This September, three of Toronto’s most celebrated theatre companies - Soulpepper Theatre Company, Crow’s Theatre, and The Howland Company – come together to produce the Canadian Premiere THE WELKIN, a searing courtroom drama by Tony-nominated playwright Lucy Kirkwood, on stage at Soulpepper’s Baillie Theatre September 4th to October 5th. 

Directed by outgoing Soulpepper Theatre Artistic Director Weyni Mengesha as she concludes her celebrated tenure with the company, the production features a powerhouse ensemble cast lead by Mayko Nguyen (Hudson and Rex, The Righteous) and Bahia Watson (The Handmaid’s Tale, shaniqua in abstraction) , with Olunike Adeliyi (The Porter, Revenge of the Black Best Friend), Ghazal Azarbad (The Seagull), Nadine Bhabha (Letterkenny, One More Time), Brefny Caribou (1939), Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster (Cyrano de Bergerac), Raquel Duffy (Appropriate), Kyra Harper (Infinite Life), Fiona Highet (Roberto Zucco), Cameron Laurie (Heroes of the Fourth Turning), Craig Lauzon (Detroit), Annie Luján (MONKS), Natasha Mumba (Three Sisters), Liisa Repo-Martell (Uncle Vanya), Hallie Seline (Heroes of the Fourth Turning), and Addison Wagman (Annie).

THE WELKIN is set in rural England, 1759 as Halley’s Comet burns in the sky, and young woman is sentenced to hang. But when she tries to escape the noose by claiming to be pregnant, a jury of twelve women are gathered to decide whether she is telling the truth. As tensions rise, their task becomes a reckoning: with the law, with power, and with the roles they’re forced to play in a world that silences them. A bold and blistering courtroom drama—by turns darkly comic and quietly devastating — THE WELKIN is a story of justice, duty, and righteous dissent.

“I was completely floored the first time I read this play,” says director Weyni Mengesha. “It speaks directly to so many themes I care deeply about— and Lucy Kirkwood’s writing is razor sharp, moving, and hilarious. It’s rare to find a play that’s so bold in its ideas, yet so emotionally textured and theatrically thrilling. As a director, I’ve been craving a piece that takes big swings while staying grounded in truth and humanity — and this delivers all of that and more. To direct this powerful, timely story as my final production as Artistic Director at Soulpepper, alongside one of the most extraordinary ensembles I’ve ever worked with, is an incredible honour.”

THE WELKIN first premiered at the National Theatre in London in 2020. It made its Broadway debut at the Atlantic Theatre Company’s Linda Cross Theatre last year to widespread critical acclaim, in a production starring Canadian actor Sandra Oh. One of the leading contemporary voices on the international stage, Lucy Kirkwood is a British playwright and screenwriter whose plays include Tony-nominated The Children (2016) and Chimerica, winner of the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2013 Evening Standard Best Play Award, the 2014 Critics’ Circle Best New Play Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. Also, a successful screenwriter, she most recently acted as an Executive Consultant on HBO’s Succession.

Mengesha is joined in bringing Kirkwood’s script to life by set designer Julie Fox, costume designer Michelle Tracey, lighting designer Bonnie Beecher, sound designer and arranger Thomas Ryder Payne, fight and intimacy coordinator Anita Nittoly, and dialect coach Jane Gooderham.

THE WELKIN is on stage September 4th to October 5th (Media night: September 11th) with performances Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30pm and Wednesday, Saturday and Sundays at 1:30pm at Soulpepper’s Baillie Theatre (50 Tank House Lane). Tickets are on sale now. For more information visit www.soulpepper.ca

Soulpepper Theatre Company, Crow’s Theatre, and The Howland Company co-production

THE WELKIN

Written by Lucy Kirkwood

Directed by Weyni Mengesha

WHEN: September 4th – October 5th at 7:30PM (Tuesday – Saturday). Weekend matinees and Wednesday matinees at 1:30PM. Saturday September 20 matinee at 1pm.

Preview Performances: September 4th – 10th, 7:30PM Opening Night: September 11th, 7:30PM

Where: Baillie Theatre at Soulpepper, 50 Tank House Lane

To purchase tickets: www.soulpepper.ca