Six Books for World Theatre Day

For readers interested in a neon-noir thriller that’s as sharp, smart, and relentless as its heroine.

The Extractionist by Michaela Jeffery (Playwrights Canada Press)

A young woman is missing. The prime suspect is an affluent member of the secretive Luminia organization. Enter Asha Ray, a deprogrammer who specializes in extracting people from dangerous cults. With no business card or office, Asha is known only by reputation—a last resort for desperate loved ones willing to work outside the law. Teaming up with retired detective Reuben Medina, she descends into a treacherous world of hidden motives and elite corruption. Together, Asha and Reuben must work to outsmart a powerful predator and uncover the truth before time runs out.

A razor-sharp, neon-noir thriller, Jeffery’s contemporary crime drama is a cry for justice for women on the wrong side of a system built to protect the wealthy and powerful. This gritty, suspenseful play will keep you guessing until the very end.

Find The Extractionist here on All Lit Up.

For stories by Beothuk women as they were
meant to be heard

Stolen Sisters by Leahdawn Helena (Breakwater Books)

Stolen Sisters is a first-of-its-kind play that gives voice to the lives and legacies of three Beothuk women and girls whose names have survived in historical record.

These are stories that have been mis-told, misrepresented, and mythologized by colonial interference. By shifting the lens of history to reflect Indigenous perspective and experience, the women brought to life in Stolen Sisters set the record straight, telling their own stories with both humour and unflinching honestly. Based on the oral and written Indigenous histories of colonization locally and worldwide, the voices of Stolen Sisters shine a light on the global experience of Indigenous women and girls and, in particular, Newfoundland’s part in that legacy.

Find Stolen Sisters here on All Lit Up.

For readers who love epic, multi-generational stories filled with philosophy and deep moral questions.

Mahabharata by By Ravi Jain & Miriam Fernandes (Coach House Books)

A contemporary dramatic take on a 4,000-year-old Sanskrit epic that is foundational to Indian culture. 

Why Not Theatre’s large-scale, once-in-a-generation retelling of Mahabharata brings together a cast of performers entirely from the South Asian diaspora, blending cultures and art forms in a spectacular production at the Shaw Festival and the Barbican Theatre in London. Over two parts (Karma and Dharma) and a communal meal (Khana), this translation and adaptation of Mahabharata spans generations and takes audiences into the hearts and minds of some of the most complex and enduring characters ever created. 

With warring families and devious revenge plots, Mahabharata tells the story of an ancient feud with philosophical and spiritual questions that are no less urgent today. In times of division, how do we find wholeness? Are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors? And how can we build a new world when we have nearly destroyed this one? 

Contains the full text of the play along with materials opening up the behind-the-scenes world of the production, including interviews with the creators, background and context about the source material, production photographs, a Mahabharata family tree, and glossary.

Find Mahabharata here on All Lit Up.

For readers who appreciate plays about cultural identity, generational trauma, and family dysfunction
with sharp dialogue.

Get That Hope by Andrea Scott (Shillingford/Scirocco Drama)

Daddy wants to win the lottery, Mommy is still bitter about getting knocked up at twenty, Simeon has war-related PTSD, and Rachel just wants to get out of her parents’ Oakwood/Eglinton place and have a home of her own, but first there are a few things she’s got to get off her chest. It’s Jamaica’s Independence Day, Toronto is sweltering, and everyone is on edge–then the air-conditioner breaks. Loosely inspired by Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night, Andrea Scott’s Get That Hope looks at the dysfunction of a Jamaican-Canadian family that has no idea how to communicate without wounding.

Find Get That Hope here on All Lit Up.

For those who have ever felt like the odd one out—or wondered if everyone else feels that way too.

Eraser by Bilal Baig & Sadie Epstein-Fine (Playwrights Canada Press)

An immersive experience, Eraser delves into the memories and fantasies of a classroom of students as they figure out who they want to be. Six students guide readers through their different journeys, taking them along to the cafeteria, change rooms, and playground, to the places where they feel safest and the most brave, vulnerable, and afraid.

Afroze just moved to Canada from Pakistan and is struggling to fit in as a white-skinned gender-questioning convert to Islam. All Jihad wants is to be cool, but he struggles with the appearance of this new student who doesn’t look like any of the Muslims he knows. Noah’s brother just died, and he’s been avoiding processing his grief, which makes him lash out at his best friend, Eli. Eli doesn’t know how to support Noah, who he also harbours questioning feelings for. Whitney wants to live by her own rules in her own imaginary world, but she’s forced to deal with annoying kids like Tara. Tara loves school and getting straight As, but all the pressure she feels eventually adds up and she crumbles.

Finding a balance between tough realities and honest fantasies, Eraser is an energetic and sentimental look at what it’s like to navigate differences and connections as a kid.

Find Eraser here on All Lit Up.

For those who love sharp, campy satire that skewers Hollywood and the politics of representation.

Gay for Pay: The Blake & Clay Plays by Curtis Campbell & Daniel Krolik (Shillingford/Scirocco)

In Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay, two out-of-work gay actors teach straight men how to play the gay roles that lead to awards season glory. Blake and Clay may not be leading men, but they are leading these men to greatness by teaching them to go from straight to straight-up booked. Because representation matters, but Blake and Clay’s representation hasn’t called them in ages. Blake & Clay’s Gay Agenda invites you to the fabulous book launch for the world’s first how-to manual about the eternal conundrum that is gay living. Watch as Blake and Clay take the guesswork out of the queer experience and unite the community once and for all. Because if the gays can agree on one thing, it’s that they can’t agree on anything.

Find Gay for Pay here on All Lit Up.