Stage Door News
Toronto: “Mashup pon di Road” hits neighbourhoods around Toronto July 19-27
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
MASHUP PON DI ROAD is an outdoor, bashment circus variety show–on a big truck. Punk in spirit, island in vibe and vaudeville in staging, this joyful rebellion will hit Toronto streets this summer for its world premiere. From July 19 to 27, co-directors Bahia Watson and Liza Paul will bring the show to neighbourhoods around the city. Performances are free, and registration is encouraged: more information can be found at welcometodicircus.com; come one, come all!
“We want to bring some joy and lightness and play to the people of our city,” says Paul. “We’ve all had an especially rough ride the past couple of years; we could all use a moment to free up ourselves and have fun!”
“All the music and comedy and characters are spun around to create a portal for people to enter our universe and exit feeling freer than when they came, that’s the intention,” adds Watson. “I want them to look out at what was once an ordinary world on the brink of implosion and see another possibility. I want people to leave feeling themselves, and feeling good.”
Produced by Paul Watson Productions, in association with Why Not Theatre, MASHUP PON DI ROAD fuses raucous humour with whip-smart cultural critique to poke fun at the constraints of the patriarchy, the expectations of womanhood, and the end of the world as we know it. Through a series of vignettes and songs, two ringmasters and their band of colourful misfits give audiences a funhouse mirror look at the sheer absurdity of this oppressive world.
The full experience begins at 8 p.m. with a pre-show warmup featuring music and local food and drink vendors. The shows begin at 9 p.m. each night, with post-show cool down until 11 p.m.
Performance Dates & Locations
• Community Preview: July 19, 2022 gates at 8 p.m. / show at 9 p.m. @ Assembly Park (80 Interchange Way)
• July 21-23, 2022, gates at 8 p.m. / show at 9 p.m. in The Heart of Little Jamaica (Green P Lot, 1531 Eglinton Ave West)
• July 27, 2022, gates at 8 p.m. / show at 9 p.m. @ The Bentway (250 Fort York Blvd)
“We’re very excited to be launching the world premiere in Little Jamaica! Especially after the endless years of horrible construction along Eglinton West we really felt that the community deserves a lot of love and joy and hope MASHUP can bring some of that,” says Watson.
MASHUP PON DI ROAD will be performed by Bahia Watson and Liza Paul with Chelsea Russell and Ayaka Kinugawa, with music direction by Maiko Munroe. See the full creative team, here.
Costumes for MASHUP PON DI ROAD have been created by Toronto-raised Mriga Kapadiya and Amrit Kumar of NorBlack NorWhite.
Following their run in Toronto, Liza and Bahia will take another new iteration from the MASHUP universe (called MASHUP ting!) to New York City as part of Joe’s Pub at The Public Theatre. Bahia and Liza are part of the Public’s New York Voices program, supporting the creation of new works by critically-acclaimed musicians and performers. Fall performance dates to be announced. See more info at welcometodicircus.com.