January 23 – November 2024
50 Tank House Lane
Soulpepper Theatre Company is thrilled to announce their 2024 Season, their largest and most ambitious since 2018 with 11 productions and 4 concerts. The season will feature 2 world premieres, 4 Canadian premieres, and 3 important revivals.
The season kicks off with the pairing of the Stratford Festival production of Casey and Diana by Nick Green, a potent Toronto story making its local premiere after its sold-out run at the 2023 Stratford Festival, and the World Premiere of De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail by Gregory Prest, Mike Ross, and Sarah Wilson, a musical fantasy based on Oscar Wilde’s love letter to Lord Alfred Douglas. Up next are two extraordinary re-imaginings of familiar texts, Chekhov’s Three Sisters by Inua Ellams reimagined in 1960s Nigeria, and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House adapted by Tanika Gupta set in Colonial India. Rounding out Act 1 of the season is the multi-Dora Award-winning First Métis Man of Odesa by Matthew MacKenzie and Mariya Khomutova, a brand new Soulpepper Concert inspired by the sounds of Laurel Canyon, and the return of a virtuosic one-man presentation of Hamlet (solo), adapted and performed by Raoul Bhaneja.
Launching Act 2 is a revival of Artistic Director Weyni Mengesha’s smash-hit A Streetcar Named Desire followed by the Canadian premiere presentation of Haley McGee’s Age is a Feeling, winner of the prestigious Fringe First Award at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and more beloved Soulpepper Concerts. The Her Words Festival will return in 2024, featuring newly commissioned works by female creators, followed by holiday programming for the whole family and concerts from the Slaight Music Residents.
“We couldn’t be more proud to announce our 2024 season, an ambitious season filled with powerful works that express our values and reflect the artistic excellence that audiences expect from Soulpepper. A mixture of exciting new works by celebrated Canadian writers and reimagined classics by acclaimed international creators, we feel that each play speaks to something that will resonate with Toronto audiences. These are plays about our past that can help us look at the moment we’re in and plays written about today, that help us see the world from a variety of perspectives. We hope you’ll join us on the journey.” said Weyni Mengesha, Artistic Director.
ACT I PRESENTATIONS: JANUARY – MAY 2024
January 23 – February 11, 2024
CASEY AND DIANA: Toronto Premiere
By Nick Green
Originally Produced by The Stratford Festival
Directed by Andrew Kushnir
Toronto’s Casey House was Canada’s first standing AIDS hospice, providing care and comfort to clients diagnosed with and dying of AIDS. In 1991, as this devastating epidemic was reaching its peak, Casey House received a historic visit from Diana, Princess of Wales. Making its Toronto premiere after a sold-out run at the 2023 Stratford Festival, Casey and Diana by Nick Green and directed by Andrew Kushnir is a gripping play that vividly captures a historic moment in time between caregivers, advocates, a princess, and people dying of AIDS. A moment that helped reshape the course of the AIDS pandemic by providing hope, challenging stigmas, and uniting a community.
February 1 – 18, 2024
DE PROFUNDIS: OSCAR WILDE IN JAIL: World Premiere
Adapted By Gregory Prest
Original Music By Mike Ross and Sarah Wilson
Directed by Gregory Prest
The greatest love letter ever written.
From Soulpepper favourites Gregory Prest, Mike Ross, and Sarah Wilson, De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail is a musical fantasy based on the letter Oscar Wilde wrote while incarcerated for two years at Reading Gaol, to his love Lord Alfred Douglas. The letter was written a page a day over a period of three months, collected at the end of each day, and handed over to Wilde on his release from prison.
February 29 – March 24, 2024
THREE SISTERS: Canadian Premiere
By Inua Ellams
Directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu
A Co-production with Obsidian Theatre
In the tumultuous backdrop of Owerri in 1967, as the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War looms ominously, three siblings; Lolo, Nne Chukwu, and Udo, grapple with the profound loss of their father. The nation has been thrust into turmoil by two military coups, with foreign involvement fueling the chaos. As the conflict gradually engulfs their rural village, the sisters yearn to return to Lagos, their cherished former home.
March 13 – 24, 2024
LADIES OF THE CANYON: World Premiere
A Soulpepper Concert By Hailey Gillis and Raha Javanfar
“…You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”
Laurel Canyon is a wooded neighbourhood in the Hollywood Hills. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, it was a respite from the bustle of Los Angeles and a cultural hotbed that brought together Joni Mitchell, Steven Stills, Jackson Browne, Mamma Cass Elliot and many more. An ensemble of Soulpepper multi-instrumentalists, led by Hailey Gillis and Raha Javanfar, follows the story of Joni’s move to the Canyon and the artists she encountered there. We’ll hear the rise and struggles of a musical moment through the music of the Canyon.
April 18 – May 12, 2024
A DOLL’S HOUSE: Canadian Premiere
By Henrik Ibsen, Adapted by Tanika Gupta
Directed by Miriam Fernandes
Niru is a young Bengali woman married to Tom, an English colonial bureaucrat.
Tom loves Niru, exoticizing her as a frivolous plaything to be admired and kept; but Niru has a long-kept secret, and just as she thinks she is almost free of it, it threatens to bring her life crashing down around her.
Tanika Gupta re-imagines Ibsen’s classic play of gender politics through the lens of British colonialism, offering a bold, female perspective exploring themes of ownership and race.
May 8 – 19, 2024
FIRST MÉTIS MAN OF ODESA
Written and performed by Matthew MacKenzie and Mariya Khomutova
Directed by Lianna Makuch
A Punctuate! Theatre Production
A love story in the face of a pandemic and an invasion.
Matt and Masha’s love spans continents, but distance can’t tame their passionate connection. After meeting on a theatre research trip in Kyiv, a Canadian Playwright and a Ukrainian artist spark up a romance that takes them from the beaches of the Black Sea to the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, through the onset of a global pandemic and the eruption of a brutal war, plus many moments of joy through it all including marriage and the birth of their son.
Winner of three Dora Mavor Moore Awards including Outstanding Production, Outstanding New Work, and Outstanding Direction. Based on actual events, this captivating real-life love story is set against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
May 23 – 25, 2024
HAMLET (solo) By William Shakespeare
Performed by Raoul Bhaneja
Directed by Robert Ross Parker
A Hope and Hell Theatre Co. Production
Hamlet (solo) combines the ancient art of storytelling and the modern “one-person show,” a thrilling evening with focuses on the three most essential elements of theatre: The Actor, The Text and The Audience.
This production is best described as “bare bones” in its presentation with Bhaneja playing seventeen parts in a two-hour version using only Shakespeare’s text.
This critically acclaimed production has been enjoyed by audiences as diverse as the people of Inuvik, a community north of the Arctic Circle and the next generation of Britain’s young actors at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. An exceptional and rare experience for both the novice and Shakespeare enthusiast!
ACT II PRESENTATIONS: JUNE – NOVEMBER 2024
June 2024
AGE IS A FEELING:Canadian Premiere
Created and Performed by Haley McGee
Directed by Mitchell Cushman
A Soho Theatre and Haley McGee production
Inspired by hospices, mystics and trips to the cemetery, Age is a Feeling wrestles with our endless chances to change course while we’re alive. A covert rallying cry against cynicism and regret. A call to seize our time. This never-the-same-twice show from the brilliant performer-creator of The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale is a gripping story about how our relationship with mortality shapes the way we live.
Charting the seminal moments, rites of passage and turning points in adult life – your life – from the day you turn 25 through to your death, Age is a Feeling celebrates the glorious and melancholy unknowability of human life.
June – July 2024
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: Pulitzer Prize for Drama
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Weyni Mengesha
Back by popular demand, this award-winning 2019 production returns to the Soulpepper stage.
As Blanche’s fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister for solace – but her downward spiral brings her face to face with a brutal, unforgiving reality. Tennessee Williams’ timeless masterpiece is a raging portrayal of what it means to be an outsider, in a society where we’re all desperate to belong.
August 2024
THE BIG EASY – a Soulpepper Concert
Created by Beau Dixon
New Orleans has been the musical heartbeat of America from Congo Square to the Flood. The Soulpepper music team brings the sounds of joy, resilience, and innovation from The Big Easy up to the Big Smoke, exploring the city that gave birth to Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Dr. John and Jazz itself.
November 2024
BILLIE, SARAH, AND ELLA: REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN IN JAZZ – a Soulpepper Concert
Created by Divine Brown
It was the birth of the modern era, and Jazz was the soundtrack for change. This Soulpepper Concert remount explores the stories of the women that transformed the music industry and gave Jazz its social purpose – Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald. Soulpepper Slaight Music Associate Divine Brown pays tribute to the heroes – known and unknown – that inspired a movement.
Ticket Information
ACT I Subscription packages are available until November 26
True Tales: Three New Canadian Creations
- Buy Casey and Diana, De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail, and First Metis Man of Odesa and get 25% off.
- Reimagined Classics – Buy Three Sisters, A Doll’s House, and Hamlet (solo) and get 25% off
BUY MORE SAVE MORE
- Buy all 6 mainstage productions and get 40% off
- Buy any 3 mainstage productions and get 25% off
- Subscription packages exclude Ladies of the Canyon
Single tickets for Act I Soulpepper presentations are available for sale today at www.soulpepper.ca. Subscription packages will be available until November 26, 2023.
About Soulpepper Theatre Company
Located in its multi-venue home, the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto’s Distillery Historic District, Soulpepper is Toronto’s largest not-for-profit theatre company. Founded and guided by artists, Soulpepper has an integrated mission which includes: industry-leading youth and community outreach initiatives; artist training and mentorship programs; and a year-round diverse repertory season which is grounded in the classics and committed to the creation of new works, new forms, and innovative practices.
The artists and staff of Soulpepper and the Young Centre for the Performing Arts acknowledge the original caretakers and storytellers of this land – the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe, and the Wendat First Nations. We commit to honouring and celebrating their past, present, and future. Soulpepper believes all people have a right to express their individuality, to experience creative freedom, to feel safe at all times, and to be treated with dignity and respect.
