Following the brief postponement of the 21.22 season, Canadian Stage is thrilled to finally welcome audiences back to the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre on Berkeley Street for a rare and intimate performance from one of Canada’s most beloved theatre artists, the inimitable Daniel Brooks.

Beginning March 20th through April 3rd, the company presents the World Premiere of OTHER PEOPLE, written by and starring Brooks and directed by Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy.

A bracingly honest account of Brooks’ time at a silent meditation retreat following a terminal cancer diagnosis, by turns insightful, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny, OTHER PEOPLE is Brooks’ irreverent take on the universal problem of being alive and a rare opportunity to commune with one of this country’s greatest storytellers. With his signature wit, Brooks invites audiences to eavesdrop on the anxieties, joys, obsessions, and fantasies that lurk in the corners of our minds, while tapping into our shared need to be heard and understood.

“Daniel Brooks is an integral part of Canadian Stage’s history and nothing short of one of the most important artists in Canadian theatre,” says Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy. “Also a generous teacher, he has been a mentor to me for over twenty years. Being able to give this play a home and to work with Daniel on this incredibly intimate and vulnerable piece is a very special honour for me.”

Healy adds, “I think this play offers something we are all profoundly craving right now – a truly authentic, human experience – the opportunity to sit in the dark and intimately connect with and understand another human being. At this moment in his life, Daniel has a genuine desire to be authentically present with an audience, which is a beautiful impulse and the mark of a man who is an artist down to the very marrow of his bones.”

Long-time collaborator and dramaturge on OTHER PEOPLE Daniel McIvor cheekily adds, “After making seven solo shows together over three decades where I was the performer/writer and Brooks was the dramaturge the tables have turned. So forgive me my glee when I say, I've been waiting 30 years for this!”

One of Canada’s most accomplished theatre practitioners, Brooks has worked as a director, writer, actor, producer, and teacher, over the course of a career that spans over fifty years. He was a co-director of the storied independent theatre troupe Augusta Company (co-founded with Don McKellar and the late Tracy Wright), as well as da da kamera (with frequent collaborator Daniel McIvor on productions including House, Here Lies Henry and Monster). Later, Brooks was a Playwright in Residence at the Tarragon Theatre and the Artistic Director of Necessary Angel Theatre Company from 2003 to 2012. Brooks is also known for his work with Guillermo Verdecchia (The Noam Chomsky Lectures, Insomnia) and John Mighton (Possible Worlds, Half Life). He has won several professional awards including the Chalmers Award, three Dora Mavor Moore Awards for directing, and the Edinburgh Fringe First Award. He has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, and in 2001, Brooks was the first recipient of the prestigious Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.

Tickets for OTHER PEOPLE begin at $29 and single tickets are now available at www.canadianstage.com. This production runs from March 20th – April 3rd, 2022, with performances at 8:00pm Tuesday – Saturday, and 2:00pm matinees on Sundays.

Photo Daniel Brooks. © 2022 Bronwen Sharp.