MADGEN Theatre Festival returns to the Danforth
iPhoto caption: Anna Morreale and Luca McPhee perform in 'From Stardust' at the 2025 MADGEN Theatre Festival. Photo by Dave Klassen.
Theatre of the Beat is returning with the third edition of the MADGEN Theatre Festival, supporting emerging theatre producers.
In April, the company selected four producers under the age of 30 to receive paid mentorship from Toronto theatre-makers including Laura McCallum of Outside the March and Kevin Matthew Wong of Why Not Theatre.
From August 20 to 22, each member of the cohort mounts a new one-act Canadian play at Theatre of the Beat’s home base on the Danforth. The festival’s curated lineup features intimate narratives centring personal identity within a Canadian context.
Here’s what’s on:
I Have a Dream in Chinese
Produced by Eric Trudell
Written by Irene Yi
Directed by Huirui Zhang
I Have a Dream in Chinese is a solo performance that follows a Chinese immigrant traveling on a long-haul flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver. As the journey unfolds, the protagonist moves between different names, time periods, and cultural worlds.
Peaches
Produced by Emily Paterson
Written by Elio Zarrillo
Directed by Sofia “Stevie” Garcia
Peaches explores the stories we grow for survival. In the midst of their daily harvest, peach farmer Greg and his apprentice Prince make a startling discovery: a play has grown from one of their trees, destroying the crop.
Problematic History Teacher
Produced by Jenylle Rufin
Written by MJ Kang
Directed by Himanshi Sitlani
Problematic History Teacher investigates the complexities that arise when ethnic studies courses are taught by those without lived experiences in the respective culture. Mike, a white man, teaches Asian Canadian studies at a private arts boarding high school; on open house day, he presents his teaching methodology.
Uprooted
Produced by Rais Clarke-Mendes
Written by Kabrena Robinson
Directed by Khadijah Roberts–Abdullah
Uprooted is a surreal solo show about Crystal Wataz, a young Jamaican woman navigating the realities of migration in Canada. As the weight of displacement unravels her sense of self, the veil between dreams and reality dissolves, drawing her into a liminal world of folklore and ancestral spirits.
The MADGEN Theatre Festival runs from August 20 to 22. More information is available here.
Theatre of the Beat is an Intermission partner. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.
Liam Donovan
Liam is Intermission’s senior editor. He lives in Toronto. His Substack newsletter is available at loamdonovan.substack.com.
LEARN MORE
iPhoto caption: Steven Sutcliffe and company in 'Twelfth Night.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: High Park Twelfth Night pays tribute to the crazy things we do for love
As the play’s events ping-pong between seriousness and frivolity, Caroline Toal’s Viola appears constantly aware of the dangerous contradictions in the air, remaining guarded against the chaos' pull — and yet never entirely abandoning the possibility of enchantment.
iPhoto caption: Paul Gross in 'Waiting for Godot.' Photo by David Hou.
Why Paul Gross thinks Waiting for Godot is ‘one of the great achievements of human creativity’
“The audience is with you. You bring them in. There isn't a big division between the stage and the audience,” says Gross, currently playing Vladimir in Waiting for Godot at the Stratford Festival. “They’re the final piece of the storytelling. We need them to complete the circle.”
iPhoto caption: Karl Ang, Ivy Charles, Daniel Maslany, Mariya Khomutova, and Alon Nashman in 'The Division.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Productions at Crow’s and Theatre Passe Muraille win top honours at the 2026 Dora Awards
This evening at Meridian Hall, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced the recipients of the 46th annual Dora Awards, celebrating local theatre, dance, and opera.
iPhoto caption: 'Golden Rez Dog.' Photo by Philippe Latour.
Creations from Denmark, Hong Kong, Iran, Mexico, and beyond feature in this year’s SummerWorks Performance Festival programming.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Drew Berry.
REVIEW: An homage to Richard Foreman commands us to change our lives — and our theatre
Richard Foreman's plays usually drew on his personal journals and clocked in around 70 minutes; when he passed away last year at the age of 87, he left behind an invitation for directors to create royalty-free work from those journals. With the recently closed You Must Change Your Life at Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre, creator-director Ilana Khanin took up that offer to ludic, collage-like effect.
iPhoto caption: Danny O’Mahony and Emily Kilkenny Roddy in 'Bellow.' Photo by Ste Murray.
REVIEW: This year’s Bealtaine Theatre Festival featured accordions, ketamine, and James Joyce
The festival serves up a curated program of contemporary theatre from Ireland — appreciated, in a city that punches below its weight in terms of international performing arts offerings from countries it doesn’t border.
Comments