Casey and Diana, a new play by award-winning playwright Nick Green, opens the doors of Toronto AIDS hospice Casey House and shares the remarkable warmth, strength and resilience of the people within, living and dying in the face of unimaginable pain, isolation and stigma. Directed by Andrew Kushnir, Casey and Diana starts performances May 23 and will mark its world première on June 1, the first day of Pride Month, with a gala opening at the Stratford Festival’s Studio Theatre.

When Toronto’s Casey House opened in 1988, it was among the world’s first hospices to provide palliative care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. Three years later, Casey House made international headlines when Diana, Princess of Wales, shook hands with a dying resident during her historic visit to the hospice. This potent and moving drama brings the rebel princess’s culture-shifting visit to life. We meet residents Thomas and Andre as they prepare to meet the world’s most beloved Royal, along with the caregivers and advocates who make Casey House possible.

“The invitation of Casey and Diana, here in its first encounter with the world, is for us all to honour the revolutionary days of this epidemic,” says Kushnir, “the kindness, courage and care of Casey House and its heroic nurses and volunteers and the princess who recognized that.”

Casey and Diana features Sean Arbuckle as Thomas, Laura Condlln as Pauline, Linda Kash as Marjorie, Davinder Malhi as Andre, Krystin Pellerin as Diana and Sophia Walker as Vera.

This historic moment of hope is recreated with the work of Designer Joshua Quinlan, Lighting Designer Louise Guinand, Composer and Sound Designer Debashis Sinha and Dramaturge Bob White.

Casey and Diana is a Stratford Festival commission, written by Nick Green and developed through the Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program. Director Andrew Kushnir, an alumnus of the Festival’s Langham Directors’ Workshop, was actively involved in the play’s development.

Casey and Diana has its official opening on June 1 and runs until June 17 in the Studio Theatre. Tickets are available at stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.

The 2023 season also features King Lear, Rent, Much Ado About Nothing, Les Belles-Soeurs, Monty Python’s Spamalot, A Wrinkle in Time, Frankenstein Revived, Grand Magic, Richard II, Wedding Band, Women of the Fur Trade and Love’s Labour’s Lost. For more information, visit stratfordfestival.ca.

Photo: Sean Arbuckle and Krystin Pellerin. © 2023 Ted Belton.