Chris talks with award-winning playwright Hannah Moscovitch about her unique childhood and how her socially engaged parents taught her to think critically about the world around her. She shares how sexual assault has been normalized in our culture and why she initially feared the audience’s reactions to her play “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes,”: which she wrote before the #MeToo movement. Hannah lets in on what it’s like to take the leap from the stage to the screen and write for...

A drama about a novelist and star professor who is tortured with self-loathing when he notices a pupil - a girl in a red coat. Jon finds himself amid another divorce, his third. He's grown bored with his job as a university lecturer and struggles to write his latest novel. Enter Annie, his attractive 19-year-old student and his super fan. She sits in the front row of his lectures and gazes at him with rapt attention. He can’t get her off his mind - until one day she shows up at his front door.

A drama about a novelist and star professor who is tortured with self-loathing when he notices a pupil - a girl in a red coat. Jon swears that he’s never been tempted by the college girl fantasy. But there's something different about Annie. She’s smart and a talented young writer brimming with potential that he can help unlock. He knows how older male writers tend to reduce young women into cliché objects of desire, but he tells himself that he’d never fall into that trap. He tries to resist...

A drama about a novelist and star professor who is tortured with self-loathing when he notices a pupil - a girl in a red coat. Time passes, and circumstances change. Turns out Annie is not just a good writer but a great one. Now in her 20s, she's an up-and-coming playwright, and from afar, Jon takes pride in following her success. After years apart, they meet In a hotel to catch up and share how their lives have unfolded while revisiting their forbidden past.

Laura talks with playwright Michele Riml, who shares what it’s like to write a show that has gone on to be an international hit for almost 20 years. She talks about why she wanted to write a play about the sex life of a long-term couple, the reason we don’t often see these kinds of relationships reflected on stage and the surprising effect the show has had on audience members. Michele also gives her secrets to writing a comedy and confesses what it feels like to find success as a writer.

A touching comedy about a middle-aged couple trying to reignite their sex life after 25 years of marriage. Alice has had it with her husband, Henry. She’s no longer willing to put up with a stale sexless marriage, so she hatches a plan to rev their romance. She convinces Henry to go with her to a swanky hotel to try and bring back some heat into their relationship. Armed with a copy of “Sex for Dummies,” Alice employs some intimacy exercises, including sharing fantasies to try and...

A touching comedy about a middle-aged couple trying to reignite their sex life after 25 years of marriage. Alice invites Henry to engage in an exercise that involves exploring each other’s bodies while blindfolded, but the exercise reveals more than sensuous pleasure. Alice discovers that Henry has been keeping a secret that’s made him grow distant. When Henry finally lets down his guard and shares his deep dark fantasy Alice isn’t ready to listen. It exposes insecurity within her that’s...

A touching comedy about a middle-aged couple trying to reignite their sex life after 25 years of marriage. Alice isn’t the only one who isn’t happy with their marriage. Henry has dreams and desires, but he keeps those thoughts to himself. He accuses Alice of blaming everything on him and not taking responsibility for her feelings of discontentment. Separately, Alice and Henry begin to fantasize about a life without each other and how it would feel to be single again. But Alice hasn’t...

Chris talks with award-winning playwright Christine Quintana, who shares what it was like being raised by a punk rock drummer in East Los Angeles before her family moved to British Columbia. She even has the claim to fame of being held as a baby by all of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She talks about why she wanted to write about teens and consent, how she incorporated some of her own youth into the show and the surprising reaction to the play by both teen and adult audiences.

A drama about three teens figuring out the complexities of relationships, community and the nature of consent. Emma’s selfies from her time in Paris make her summer look amazing. Her friend Lily has some serious FOMO but is glad to have her back. When Lily and her older brother Chris throw an epic party, the booze flows. It’s the perfect opportunity for Emma and Chris to share their feelings for each other. Especially after several drinks, in his bedroom, behind a closed door.

A drama about three teens figuring out the complexities of relationships, community and the nature of consent. A doctor’s appointment confirms that Emma was sexually assaulted at Chris and Lily’s party. Lily posts a photo of her older brother and Emma making out at the party, and Emma finds herself being tried in the court of public opinion. The police get involved as much of her school turns against her. Lily must choose to stand with her brother, or her best friend – but what is true, and...

A drama about three teens figuring out the complexities of relationships, community and the nature of consent. Emma, Chris and Lily all wish they could turn back time and rewrite events from the party where Emma and Chris hooked up. Emma confronts Chris and lets him know that not only does she not remember their encounter, but that she would have refused had she been able. Chris is devastated as he fully grasps the fallout from the party and his actions, and asks for forgiveness. Emma...

Laura talks with award-winning playwright and novelist Anosh Irani, who shares what it was like to move from Mumbai, India, in the 90s to Vancouver, Canada, to pursue his literary career. He talks about how certain compelling images from his past inform his work, why he searches for the wound in the characters he creates, and the realities of “making it” as a celebrated writer.

A heartbreaking, hilarious tale about a clown looking for love at the circus by Anosh Irani. Felix is no ordinary clown. He’s a strange creation of his own making. Born in the circus to the Flying Olga, he was quickly rejected by his mother, who’s more interested in becoming famous than raising a son. He looks for love in other places. He finds it in a ticket seller who teaches Felix to read. He finds it through Aja, the seamstress’ adopted daughter. He feels it so much for her he might...

A heartbreaking, hilarious tale about a clown looking for love at the circus by Anosh Irani. Felix’s love for Aja grows just as his parent's affection for each other fades. The Flying Olga wants a Mercedes and swimming pools, so she turns to The Great Gagoonda, who promises to fulfill her wildest dreams. All that Felix wants is to be loved, but Aja’s love is giving away all of her affection to the tentmaker's son. Felix drowns out his feelings with a bottle of wine and hatches a brilliant...

A heartbreaking, hilarious tale about a clown looking for love at the circus by Anosh Irani. What is it about mothers that makes it so hard to accept that they might not love us? Felix and Aja share their first kiss, and now she is planning a future with a house and a pool and kids. His world is starting to feel uncomfortably familiar. And even though he’s a clown, Felix is learning that not everything in life is a joke. That things and people aren’t exactly as they appear. And bringing kids...

Chris talks with award-winning playwright Andrea Scott who shares what it was like to bring iconic activist Viola Desmond to life within her play. She talks about how she worked to humanize Viola by drawing from her own experiences as a Black woman to help flesh out her real-life character’s emotional world and examine why heroes are often only appreciated in hindsight.

A drama about civil rights icon Viola Desmond by Andrea Scott. Viola is a young woman with big dreams. She was born to a white mother and a black father in 1914, uncommon at the time, so her very existence is controversial. Not willing to settle for the traditional role women were expected to play, Viola tries her hand at teaching but faces racism and unwanted sexual advances from her superiors. She finds her passion as a beautician and creator of makeup for Black women and wrestles with...

A drama about civil rights icon Viola Desmond by Andrea Scott. Viola has the magic touch of making other women look their best, and her beauty products for Black Women are selling like hotcakes. She’s an independent woman travelling all over Nova Scotia selling goods when her car broke down in New Glasgow one fateful day in 1946. She decides to take in a movie to pass the time and inadvertently sits in the ”‘all-whites” section of the theatre, changing the course of her life and history.

A drama about civil rights icon Viola Desmond by Andrea Scott. After getting arrested and spending the night in jail, Viola is confronted with the gut-wrenching decision to fight her conviction. Should she risk her popular business to make a fuss? And what will happen to her already strained marriage? But Viola knows there’s more to be gained than the right to sit at the front of a movie theatre. And she’s about to discover the consequences for being brave enough to put up a fight against...

Laura talks to celebrated playwright and performer Daniel MacIvor, who shares what it was like growing up as a gay kid in the 70s in Cape Breton and how it influenced his writing. He talks about why being raised on an island has made him more aware of endings, how he modelled the protagonist of his play in New Magic Valley Fun Town after his real-life brother and why he’s drawn to creating characters who struggle with mental health.

By Daniel MacIvor. Dougie is excited and maybe a little nervous as he prepares his mobile home in Cape Breton for a party with his childhood best friend. He hasn’t seen Allen in 30 years, and if Facebook is to be believed, he’s now a fit university professor who, unlike Dougie, still has his hair. Dougie’s church-going ex-wife Cheryl and their depressed adult daughter Sandy are there for the reunion. They bicker as they prep the booze and snacks for Allen’s arrival when Sandy upsets Dougie...

By Daniel MacIvor. After much anticipation, Allen arrives at Dougie’s mobile home in Cape Breton for a reunion after a 30-year absence. When Allen opts for water instead of alcohol, Dougie and Cheryl get nervous that they might be in for an awkward night. Allen finally agrees to a rum and coke, much to their relief, and he and Dougie catch up until Dougie decides he needs to get something off his chest.

By Daniel MacIvor. Dougie’s old friend Allen has a surprise for him. A piece of nostalgia from their childhood delights his ex-wife and daughter but makes Dougie uncomfortable. They decide to knock back some drinks and turn up the music, and the party becomes a raucous night of dancing and flirting. Tempers flare, insults are hurled, and Sandy crosses a line. She digs for the real reason Allen has come back home after so many years.