Incorporating their classic mix of fresh and practiced, Tarragon Theatre’s 2023–2024 season will present bold, new Canadian works of intergenerational and intersectional artistry. With legendary returning playwrights and award-winning artists, Tarragon has also programmed six world premiere productions and one Toronto premiere.
Continuing with their aim to support up-and-coming artists, Tarragon will bring back the Greenhouse Festival in January 2024 with a brand-new cohort of artist collectives. Showcasing new works throughout their entire artistic journeys, this festival continues to be a way to witness the joys and challenges that go into creating art while supporting new artists.
Tarragon has also announced their new initiative, the Tarragon Family Series, which will showcase performances aimed at young theatregoers and their families. Supported by The Steve and Sally Stavro Family Foundation, this series will welcome families throughout the season to experience all the delights theatre has to offer, with free admission for children under 12 and reduced costs for parents and guardians.
“This is a season that embraces intergenerational conversation while uplifting enchanting artistic form and the breadth of our cultural perspectives,” said artistic director Mike Payette in a press release.
“This is an exciting time for us and the stories and productions we are sharing underline the impact of some of the country’s most lauded playwrights and those who are creating new trailblazing paths,” he continued. “We are thrilled to welcome audiences to a season brimming with new pieces that will entice curiosity, inspire, challenge, move and look deeper into ourselves and each other in beautiful and unexpected ways.”
Here is what you can look forward to at Tarragon Theatre this year.
The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time
Toronto Premiere
September 19 – October 15, 2023
By Walter Borden, directed by Peter Hinton-Davis
Exploring sexuality and race, this solo piece features 10 characters, showing human resiliency and personal reflection on Borden’s journey through life.
A Poem for Rabia
World Premiere
October 17 – November 12, 2023
By Nikki Shaffeeullah, directed by Clare Preuss and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
An epic generation-stretching journey through political and geographical history, A Poem for Rabia follows three queer women of the same bloodline escaping oppression in different time periods.
Withrow Park
World Premiere
November 7 – December 3, 2023
By Morris Panych, directed by Jackie Maxwell
Withrow Park is a dark comedy that asks the question: who watches us from the darkness, and what will happen if we stare back?
Guilt (A Love Story)
World Premiere
February 6 – March 3, 2024
By Diane Flacks, directed by Alisa Palmer
Following a self-sacrificing Jewish mother and her family’s dissolution, this show explores what it is to feel guilt, especially as parents, while laughing to get through those challenges.
3 Fingers Back
World Premiere
February 27 – March 24, 2024
By Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, directed by Cole Alvis and Yvette Nolan
3 Fingers Back is a double bill of Give It Up and The Smell of Horses, which examine how we treat each other from the perspectives of the interrogator and interrogated. Two women plot to survive their interrogation, while three soldiers attempt to use their humanity to get the information they need.
El Terremoto
World Premiere
March 26 – April 21, 2024
By Christine Quintana, directed by Guillermo Verdecchia
In this dramatic comedy, an earthquake shakes both Vancouver and a family of three sisters as they grapple with the loss of their parents.
Come Home: The Legend of Daddy Hall
World Premiere
May 14 – June 9, 2024
By Audrey Dwyer, directed by Mike Payette
In this time-travelling epic, John Hall confronts his past as a husband, father, son, war scout, and freedom fighter. Told through poetic text, music, and song, this show explores afterlife and legacy.
To purchase tickets or find out more about Tarragon Theatre’s 2023–2024 season, visit their website here.
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