Richard Rose, Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre and Managing Director Andrea Vagianos are pleased to announce the casting for the first four productions - all world premieres - in Tarragon’s 2019/2020 season. These productions will feature many familiar faces as well as several Tarragon debuts and legendary Canadian talent.

We kick off the season in the Mainspace with Yaga from Dora Award-winning playwright Kat Sandler. Yaga will feature a return to Tarragon for Noah Reid, known for his TV role in Schitt’s Creek and last seen here in our rock ’n roll Hamlet. Joining Noah, and new to Tarragon, will be Claire Armstrong, a Dora Award winning actor (After Miss Julie) and a founder of The Storefront Theatre. Legendary actor and veteran of Shaw and Stratford, Seana McKenna, anchors this production in her return to Tarragon. McKenna was last seen here in the hit production, The Year of Magical Thinking. Kat Sandler will direct.

The Extraspace season opens with The Jungle by Anthony MacMahon and Thomas McKechnie. The Jungle will feature Dora-Award nominee Matthew Gin in his Tarragon debut. Matthew was recently featured in The New Canadian Curling Club at the Blyth Festival. Joining Matthew, also in her Tarragon debut, is Shannon Currie. She is currently appearing in Drayton Entertainment’s production of The Miracle Worker and was a Classical Critics Award nominee for Blithe Spirit at Thousand Islands Playhouse. Guillermo Verdecchia will direct.

Following in the Mainspace is Copy That, a world premiere from Tarragon’s Bill Glassco Playwright-in-Residence and Governor General’s Literary Award-winner Jason Sherman. Copy That will feature Canadian television great Janet-Laine Green. The Genie and Gemini nominated actor returns to Tarragon, last seen on our stage in Peace River Country. Janet will be joined by Shaw Festival veteran Ric Waugh who was last at Tarragon in Sherman’s Patience in 2013. Joining Ric and Janet are Dora-Award nominee Jeff Lillico (Of Human Bondage – Soulpepper), Emma Ferreira (upcoming: Measure for Measure and Much Ado About Nothing – Canadian Stage) and Toni Ofori, who was last seen at Tarragon in Bunny. Jamie Robinson will direct.

To close out 2019 in our Extraspace is Governor General Literary Award nominee Anosh Irani’s Buffoon, featuring Anand Rajaram who returns to Tarragon after his Dora Award-winning performance in Kat Sandler’s Mustard! Buffoon is a one-man tour-de-force performance which will see Anand transform himself into a multitude of characters. Tarragon Theatre Artistic Director Richard Rose will direct.

Tarragon Theatre 2019/20 Fall Season Details

• Yaga
World premiere
Written & Directed by Kat Sandler
September 17 – October 20, 2019 (opening September 25)
Mainspace

Featuring: Claire Armstrong, Seana McKenna,1 and Noah Reid

“Bad children are the softest, and the easiest to eat; but a bad man’s bones hold power, power tastes like salt, and we love salt more than anything.”

From the mind that brought you Mustard, a genre-bending fairy tale meets whodunit inspired by the notorious figure of Baba Yaga, the hideous old witch who lives alone in the woods grinding the bones of the wicked.

A gruesome murder in a small town leads a local sheriff, a young detective and a university professor with a taste for younger men into a labyrinth of secret lives, ancient magic and multiple suspects.

A play that gives voice to the wicked old witch, Yaga is part thriller, part revenge play and lots of comedy. 

• The Jungle
World premiere
Written by Anthony MacMahon and Thomas McKechnie
Directed by Guillermo Verdecchia
October 1 – November 3, 2019 (opening October 9)
Extraspace

Featuring: Shannon Currie and Matthew Gin

“I worked ‘til I was ready to die. I made it. I belong here. I have carved myself into this country.”

She’s from Moldova, he’s the son of Chinese immigrants. She’s a factory worker by day and a waitress by night. He’s a cab driver.

One night he picks her up running from job to job and their relationship starts.

A typical Toronto love story, stolen in the moments between shifts. But can their love survive a city in late capitalism?

• Copy That
World premiere
Written by Jason Sherman
Directed by Jamie Robinson
November 6 – December 8, 2019 (opening November 13)
Mainspace

Featuring: Emma Ferreira, Janet Laine Green, Jeff Lillico, Tony Ofori, and Ric Waugh

“So what people watch on TV, it’s got nothing to do with the real world?”

Renowned playwright Jason Sherman’s caustic look at the entertainment industry, Copy That takes us behind the scenes of network television. Four writers struggle to get their new cop show approved for production. When the team’s only Black writer is roughed up by an actual cop, the fallout threatens to not only kill the show, but expose the systemic racism at the heart of popular entertainment itself.

From the author of last season’s moving account of the life of Marshall McLuhan (The Message).

Jason Sherman is Tarragon’s Bill Glassco Playwright-in-Residence and is the winner of the Governor General's Literary Award winner for Drama.

• Buffoon
World premiere
Written by Anosh Irani
Directed by Richard Rose
November 12 – December 15, 2019 (opening November 20)
Extraspace

Featuring: Anand Rajaram

“Mothers, what makes it so hard to accept they might not love us?”

A Clown, a Trapeze Artist, a love triangle, a one-man tour-de-force performance.

WATCH as Felix, the clown takes you on a journey from cradle to grave.

WITNESS a life of chance haunted by inevitable fate.

MARVEL at Buffoon, a heartbreaking, tragic, and hilarious tale of a clown finding love at the circus.

*****

Tickets range from $22 - $70 and can be purchased online at www.tarragontheatre.com, or by phone at 416-531-1827. Tarragon offers the most flexible subscription packages in the city with savings of up to 50%, allowing patrons to choose their productions, change their dates free of charge, and offering many different price points to suit all schedules and budgets. Visit the website or call Patron Services today for more information.

Rush tickets are sold for $20 cash only, in person at the theatre two hours before showtime. Rush ticket options are subject to availability.

Audiences are invited to venture Beyond the Stage with a regular Lecture Series, a Talkback Week for each production, Tarragon Tasting Nights hosted by local food and beverage companies, and other events and activities. Tarragon’s Workspace continues to grow as a centre for experimentation, exploration and extensive play development for Tarragon, independent artists, collectives and theatre companies.

For more information on Tarragon’s events and activities, visit www.tarragontheatre.com.