Toronto’s newest indie theatre company, Outliers Theatre Collective is proud to announce their debut production, Life Sucks. by Aaron Posner (My Name Is Asher Lev, Stupid F*cking Bird). This Toronto premiere of Posner’s critically acclaimed play will run from April 30th to May 10th at the Small World Centre located in the Artscape Youngplace building at 180 Shaw Street.

With Life Sucks. Posner, who has previously taken aim at Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull with Stupid F*cking Bird, offers a contemporary riff on Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya — hearts yearn, family and relations clash, and everyone is looking for meaning. Outliers Theatre Collective aims to give audiences an unforgettable journey into Chekhovian angst and may even have them wondering…does life really suck?

Director Tom McHale (Newmarket National Ten Minute Play Festival, Eastern Front STAGES Festival, Toronto Fringe) has brought together a talented ensemble cast, including Hilary Adams (Stratford Festival, Two Planks And A Passion Theatre, Shakespeare BASH’d), Hayden Finkelshtain (Good Old Neon, The Hogtown Collective), Sean Jacklin (El Kabong Theatre, The Lakeside Players, Bygone Theatre), Scott McCulloch (Odyssey Theatre, The Hogtown Collective), Lisa Norton (Eldritch Theatre, Harold Green Jewish Theatre, Blyth Festival, Shaw Festival), Jada Rifkin (The Thanksgiving Play / Mirvish, Next Stage Festival, Shifting Ground Collective) and Kiana Woo (Shaw Festival, Soulpepper Academy, DORA Award winner for Alice in Wonderland - Guild Festival Theatre). The production team also includes stage manager Leah Wilton (Toronto Dance Theatre, Perpetual Motion Dance Studio), assistant director/co-producer Alessandro Simari (University of Windsor, Concordia University), and co-producer Janice Peters Gibson (That Arts Group, Shakespeare in the Ruff, Company Theatre).

Outliers Theatre Collective is curating plays for the Toronto stage that are rarely or never-before-seen and whose approaches to theatre and the problems it navigates are vital and necessary.

“The conditions that crushed the spirits of Chekhov’s characters haven’t fundamentally changed, and the characters in Posner’s adaptation face those same conditions with a wry sense of irony and hesitant optimism. Watching them struggle against those conditions is both hilarious and deeply moving.” - Alessandro Simari (Founder and Co-Artistic Director)

“Yes, there is a terrible amount of bleakness and cynicism in the world right now, but I try to lean toward hope and optimism. Obviously, the name of the play is Life Sucks., but the question is: does it really? I’m more focused on asking, ‘how can we make it not suck?’ I believe life sucks some of the time but not all of the time. I’m inclined to be hopeful, and the play leans us toward a more hopeful way forward.” - Tom McHale (Founder, Co-Artistic Director, and Life Sucks. Director)

Life Sucks.

April 30th - May 10th, 2025

Small World Centre, 180 Shaw Street , Toronto, ON.

Performance Schedule:

April 30 at 7:30pm

May 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 at 7:30pm

May 4, 7, 10 at 1:30pm

Tickets available online at www.outlierstheatrecollective.ca

Production/Rehearsal photos available at: www.outlierstheatrecollective.ca

ABOUT OUTLIERS THEATRE COLLECTIVE:

A new independent, Toronto theatre collective with a mandate to present new, neglected, undiscovered and forgotten theatre works that have ‘flown under the radar’ of the theatre community - stuff that lies outside the norm and doesn’t easily fit categorization.