The Surrogate – Here For Now Theatre in Association with Crow’s Theatre, House and Body, and b current Performing Arts
From award-winning author, Mohsin Zaidi (A Dutiful Boy), comes a gripping debut drama that explodes the notions of contemporary parenthood.
Jake and Sameer have spent years preparing for this moment—the birth of their first child.
But when Marya, their surrogate, is admitted to the hospital with complications, legal, ethical, and personal battles force the couple to confront questions they never expected: Who gets to decide what makes a family? And at what cost?
Set over the course of a single sleepless night, The Surrogate is a 21st-century exploration of privilege, and the complexities of modern family-making in a world where the rules are still being written.
February 14 – March 29
The Studio Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest – 345 Carlaw Ave
https://www.crowstheatre.com/shows-events/the-surrogate
The Drowsy Chaperone – Shifting Ground Collective
A Broadway fanatic, alone in his armchair, pulls out his favourite record: a full-length live recording of the 1920s Broadway hit “The Drowsy Chaperone”, an old-school laugh-a-minute, sparkles and sequins, everyone falls in love kind of musical. The needle drops. The overture picks up. And the musical – quite literally – comes to life.
Created in Toronto in 1999, The Drowsy Chaperone is Canada’s first Broadway hit musical, charting a path from the Toronto Fringe, to its professional debut at Theatre Passe Muraille, to Toronto’s Winter Garden, to Broadway and the rest of the world. And now, for the first time in 27 years, Shifting Ground Collective brings Drowsy home to Theatre Passe Muraille!
A loving send-up of 1920s musical comedy that offers glamorous showgirls, dancing mobsters, multiple weddings, and more: The Drowsy Chaperone is a gut-busting celebration of the art we call our favourite – and how the love of a special something makes dealing with life a little easier.
March 7 – 21
Theatre Passe Muraille – 16 Ryerson Avenue
https://shiftinggroundcollective.com/drowsy/
Queen Maeve – Tarragon Theatre
A woman in a nursing home has seemingly made no impact on the world. Her secret is that she is actually the great Irish Warrior Queen Maeve, reincarnated into one of many deceptive forms.
From her bedroom, she confronts her past, losses she’s suffered, and mistakes she’s made in the name of love. Judith Thompson returns to Tarragon Theatre with her newest play, a masterwork of storytelling featuring Canadian theatre icon, Clare Coulter as Queen Maeve. Moving, heartbreaking, and beautiful, Queen Maeve intertwines magic with reality, and asks what it means to face your ‘twilight years’ with a sword in your hand.
March 3 – 29
Tarragon Theatre Mainspace – 30 Bridgman Ave
https://tarragontheatre.com/plays/2025-2026/queen-maeve/
A Mirror – ARC
Dear Guests: It is with great pleasure that Leyla and Joel invite you to celebrate their marriage this March. Dress code – informal, ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m., followed by the exchange of vows. And at our signal, the entertainment begins.
March 10 – 28
918 Bathurst Centre – 918 Bathurst
https://arcstage.com/happening-next/a-mirror/
An IMM-Permanent Resident – Nautanki Bazaar, in association with Factory Theatre
If love travels the seven seas, who’s an Immigration Officer to disagree?
A comedy infused with Bollywood elements, An IMM-Permanent Resident is a hilarious take on the mundane and tiresome bureaucracy of the Canadian Immigration process, as experienced by playwrights and real-life couple, Himanshu and Neha. The play explores the irreverent journey to obtain Neha’s PR status, including the couple’s trials and tribulations as they put their hopes and dreams on pause (indefinitely). Through wit and creative banter, this fast-paced roller coaster transports us between Mumbai and Toronto, as Neha and Himanshu navigate the immigration system and ask themselves – is love worth it all?
March 12 – 22
Factory Theatre – 125 Bathurst St
https://www.factorytheatre.ca/shows/an-imm-permanent-resident/
Kathryn: A Life Almosting
Across 1950s jazz salons and Broadway backstages, Kathryn sings, stumbles, self-medicates—and ultimately rewrites the terms of her own life.
A one-woman musical celebrating the rich and ultimately triumphant life of Kathryn Albertson.
From the bright lights of Broadway through seasons of struggle and reinvention, Kathryn: A Life Almosting, unfolds as a joyous and moving journey.
With an original score, it is a love letter to song, resilience and the enduring bond between mother and daughter.
March 17 – April 5
Red Sandcastle Theatre – 922 Queen St E
https://kathrynthemusical.com/
Kill Your Father – Expandido Theatre
Medea, a tragedy by Euripides, first performed in 431 BC, is one of the most powerful and best-known female characters in the history of theatre. A remarkable story of injustice and ruthless revenge.
A woman that transgresses from mother to anti-mother through the ultimate rebellious act of murdering her children – she is famous for challenging the patriarchy; however, the play was performed by men and only for men in the audience.
It’s time to change this narrative!
March 19 – 29
Theatre Passe Muraille – 16 Ryerson Ave
Julie – Icarus Theatre
A seductive dance of power and pain unfolds when Julie leaves her late-night party with London’s elite, opting instead to spend the night with her father’s driver. What follows is a savage fight for survival. Vicious and unrelentingly relevant, Julie is Polly Stenham’s critically acclaimed 2018 adaptation of Strindberg’s 1888 classic Miss Julie, reframed for today’s world.
March 19 – 18
Tarragon Theatre Extraspace – 30 Bridgman Ave
https://www.icarustheatre.ca/season2526
Anywhere – One Four One Collective and Leroy Street Theatre
Over the course of one late night, an unnerving battle for control unfolds between an AirBnB host, Joy, and her guest, Liz. As the real-time power struggle ensues, the two strangers are forced to confront difficult truths about class disparities and the search for meaning in an indifferent, violent world.
This production features an intriguing twist: each actor will play both parts in this two-character drama, alternating roles from performance to performance.
March 22 – April 2
The Assembly Theatre – 1479 Queen St. W.
https://www.theassemblytheatre.com/anywhere
The Cyclops – Talk Is Free Theatre
“The Cyclops”, Euripides’ only surviving Satyr Play, is incomplete, half-translatable, and reads like someone trying to remember The Odyssey after downing a whole bottle of ouzo. So that’s exactly what this Satyr is going to do. This is not a Greek play, this is an interactive, queer, techno-pop fever dream of the night before: karaoke, drunk texts, bar fights and all. It asks the important questions like, “what if a goat and a man had a child?” and, “how did a goat and a man have a child?” Every day, people choose between feeding the monster or saving the stranger, but this Satyr refuses to pick. He’s going to make you do it.
March 17 – April 4
B Street – 1100 Bathurst Street, Toronto
https://www.tift.ca/shows/cyclops-a-satyr-play-2
Thank you to my Patrons:
Natalia, Steve, Brendan, Deborah, Eleanor, and Phil
And to my supporters who’ve bought me a coffee:
Angelica and Paul, Anonymous, Adrianna, Caitlin, Jonathan, Jada, and Courtney
Would you like to become a Patron? Check out my Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/AViewfromtheBox
Or, you can buy me a coffee at: buymeacoffee.com/aviewfromthebox
A View from the Box 