Internationally celebrated Portuguese theatre artist and writer, Tiago Rodrigues brings the critically acclaimed By Heart to Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre for 5 shows only, May 30-June 2, 2019. An antidote for collective amnesia, this gentle experience provides

Putting the strength of our memory to work, in By Heart, Rodrigues invites ten audience members to join him on stage to learn a Shakespeare sonnet and then recite it. While they commit the verse to memory, Rodrigues tells the story of his grandmother -- who asked her grandson to choose a book for her to learn by heart so that she could read it in her mind after she lost her sight – along with anecdotes from notable writers, and characters from the world of literature. Slowly the mystery that binds the choice of poem and these tales is revealed.

“We are proud to be presenting this tender work that has moved audiences around the world,” says Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy. “Inventive and intimate, By Heart will have you fall in love with poetry and with live performance. It is a uniquely powerful experience that can only happen inside a theatre.”

By Heart is a piece about the importance of theatre and of the invisible smuggling of words and ideas that find a safe place in our heads and hearts.

“Once 10 people know a poem by heart... It will survive.”– George Steiner

BY HEART

Written + Performed by Tiago Rodrigues

Featuring Texts and Quotes by William Shakespeare, Ray Bradbury,

George Steiner, Joseph Brodsky and others

A Teatro Nacional D. Maria II Production Presented by Canadian Stage in Collaborationwith Théâtre Français De Toronto
Original Creation by Mundo Pereito

Berkeley Upstairs Theatre, May 30-June 2

By Heart is on stage at the Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre, May 30-June 3. Performances run Thursdayat 8 PM, Friday at 7 PM, Saturday at 5 and 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM.

For tickets visit www.canadianstage.com

Photo: Tiago Rodrigues in By Heart. © Magda Bizarro.