John Van Burek News

Pleiades Theatre has revealed that the world premiere of Tyson's Song will star Kyle Brown as Tyson, and Jamar Adams-Thompson as Bryan. Learn more about the show and see how to purchase tickets!

Respected Canadian theatre producer, director, and Pleiades Theatre Artistic Producer Andrey Tarasiuk died unexpectedly, but peacefully, at his home in Stratford, Ontario on Wednesday, June 28. He was 71 years of age.

The company's 25th anniversary season, PERSPECTIVES, POWER, and PRIVILEGE is a curated program of staged readings that reflect on plays of past seasons, delve into new work, and allow for meaningful dialogue between Toronto and the GTA'S independent performing arts companies that share a mandate with Pleiades of culturally-focused play development.

The Stratford Festival is putting the finishing touches on casting and will soon open its box office for a special holiday pre-sale for tickets to the 13 exciting shows of the 2023 season. With savings up to 25%, this is a perfect opportunity to secure tickets for your favourite shows or buy gifts for the theatre-lovers on your list.

Just as the 2022 season comes to a close, work for the 2023 season is getting underway at the Stratford Festival. Creative teams for next year's productions are coming into place and the casting department is busy confirming key roles for the season. Soon the workshops will be abuzz with artisans building the season's sets, props and costumes.

Arts Umbrella, a leading non-profit committed to youth arts education, has launched Stagecraft - the only program in Western Canada whose curriculum is focused entirely on teaching young creatives about live event, film and theatre production.

What are the essential qualities that make people who they are? What are the ties that bind us together, emotionally and physically? Is memory crucial to continuing a relationship, or does love conquer all? These are some of the questions asked in LESSON IN FORGETTING, Emma Haché’s heart-wrenching play that is getting its English-language premiere from Pleiades Theatre at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

Andrey Tarasiuk, Artistic Producer of Pleiades Theatre, today announced the English language world premiere of Lesson in Forgetting by Emma Haché, commissioned by Pleiades and translated by Taliesin McEnaney with John Van Burek, running live on stage from May 3 to 22 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

Michel Tremblay and André Brassard, who altered the face of Canadian theatre in 1968 with the explosive premiere of Les Belles-Soeurs, at Montreal's Théâtre du Rideau Vert, have been named the joint recipients of this year's Herbert Whittaker Award. The biennial award, from the Canadian Theatre Critics Association, honours individuals for outstanding long-term contributions to the Canadian stage. 

For three decades, Ruby Slippers Theatre's two-tiered mandate has 1. Furthered the voices of women / diverse people on the femme spectrum and 2. Strengthened cross- cultural diversity on the west coast by premiering Quebec works in English translation.

A new line-up of plays and much more were revealed at Centaur Theatre's 49th season launch this afternoon.

A new line-up of plays and much more were revealed at Centaur Theatre's 49th season launch this afternoon.

From October 12 - November 6, Pleiades Theatre, in co-production with Theatre francais de Toronto, presents the Toronto premiere of The (Post) Mistress (in English, from October 25 to November 6) and Zesty Gopher s'est fait ecraser par un frigo (in French, from October 12 to 23), the latest musical by Canada's acclaimed First Nations' playwright, Tomson Highway.  

This 2016-2017 season, eight professional theatre companies at the core of the local indie scene, satisfy a vast range of tastes and interests with stories that stimulate imagination, understanding, discussion and change. English-speaking audiences can become acquainted with French playwrights or young students can take their first step in a life-long appreciation of theatre. Homegrown plays, lauded nationally and abroad, are presented by some companies while others play cultural ambassadors and tour their offerings inside and outside the province. Fact-based productions bring Canadian history to vivid life or delve into stories of other countries and cultures. Theatre-goers will experience characters' challenges and triumphs, embark on spiritual, emotional and historical journeys, see life through the eyes of the disenfranchised and the persecuted, or explore issues of sexuality, freedom, and power. An alphabetical list, by company, follows.

From October 12 - November 6, Pleiades Theatre, in co-production with Theatre francais de Toronto, presents the Toronto premiere of The (Post) Mistress (in English, from October 25 to November 6) and Zesty Gopher s'est fait ecraser par un frigo (in French, from October 12 to 23), the latest musical by Canada's acclaimed First Nations' playwright, Tomson Highway.  

From October 12 - November 6, Pleiades Theatre, in co-production with Theatre francais de Toronto, presents the Toronto premiere of The (Post) Mistress (in English, from October 25 to November 6) and Zesty Gopher s'est fait ecraser par un frigo (in French, from October 12 to 23), the latest musical by Canada's acclaimed First Nations' playwright, Tomson Highway.  

Today, Theatre francais de Toronto (TfT) is pleased to announce the seven productions that will make up its 2016/17 season. This is the final season programmed by Guy Mignault (who will step down in June 2016 after 19 years as Artistic Director) and will be overseen by Joel Beddows, incoming Artistic Director.

Artistic and Executive Director, Roy Surette, assures that theatre lovers will be SWEPT AWAY by Centaur Theatre's 48th season.

Montreal's home for Canadian Theatre, Tableau D'Hote Theatre, returns for its ninth season with the Montreal English premiere of Michel Tremblay's internationally-renowned classic, HOSANNA, translated into English by John Van Burek and Bill Glassco. This landmark Quebecois play about identity in crisis, makes a city comeback 40 years after it first hit the stage in a new production directed by Tableau D'Hote Artistic Director, Mike Payette and starring Eloi ArchamBaudoin and Davide Chiazzese. Hosanna plays at the Mainline Theatre (3997 Saint-Laurent) from tonight, March 17 to 29, 2015.

Montreal's home for Canadian Theatre, Tableau D'Hote Theatre, returns for its ninth season with the Montreal English premiere of Michel Tremblay's internationally-renowned classic, HOSANNA, translated into English by John Van Burek and Bill Glassco. This landmark Quebecois play about identity in crisis, makes a city comeback 40 years after it first hit the stage in a new production directed by Tableau D'Hote Artistic Director, Mike Payette and starring Eloi ArchamBaudoin and Davide Chiazzese. Hosanna plays at the Mainline Theatre (3997 Saint-Laurent) from March 17 to 29, 2015.