the school’s legendary gospel choir. Can he find his way inside the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key? An affecting and honest portrait of a gay youth tentatively beginning to find the courage to let the truth about himself become known.

by Tarell Alvin McCraney, 2016
Characters: 7
2SLGBTQI+
Black Experience

Discover Tags, like 'Identity'

Cyrano de Bergerac play banner

Historical

Cyrano de Bergerac

From the acclaimed author of The Last Wife and The Virgin Trial comes a new adaptation of one of the finest love stories ever told. Cyrano de Bergerac is a swashbuckling seventeenth-century swordsman who can do anything . . . except tell Roxane, the woman he loves, how he feels. He’s just too self-conscious about his unusually large nose. Roxane finds romance in words, and Cyrano is full of them, so when he sees the chance to ghostwrite love letters to her from an inarticulate, love-struck cadet, he takes it—but can he ever reveal himself? Could she ever love him for who he is? In turns funny, tender, and self-aware, this classic tale about the exquisite distress of loving from afar will find its way into the hearts of even the most skeptical.

by Kate Hennig, 2019
Characters: 31
Identity
Love
Pretty Goblins play banner

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.

by Beth Graham, 2019
Characters: 2
Family
Gender
Wildfire play banner

Stylized

Wildfire

In Wildfire, three odd triplets, two misfits, and one misunderstood woman are all burning with solitude and desire. Through an exploration of heredity and fate, these seemingly ordinary characters choose to struggle against their isolation in extraordinary yet relatable ways.

by David Paquet, 2022
Characters: 6
Empathy
Family
Suzie Goo: Private Secretary play banner

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.

by Sky Gilbert, 2006
Characters: 5
2SLGBTQI+
Class
True Love Lies play banner

Realistic

True Love Lies

Sparking a series of further revelations, the sudden reappearance of David exposes suppressed emotions and desires in everyone and the family must renegotiate their relationships with each other and, ultimately, redefine their family. In sharp, non-stop dialogue, Brad Fraser brings each of his characters to life with a depth, humour, and emotion that tears open the nuclear family and finds the heart that is often lost and forgotten.

by Brad Fraser, 2010
Characters: 5
2SLGBTQI+
Family
The Best Brothers play banner

Realistic

The Best Brothers

Bunny Best has met her unfortunate end after a mishap at a Gay Days parade. Now her two sons, Kyle and Hamilton, have the task of arranging her funeral and caring for her most beloved companion, a troublesome Italian greyhound named Enzo. In the bustle of obituary-writing, eulogy-giving, and dog-sitting, sibling rivalry quickly reaches its peak and years of buried contentions surface.

by Daniel MacIvor, 2013
Characters: 2
Death
Empathy
Under Wraps play banner

Stylized

Under Wraps

The moment Mark meets David his world is thrown off balance. Who could have predicted finding love in a furniture store, or finding it with an unemployed lifeguard? But despite their immediate connection, Mark isn’t sure if David is gay. Mark isn’t even sure if Mark is gay. As he falls deeper in love, Mark works desperately to make David nothing more than a friend and to make that enough. Filled with hopeful exhilaration and devastating missed opportunities, Under Wraps nimbly tracks one man’s tumultuous quest to finally love himself and let it all out.

by Robert Chafe, 2014
Characters: 2
2SLGBTQI+
Identity
Dirty Plötz: Witness the Hidden Vagenda play banner

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

by Alex Tigchelaar, 2017
Characters: 1
Cultural Issues
Discrimination
Lapine-Moi / Rabbit-I play banner

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.

by Nathalie Claude, 2017
Characters: 1
LGBTQ2S+
Identity
Graceful Rebellions play banner

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

by Shaista Latif, 2017
Characters: 4
LGBTQ2S+
Cultural issues
Reading Hebron play banner

Docudrama

Reading Hebron

A Toronto Jew named Nathan Abramowitz investigates the Hebron Massacre—in which a Jewish settler murdered 29 Muslims at prayer—as a way of questioning his own responsibility for the oppression of Palestinians.

by Jason Sherman, 1997
Characters: 5
Cultural issues
Crime
The League of Nathans play banner

Stylized

The League of Nathans

Nathan Abramowitz, Nathan Glass and Nathan Isaacs form a boyhood club and together grapple with their Jewish faith and identity, until Glass suddenly moves to Israel. Many years later, a telegram summons Abramowitz and Isaacs to a synagogue in Spain for one last meeting of the League of Nathans.

by Jason Sherman, 2003
Characters: N/A
Friendship
Identity
And then there was you play banner

Realistic

And then there was you

A mother addresses her child as they both visit milestones that offered them each independence, and in the process explores how the profound connection between mother and child evolves.

by Erin Shields, 2020
Characters: 2
Ageing
Environment
Bears play banner

Realistic

Bears

As the prime suspect in a workplace accident, Floyd has to get out of town fast. Pursued by the RCMP, he heads through the Rockies for Burnaby, BC, along the route of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. By the time he reaches the Pacific, Floyd has experienced changes: his gait widening, muscles bulging, sense of smell heightening…

by Matthew MacKenzie, 2020
Characters: N/A
Crime
Cultural issues
Go West, Young Man play banner

Stylized

Go West, Young Man

Based on the true story of the summer in the 1960's that Craig Russell spent living with Mae West as her personal secretary, Go West, Young Man explores both the spark behind the creation of a unique Canadian superstar, and the long slow fading of an equally unique American Movie Goddess. Russell Edie is a 15-year-old teenage boy that leaves behind his drab Ontario life and gets on a Greyhound to Hollywood, where he seeks out the faded 70-year-old legend Mae West, carrying hundreds of forged fan letters that he uses to leverage a summer position as her personal secretary. Ambition collides with faded grandeur when Mae learns that Russell has been studying her every move in order to become the world's leading Mae West impersonator.

by Darrin Hagen, 2015
Characters: N/A
Ageing
Empathy