Soulpepper Theatre Company has once again teamed up with the Stratford Festival to bring one of its most popular shows from summer 2023 to Toronto audiences. Casey and Diana, written by Nick Green and directed by Andrew Kushnir, looks at the visit of Princess Diana to Toronto’s Casey House through the eyes of one of its residents, Thomas. Capturing an important part of Toronto’s queer history, as well as honouring the groundbreaking organization who took care of these men, Casey and Diana is a moving piece of theatre that you simply must see.

Casey and Diana recounts the story of Princess Diana’s visit in October of 1991. We meet Thomas, who has been a resident of Casey House for the past five months. Thomas has just been paired with a new roommate, Andre, when they’re finally told the news that Princess Diana will be visiting in just 7 days time. We go through the dramatic ups and downs of that week with Thomas and Andre: Thomas gains strength and rallies his fellow residents to get ready for the royal visit, while Andre struggles with his health and accepting his need to stay at a place like Casey House. Nurse Vera and volunteer Marjorie do their best to both encourage them while also keeping them comfortable until the Royal visit. Meanwhile, Thomas’ estranged sister Pauline begins to make appearances, which Thomas initially believes are due to the impending visit from Diana. While they’re able to repair their relationship over the week, there are still moments where fear gets the best of Pauline and old wounds are open anew. Culminating in Princess Diana’s visit, Casey and Diana is a beautiful and realistic snapshot of the time: the fear, the uncertainty in some ways and certainty in others, the excitement, and the despair.

Before I saw the show, I listened to “With Dignity: The Story of Casey House”: a podcast narrated by Casey and Diana’s author Nick Green about the founding of Casey House and how it’s evolved to what it is today. Casey House was the first stand-alone treatment facility for people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as the province’s first stand-alone hospice. I was thankful to go into the play with this background knowledge; I found that I was still totally emotionally invested in the show, while also understanding what Casey House was and where in their history this monumental event was happening. I highly recommend giving it a listen if you’re planning on seeing the show, and even if you’re not, it’s a great way to learn about an incredible piece of this city’s queer history.

I was so touched to see the quilt from Casey House from 1991 in the lobby of the Young Centre. Every year, volunteers at Casey House would make a quilt, like the massive AIDS quilt in the US, with patches containing the names of the residents who had passed away. It’s a concrete visual representation of the loss which was felt year after year. There is also an interactive portion where you can use a sticky note and write a message to the lovely people currently working at Casey House, continuing the fight against HIV/AIDS. I hope that if you go and see the show, you get there a little early to take part in these thoughtful and meaningful elements they have for us to experience.

Joshua Quinlan’s set and costume design for Casey and Diana totally hit the mark for me. I love the inclusion of June Callwood’s desk, with its candle burning for the residents who had passed. The stained-glass windows and peaked ceiling of the Victorian-era house which initially housed Casey House is an immediately recognizable aesthetic. As are the costumes which thrust me back to the early days of my childhood immediately! In particular, you can see the attention to detail which went into Diana’s costumes; they are note perfect for what the Princess actually wore on her visit (check out the Casey House website for some photos). Everything down to Pauline’s perm was peak 90’s and truly immerses the audience in the world of the story.

The heart of Casey and Diana is, without a doubt, the impressive and moving performances given by its truly stellar cast. Sean Arbuckle stars as Thomas, and he gives a performance which is equal parts sass and heart-wrenching sadness. From his physicality to his comedic timing, Arbuckle gives his all to this role and you can feel it every moment he’s on stage. Davinder Malhi plays his roommate, Andre. Malhi’s performance is nuanced and spirited, while also acting as a perfect foil to Arbuckle. Sophia Walker and Linda Kash give passionate and powerful performances as Vera and Marjorie; the struggle between the love they feel for their patients but the distance they have to keep is so evident throughout the production. Laura Condlln’s Pauline is brilliant; her major monologue in the second act is so full of emotion it’s impossible not to cry along with her. Completing the cast is Katherine Gauthier as Diana. She embodies the people’s princess to perfection, giving us all of the mannerisms we’ve come to know while making the role her own.

I’m crying again as I’m writing this review; the emotions of this play I don’t think will leave me for a while. I was thankful for the tiny pack of tissues in my bag, as it wasn’t just me who was sniffling throughout the show and I passed some on to the folks beside me. Casey and Diana captures our hearts through this engaging piece of history, and absolutely needs to be witnessed. I’m so glad it’s made its way home to Toronto and I hope to see it live several more lives after this. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.soulpepper.ca/performances/caseyanddiana

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Cover Photo: Sean Arbuckle and Katherine Gauthier. Photo by Dahlia Katz

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