Modern Times Stage Company’s Board of Directors is announcing that Peter Farbridge, company Co-Founder, Co-Artistic Director and Producer, will be stepping down from his role with the company effective June 30, 2022, concluding his 31 years of artistic and administrative leadership of the company.

“Over the years of Modern Times, Peter has worked closely with Soheil and, in doing so, contributed so much to Modern Times as a company, and also to Toronto and Canada’s theatre community. An immensely capable theatre presence, with vast knowledge, and an active sense of humour, Peter was a key ingredient in what has made Modern Times the company that it is today. We will miss him and wish him all the very best as he pursues his ambitions in theatre in the years to come.”

-Charles C. Smith on behalf of the Modern Times Board

“Modern Times has been a very successful theatre company, and I am proud to have been part of its history. When I think back over the 30 years of the company’s work, I see how so many artists, theatre administrators, audience members, and financial supporters have made that journey possible, and I’d like to thank them all. I hope the company continues to offer its community this spirit of collaboration and appreciation that theatre takes.” -Peter Farbridge

The Board is proud of Peter’s work and the many hats he's worn throughout the years in Modern Times' productions, and thank him for his contributions to Canada’s theatrical landscape through the company, over 31 years.

The Modern Times Stage Company was established in Toronto in 1989 by Peter Farbridge and Soheil Parsa with a focus on the creation of original plays and the re-imagining of classical work. The company has also translated the plays of Iranian dramatists. Under Iranian-Canadian Parsa’s leadership, the company’s work has been performed in Colombia, Cuba, Iran, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Denmark. The company has been honoured with 16 Toronto Dora Awards and has been nominated for 60, notably including their 2015 production of Blood Wedding which won 6 Dora Awards and two Toronto Theatre Critics Association Awards. Their most recent production was The House of Bernarda Alba in 2022.

Peter is a theatre actor and creator working in Montreal. As founding member and co-artistic director of the Modern Times Stage Company from 1989 to 2022, Peter appeared in many of the productions, including the title roles of Macbeth and Hamlet. He has earned several Toronto Dora awards for his work with the company. Among that work, Peter has co-translated and adapted the plays of several Iranian artists with Soheil Parsa, and served as co-writer or co-deviser on several new theatrical productions, including Hallaj (2009) and Forgiveness (2014). In 2017 Peter was nominated for a Meta Award for his performance in Progress! for Infinitheatre. He has recently completed an MA in Anthropology and Theatre and is joining the faculty of Concordia University as Artist-in-Residence this Fall. He also collaborates with Postmarginal: Inclusive Theatre Practice, a project that he initiated while at Modern Times, which seeks to encourage hybridity of theatre practice through exploring the perspectives of marginalized artists.

Photo: Peter Farbridge. © 1995 David Lawrence.