“This show isn’t about the Tragically Hip,” says director Mary Francis Moore. “It’s about Waleed.” Instead of bending the Hip’s music to fit the narrative, the team has looked for thematic threads and moments where the emotional undercurrent of a song aligns with what’s happening on stage, even if the connection isn’t explicit.
“I was thinking about what mischief means to Canada as a country, and what that law means versus what it means to Indigenous people,” says playwright Lisa Nasson. “The antithesis of those two [meanings] I find really fascinating, and they really play into what this story is about.”
By Caelan Beard /Jan 20, 2026
iPhoto caption: Jane Spidell in 'Twelve Dinners.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.
In the now-closed Twelve Dinners, an autobiographical play written and directed by Steve Ross, audiences received intimate access to an unvarnished version of a younger Ross through 12 evening meals with his parents.
By Phillip Dwight Morgan /Dec 5, 2025
iPhoto caption: Jane Spidell as Bettye, Kevin Bundy as Jim, and Noah Beemer as Steve in 'Twelve Dinners.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.
"I love sitting with the actors before rehearsals and discussing, especially when they ask questions,” says Ross. “I love the blocking and staging. I love directing my own work, but find it challenging."