Stage Door News
Toronto: Tarragon Theatre presents the world premiere of “Paint Me This House of Love” April 20
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Mike Payette Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre and Managing Director Andrea Vagianos are excited to announce the world premiere of Paint Me This House of Love. The play, written by Chelsea Woolley and directed by Tarragon’s own Artistic Director, Mike Payette, runs in the Extraspace from April 11 - May 7, 2023 (opening April 20).
In Paint Me This House of Love, award-winning playwright Chelsea Woolley brings this story of the evolution of love and relationships to life with a script filled with rhythm and an exploration of how we express love, when simply saying the words isn’t enough. And through the shape and cadence of these conversations, audiences follow Cecilia and her father as they attempt to reconcile.
“Especially over the past years, we can all identify with the feeling of disconnection from each other; especially in the realm of family. Expansive time and distance elevate the urgency of reconnecting. Chelsea’s exploration of language and how we communicate with the bonds of family that are trying to be strengthened allows us to take an intimate look at how we express our love for each other when words aren’t enough. How do we heal and move forward when there has been so much distance and loss within our familial relationships? This question is the foundation of this beautiful story; the answers are not linear but the path to finding them may have deeper meanings beyond simply reaching the destination,” reflects Artistic Director Mike Payette.
Paint Me This House of Love is written by Chelsea Woolley (Tarragon debut, Betty Mitchell Award-winning The Green Line, Geordie Productions’ The Mountain, New Words Festival’s These Peaceable Kingdoms) and features Jessica B. Hill (Tarragon debut, Prairie Theatre Exchange’s Pandora, Stratford Festival’s All’s Well That Ends Well), Tanja Jacobs (Tarragon’s The Watershed, as director - Crow’s Theatre’s Orphans for the Czar) and Jeremiah Sparks (Tarragon debut, Stratford’s The Odyssey, Mirvish’s The Lion King). With set design by Ken MacDonald (Tarragon’s Dora Award-winning Marry Me a Little, Soulpepper’s Dora Award-winning Ghosts), costume design by Julia Surich (Tarragon’s My Sister’s Rage), lighting design by Tim Rodrigues (Tarragon debut, Geordie Theatre’s Reaching for Starlight, Black Theatre Workshop’s How Black Mothers Say I Love You) and sound design by John Gzowski (Tarragon’s Post-Democracy, Shaw Festival’s Mahabharata). With direction by Mike Payette (Tarragon’s Artistic Director, Tarragon’s Cockroach, Canadian Stage’s Choir Boy) and assistant direction by Carolyn Fe (Tarragon Resident Artist, as actor - Tarragon’s Three Women of Swatow, Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award-winning Nightwood & Sulong Theatre’s Calpurnia).
Paint Me This House of Love runs in the Extraspace, April 11 - May 7, 2023, opening on April 20. Paint Me This House of Love will also be available digitally from May 2 - May 31, 2023 as part of Tarragon Theatre’s “Chez Vous” subscription, offering fully realized recordings of the performances in the 2022/23 season.
For tickets visit www.tarragontheatre.com.