Soulpepper Theatre, Obsidian Theatre and Nightwood Theatre are thrilled to come together for the Canadian Premiere of playwright Christina Anderson’s bold and imaginative exploration of the artistic impulse, how life and art intersect, and the lasting impact of those who dare to create, HOW TO CATCH CREATION is on stage April 23rd to May 17th.

A paean to one of humanity’s most basic and most profound desires–to leave something meaningful behind–HOW TO CATCH CREATION follows four artists and intellectuals, wrestling with creativity, legacy, and the complexities of love and family. Griffin is a newly freed citizen after more than a decade in prison for a crime he didn’t commit and is determined to become a parent. Tami, a driven art professor, feels her creative fire slipping. Stokes, a young painter, searches for purpose, while his partner Riley yearns to find where she belongs. When they uncover the work of a Black queer feminist writer from the 1960s, her words ripple across time, intertwining their lives in unexpected ways.

Beautifully weaving across five decades, HOW TO CATCH CREATION challenges us to reconsider who gets remembered and who gets to define the future.

Directed by acclaimed Obsidian Theatre Artistic Director Mumbi Tindyebwa Out –one of the most celebrated Toronto theatre directors of the last decade, who helmed the Dora Award-winning Three Sisters at Soulpepper in 2023 and is also the recipient of a Canadian Screen Award, a Dora Award for Best Direction, a Toronto Theatre Critics Award, a Pauline McGibbon Award and a Mallory Gilbert Protege Award– the production is distinguished by an exemplary ensemble cast that features Amanda Cordner (Sort Of/CBC), Shakura Dickson (da Kink in My Hair/Soulpepper), Daren A. Herbert (The Brothers Size/Soulpepper), Germaine Konji (Dixon Road/Obsidian Theatre), Danté Prince (The Christmas Market/Crow’s Theatre) and Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah (Something Rotten!/Stratford Festival).

“I love how this play leans into the legacy of Black feminism and how Anderson embeds it as the foundation of a multigenerational, intersectional story about the power and importance of artistic practice,” shares Obsidian Artistic Director Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu. “Anderson also considers the desire to have a child – here through the character of a male ex-con – as a creative, generative act, which I have never seen approached quite this way before. The play subtly reminds us that as Black artists, we have a responsibility to stand against the forces of erasure, and to persist in telling our stories. This show is ultimately deeply affirming and inspiring in its assertion of art and creativity as an engine of resistance, and its celebration of our innate capacity for creation.”

“Christina Anderson has written a profound and beautiful celebration of the queer voice. Queerness isn’t in the margins here, it’s visionary. It underscores how we can more fully see ourselves, cutting through convention and bringing us closer to beauty, complexity, and truth” said Soulpepper Artistic Director Paolo Santalucia. “In Mumbi’s hands, with this extraordinary cast, the production feels poised to reveal something essential about what it means to live openly, feel deeply, and leave a lasting mark on the world.”

"This play makes my heart feel full” says Nightwood Theatre Artistic Director Andrea Donaldson. “The story is a tender gift of lightness, of intimate relationships, compelling humans I’d like to meet and just the right amount of connective magic. It is inspiring and life affirming and has kept me grinning all year as we’ve prepared to share it with audiences."

HOW TO CATCH CREATION had its World Premiere at Chicago’s Goodman Theater in 2019. An American playwright of note for over a decade, Christina Anderson is also a tv writer, screenwriter, and educator whose work has been produced across the US including theaters such as Berkeley Rep, Goodman Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, and Yale Rep. Tony nominated for Outstanding Book of a Broadway musical in 2022 for Paradise Square, Anderson has received the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, the Horton Foote Prize, the United States Artists Fellowship, MacDowell Fellowship, Lily Awards Harper Lee Prize, Herb Alpert nomination, Barrymore Nomination for Outstanding New Play, and New Dramatist residency. American Theatre Magazine named her one of 15 up-and-coming artists "whose work will be transforming America's stages for decades to come.”

Joining Tindyebwa Otu on the creative team are Set Designer Teresa Przybylski, Costume Designer Ming Wong, Lighting Designer Andre Du Toit and Sound Designer Heidi Chan.

HOW TO CATCH CREATION runs at SOULPEPPER THEATRE April 23rd to May 17th with performances Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30pm.

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Soulpepper Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, and Nightwood Theatre present

HOW TO CATCH CREATION

Written by Christina Anderson

Directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu

Featuring:

Amanda Cordner as Tami

Shakura Dickson as Natalie

Daren A. Herbert as Griffin

Germaine Konji as Riley

Danté Prince as Stokes

Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah as G.K. Marche

Set Design by Teresa Przybylski

Costume Design by Ming Wong

Lighting Design by Andre Du Toit

Sound and Music Composition by Heidi Chan

Stage Management by Laura Baxter

Assistant Stage Management by Frank/ie

WHEN: April 23rd to May 17th, Tuesday – Saturday at 7:30pm, Saturday and Sunday at 1:30PM.

Preview Performances: April 23rd, 24th, 25th, 28th & 29th, 7:30PM

Opening Night: April 30th, 7:30PM

Where: Baillie Theatre at Soulpepper, 50 Tank House Lane

To purchase tickets: www.soulpepper.ca.