FESTIVAL 2025 

The 27th annual festival will take place March 27th-April 5th, 2025 at Arts Court Theatre. Read more about the shows, festival, and community programming here! Week 1 will be presented in English, and Week 2 will have both French and English shows, with bilingual (fr/en) surtitles. To view the digital program, click here; to read the artist bios, click here.

Le 27e festival annuel aura lieu le 27 mars - 5 avril, 2025, au théâtre Cour des Arts. Pour en savoir plus sur les spectacles, le festival et la programmation communautaire, lisez ici! Semaine 1 sera présenté en anglais, et semaine 2 aura des spectacles en anglais et français, avec des surtitres bilingues (fr/en). Pour voir le programme digital, cliquez ici; pour lire les bios des artistes, cliquez ici


Shows

Odds and Ends

Two morticians, who usually work in the basement morgue of a funeral home, face their greatest challenge yet: working with living customers, rather than the dead bodies they're accustomed to. Odds and Ends is a black comedy with themes of grief and death while being a thoughtful critique of the funerary industry

Written by Naomi Badour

Directed by Maxim Ferron

Assistant Directed by Amelia Alam

Stage Managed by Sam Mason

Lighting Design by Mariana Gomez

Props Design by Molly Schrader

Featuring Rebecca Johnson, Gray Joslin, Jack Dillabough, Sadie Cann

Playing March 27th, 28th, 29th (Week 1)

Content Notices: Mature language, corpses, child death, needles/syringes, dialogue about death, dying, and grief that may be sensitive to some viewers

The Death of a Swan

Evergreen is guided by her fairy godmother, the ghost of William Dorsey Swann (the first drag queen in America). But when a strange man offers Evergreen a way to save her poetry cafe, Swann and the audience must watch her accept a deal that every woman is offered.  

This psychological play pits the physical manifestation of the patriarchy against our historical heroes to explore a feminist’s relationship with history. In telling this story, we hope to offer grace to those cursed with action and to those who create thankless spaces.

Created and Directed by Navneel Agnihotri and Mirana K. Rambelo

Stage Managed by Ebehiremen (Ehi) Iyere

Choreographed by Mirana K. Rambelo

Sound Design by Suhas Chimmapudi

Featuring Aurel Pressat Irigukunze, Canda-Leigh Habonimana, Julia Graham, Moksha Singh-Sharpe, Xander Sonnenburg

Playing April 3rd, 4th, 5th (Week 2)

Content Notices: Simulated smoking, crude language, misogyny, depiction of implied sexual assault

Sell The Children

After a wave of financial instability hits them, Eddie and Nancy have nowhere else to turn to except for the one standing organization left, Lifeworks. While they seek a small loan to help them get through it, they meet Deric. He is the financial advisor guiding them through the process of getting a monetary payment. The only problem? There’s a stipulation in the contract. A stipulation that would change their lives for the next 50 years.

Written by Samantha Lee

Directed by Kenzie Barrera

Lighting Design by Soxmodeus McConkey Kerr

Props Design by Mya Gates

Featuring Beth Hughes, Emily Thompson, Jazy Remillard, Logan Indewey

Playing March 27th, 28th, 29th (Week 1)

Content Notices: COMING SOON

Phèdre

Phèdre est une adaptation du texte du même nom de Racine. Elle cherche à répondre aux questions suivantes ;

Comment la douleur habite-t-elle le corps ?

Et Comment se manifeste le genre de l’horreur, plus spécifiquement du Body Horror, sur scène ?

Créée par Benjamin Lefebvre, Camille Landry, Gabriel Pilon, Sarah Komendat, Stella Chayer Demers, Xander Rosseau

Mise en scène par Stella Chayer Demers

Regie par Xander Rosseau

Conception de son par Gabriel Pilon

Interpreté par Benjamin Lefebvre, Camille Landry

Presenté le 3, 4, 5 avril (semaine 2)

Avertissements de contenu: à venir

I Have Something to Say

I Have Something to Say presents a conversation between the main character and her best friend, where the two try to move on from the baggage the different men in their lives have left behind. With the recent death of the main character’s father, the two friends embark on a grief-filled, reflective, and humorous journey to try to break free of the expectations placed upon them.

Written by Sawyer

Directed by Lawson Hannaford

Stage Managed by Hailiegh Simpson

Assistant Stage Manager: Miranda Lewis

Featuring Daniel Braun, Evelyne Laforest, Karelle Sikapi

Playing March 27th, 28th, 29th (Week 1)

Content Notices: Drug use, alcohol use, course language, cancer + death, description of sexual acts and depiction sexual harassment, flashing lights

I Think That Went Well

Audrey St-Germaine and Tom Taylor de Laurier are an eccentric and impeccably dressed couple. They are also getting a divorce. In a marriage counsellors office, Tom, Audrey and the dead therapist argue whether or not to get a divorce through a series of lively, wretched and bittersweet moments

Written by Lee Murray Chetwynd

Directed by Defne Edirnecik

Stage Managed by Maya Mousa

Lighting Design by Emma Duplessis

Featuring Theresa Graham, William (Billy) Mott

Playing April 3rd, 4th, 5th (Week 2)

Content Notices: Coarse Language, Mild Sexual Reference, Stylized Depiction of a Gun and Dead Body


Community Programming

The Algonquin College Roadshow

March 29th, 1:00pm

The students from the Algonquin College Performing Arts Program have curated a series of short scenes that are sure to entertain! You will laugh, you’ll cry, and with any luck you will laugh again! See these new and emerging talents as they open a new stage of their artistic careers.


Ancillary Events

YIF Trivia Night

April 2nd, 7pm

Want to show off your skills and support youth arts? The YIF Fundraising committee welcomes you to Trivia Night! With tons of great prizes from local organizations and businesses, a variety of categories, and a fun, relaxed atmosphere, this event has something for everyone!



Lobby Performances

March 27-29; April 3-5, 6:30

Full Schedule Coming Soon