Play Reading Week - 2024

look away from me
by Aisling Murphy

playreading and a conversation around playwriting and theatre criticism

reading: Monday, June 10th, 3pm – Tarragon Extraspace

Conversation: Monday, June 10th, 4:15pm – 5:30pm – Tarragon Extraspace

Tarragon Theatre’s 23/24 Play Reading Week is thrilled to partner with Intermission Magazine in launching this year’s programming with a reading of Aisling Murphy’s look away from me.

Following the reading, please join us for a conversation around contemporary Canadian playwriting and criticism in relation to look away from me, hosted by Intermission Magazine. The conversation will be moderated by Stephanie Fung and joined by theatre critics and scholars.

look away from me

look away from me is a verbatim collage of interview transcripts, play quotes, diary entries, and review quotes. Together, these scraps bind together to present a conversation between British playwright Sarah Kane and contemporary Canadian theatre criticism, using Toronto-based theatre critic Aisling Murphy as a point of entry into these disparate, often contradictory worlds.

The [Theatre] Play

by Griffin McInnes
Tuesday, June 11th, 2:30pm – 4:30pm – Tarragon Extraspace

“Immerse yourself in collaborative creation at Tarragon Theatre’s groundbreaking event! Join Griffin, Anahita, and Aidan as they guide you through a unique journey where the audience becomes the playwright. Harnessing the power of AI, together we’ll weave a tapestry of stories, emotions, and imagination, shaping a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience. Don’t just watch the play, become a part of its creation!”
– an obviously AI-generated synopsis of The [Theatre] Play.

Taking inspiration from interviews with dozens of Tarragon community members, this gently-participatory performance experiment uncovers the all-too-human reasons we make and consume plays. The [Theatre] Play is less “staged reading”—and more “staged writing.”

Created by Griffin McInnes with Anahita Dehbonehie and Aidan Morishita-Miki.

Duration: approximately one hour + a talkback

The Imperial Housewives of the Forbidden City

by Julie Phan 潘家雯 (23/24 RBC Emerging Playwright Award Winner)

reading: Saturday, June 15th, 2024 – 7pm – Tarragon Theatre Extraspace

Jenny is moving up in life. Winnie is looking for love. Angela is a raging bitch.
Through the style of Hong Kong TVB period pieces and American reality television, love and hierarchy are explored through the never-ending dramas of three privileged wives in the Forbidden City.

omo pastor!
by Preye Godwin

Genesis Alagoa, the last born of Bonny Island’s most renowned pastor, is thrust into a life-threatening ordeal when a former flame is shot at a party, and a note with her name, along with four other names of friends and acquaintances from secondary school, is left behind, citing them as prey to one of the major university cults on the island. Suddenly, Genesis must confront several fears and anxieties, including those surrounding her beliefs, sexuality and who she has always wanted to be vs. who she is expected to be.

Director: Pablo Ogunlesi

Cast:

GENESIS ALAGOA / IFEOMA – Makambe K. Simamba

AANU OLOLADE / MUYIWA – JD Leslie

AZEEZ – Ngabo Nabea

BENJI – Durae McFarlane

Quote: Being a part of the National YPU Program ‘24 was a thrilling experience – I feel extremely blessed and grateful to have been chosen to work with such a reassuring, encouraging and resourceful team of individuals. I could not have chosen a better introduction to the world of playwriting!

Countercurrents
By Alice Wu

Journalist Veronica Guo is on the cusp of her dream career. A fellow at the fictional Boston Daily, she is determined to prove herself and secure a permanent position speaking truth to power. Yet when her recently divorced mother, Rong Li, moves in with her, Veronica is shocked to learn that her mother has become a conspiracy theorist, convinced that 5G radiation is killing Americans and determined to spread the truth before it is too late. As Veronica tries to talk sense into Rong, she grapples with the value of her work and whether facts can really change minds—or if prejudice and paranoia are the stronger forces.

Director: Karthy Chin

Cast:

VERONICA GUO – Madelaine Hodges

RONG LI – Shiong-En Chan

JESSICA/MAUREEN – Christine Horne

CONOR – Simon Pelletier

Quote: “My acceptance into the National YPU gave me the confidence to finally call myself a “playwright” and the permission to take my own writing needs seriously. My mentors Paula Wing and Jonnie Lombard were unbelievably kind yet always pushed me to keep growing — exactly what I needed at this stage of my career.”

 Protectors of the Lost Scribe
by Shaharah Gaznabbi

Are women ever truly safe, even in death?

Because even in death, she’s in hiding. When a Scribe is murdered by the man she was betrothed to, the women closest to her must lean on each other to protect her body until they can give her a proper burial in the morning.

Protectors of the Lost Scribe is a Muslim-Queer retelling of the story of Sheherazade from 1001 Arabian Nights (with a splash of Antigone), and is, at its heart, grounded in storytelling as a vehicle for love.

Director: Michelle Rambharose

Cast:

Scribe – Mina Zaghari

Queenie – Marium Masood

Imum – Fatma Naguib

Quote: I am forever grateful for how cared and supported I felt by the environment the facilitators fostered in the YPU. As someone who is VERY nervous about sharing my work, they helped me find the openness and confidence I needed to grow as an emerging Playwright.

 Table
by Antong Xu

Table is born (assembled) in an immigrant family. Table then learns about the world as well as themself. Table talks. Table witnesses. Table dies. In the end, on a trash mountain, Table is resurrected.

Director: Karthy Chin

Cast:

Table – Felix Hao

Mom / Chair 1 – Yawen Zhang

Dad / Chair 2 – Richard Tse

Daughter / Robot – Leon Tsai

Quote: My experience: Tarragon’s Young Playwrights Unit nurtured our scripts and artistry with love and care, allowing them to thrive.

As a Former Fat Kid
by Stephanie Fung

No one wants anything to do with Egghead. Not even Egghead.

Food is an unspoken form of love for Chinese families, unless you’re nature’s cruelest joke!

No—food, family, love—those are liabilities.

This is not a story about identity or culture clash. As a former fat kid is a mixed-media Buddhist

odyssey following someone caught in the cycle of running away again, and again, and again, and

again, and again, and again, and again, and again—

—until the parts of themselves they’ve tried to kill off finally catch up and haunt them.

Or until Egghead finishes the job.

Director: Jade Silman

Cast:

Egghead – Emily Jung

Lil’ Reaper G – Ziska Louis

Various -Kenley Ku

Various – Sze-Yang Ade-Lam

Thank you to TD Canada Trust for supporting Tarragon’s Education Pillar.

Thank you the Metcalf Foundation for their support of our National Young Playwrights Unit.