New Play Development and the Festival of New Theatre is generously supported by lead donor
The Festival of New Theatre
New words. New sparks. New ideas.
Now in its second year, FoNT: Festival of New Theatre features bold new works by Canadian artists. This year’s lineup includes workshop presentations of A New Work by Marcus Youssef, You, Always by Erin Shields, Next Time I Die by Susanna Fournier, and Unearthing by Yvette Nolan.
Unearthing by Yvette Nolan
Tuesday June 3rd at 7:00 PM at the Berkeley Street Theatre Rehearsal Hall
In a crumbling Toronto fifteen minutes into the future, Raye watches from atop St. James Cathedral as the city’s past and present collide. Below, Skye rallies a group of actors in a decaying theatre, determined to preserve stories as the lake rapidly consumes the land. While some question the value of performance in the face of survival, Skye sees theatre as a way forward—until the past literally emerges. From the shifting earth, Indigenous figures from the early 1900s appear—Ojibway, Mohawk, Dakota, Mississauga—along with Oronhyatekha, a brilliant Mohawk doctor. As the floodwaters rise, the living and the long-dead must reckon with history, storytelling, and what it means to endure.
Next Time I Die by Susanna Fournier
Sunday June 8th at 7:00 PM at the Berkeley Street Theatre Rehearsal Hall
A one-act set against the cosmic scale of existence (and non-existence). Through an anachronistic mosaic of story-telling, poetry, and tender absurdism, it follows two individuals grappling with their relationships to “aliveness” and each other over lifetimes. One is a former revolutionary currently avoiding rebirth, the other, a romantic addicted to living. Reunited by cosmic admin work, they take us on a heart-opening journey through the nature of grief, love, and existence, revealing the transcendence possible in learning how to let go.
You, Always by Erin Shields
Monday June 9th at 7:00 PM at the Berkeley Street Theatre Rehearsal Hall
In the wake of shocking news, sisters Liz and Delia unravel a lifetime of memories, traveling across space and time to trace the push and pull of their relationship over their fifty-year shared history with humour, nuance, and candor. You, Always is an ode to sisterhood – to the brutal honesty, raucous silliness, and unflinching support of an indispensable sibling.
This new play by Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Erin Shields was developed as part of Canadian Stage’s New Work Development Program. Directed by Nightwood Theatre Artistic Director Andrea Donaldson, this stunning new play strikes a universal chord.
A New Work by Marcus Youssef
Sunday June 22nd at 2:00 PM at the Berkeley Street Theatre
A play by the Siminovitch Prize winning playwright about the collision of wealth, class and race, and a family drama set in the world of creeping climate catastrophe. Succession meets August, Osage County in this epic new Canadian work about a world - and one family - on the brink.
