We are delighted to announce the return of RISER to The Theatre Centre, BMO Incubator this spring. Created as a collaborative producing model for independent theatre artists and now celebrating its 10th year, RISER transforms in 2023 through a ground-breaking collaboration with Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Performance. This year, RISERx presents three new productions, featuring performances by Toronto Met’s graduating class of actors, and direction by three talented theatre makers: Caleigh Crow, Keshia Palm, and Nikki Shaffeeullah.

The new partnership between Why Not and Toronto Met’s School of Performance this year builds on the legacy of RISER Toronto. RISERx is dedicated to fostering the next generation of performance makers with a focus on developing emerging actors, mentoring emerging technicians and designers, and nurturing emerging directors. This year’s cohort of directors will be coached and supported through their process by Sarah Garton Stanley, Artistic Producer of the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund, with the actors receiving coaching and support from Toronto Met’s Cole Lewis and Paul De Jong.

In addition to the new partnership with Toronto Metropolitan University, RISERx 2023 is supported by a network of a dozen established theatre companies (or Senior Partners) who generously contribute resources and mentorship toward the development of RISER productions and artists. 2023 Senior Partners include fu-GEN Theatre, Necessary Angel Theatre Company, Nightwood Theatre, and The Theatre Centre, all of which have contributed to this collaborative producing model since its inception.

RISERx 2023 at The Theatre Centre:

antigone lives*

Written by Susanna Fournier

Directed by Caleigh Crow

Dates: April 12 – 21 (Opening Night: Wednesday April 12 – 7pm)

Performances at 7pm -OR- 9pm

An electrifying and unfaithful take on Sophocles’ classic Greek tragedy, this 200 bpm adaptation blends techno, despair, and family politics. One goat and a pack of jackals navigate global displacement as we witness the failure of democracy and subsequent hope for revolution. A thought-provoking and fierce exploration of justice, power, and the human spirit.

Seph

Written by Tori Keenan-Zelt

Directed by Keshia Palm

Dates: April 12 – 22 (Opening Night: Wednesday, April 12 – 9pm)

Performances at 7pm -OR- 9pm

Forget what you think you know about gods. Set in an America post-capitalist collapse, this contemporary retelling of Persephone‘s story examines the heartbreaking challenges of growing up in a broken home, a rupture defined by life and death. A teenage coming of age story with epic themes; love, choice, consequence. Love again.

TomorrowLove

Written by Rosamund Small

Directed by Nikki Shaffeeullah

Dates: April 13 – 22 (Opening Night: Thursday, April 13 – 9pm)

Performances at 7pm -OR- 9pm

What if you could hold the soul of your loved one in your hands? Or see inside their memories? Or talk to them after death? TomorrowLove is a cycle of short plays about love, sex, and the future. Questioning how innovation impacts relationships, these stories explore how technology can create new dimensions of human connection – and perhaps reveal what we should have known all along.

RISERx 2023

Set Design by Delia Yuan

Costume Design by Carlyn Rahussar Routledge

Lighting Design by Gavin MacDonald

Sound Design by Sam Ferguson

The Theatre Centre, BMO Incubator at 1115 Queen Street West, Toronto

April 11 – 22, 2023

Pay What You Can Afford Tickets:

SHOWS: $12.50, $22.50, $35, $50

Available for purchase online at theatrecentre.org

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