PREVIOUS PRODUCTIONS
Panoply’s past work includes many fully staged shows, several workshop events, our play reading series, our summer youth programming, and more!
PROVE A VILLAIN- Summer 2024
Prove a Villain is Panoply’s radical reimagining of Shakespeare’s Richard III, examining a queer woman’s doomed venture to succeed within the bounds of the patriarchy. By removing Shakespeare’s ableist language and themes surrounding disabilities and differently-abled bodies, Panoply wrote new text to supplement Shakespeare’s canon, and this new piece tells a story of shame, womanhood, and the cyclical nature of oppression.
Please see our note on ableism and adaptation for further insights about this production.
Our new adaptation of this historic tragedy continued our partnership with Bard in the Park, and this show ran in June 2024 with shows in the beautiful Kew Gardens Park and at the Historical John McKenzie House in North York with support from the Willowdale Central Ratepayers Association and the Ontario Historic Society.
Photos by Elisabeth Bragale/FullHaus Productions. Design by Kenzia Dalie.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Summer 2023
Our new adaptation of the Dream continued our partnership with Bard in the Park! Magic, mischief, and mayhem were abundant in our gender-explorative, fairy-centric version of the Bard’s hilarious play. With scenes reshaped, stories edited, and new text added to the play, this production of Midsummer was an instant Panoply classic!
This show launched in the Beaches in June 2023, and then toured to the Historical John McKenzie House in North York with support from the Willowdale Central Ratepayers Association and the Ontario Historic Society in September 2023.
Photos by Elisabeth Bragale/FullHaus Productions. Design by Kenzia Dalie.
LOVESICK - Summer 2022
Our new adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost was presented with Bard in the Park in Toronto’s beautiful east end. The Beaches community was brought to life with this silly, smart retelling of Shakespeare’s bittersweet comedy. This show about holding onto hope in hard times was truly a labour of love!
Photos by Elisabeth Bragale; Design by Kenzia Dalie.
Peter Pan - Summer 2022
Panoply continued our summer youth partnership with Ovation! Performing Arts Academy to bring our own adaptation of Peter Pan to the stage for the first time! Working with an ensemble cast of professional actors and an elite troupe of young local performers, this version of J.M. Barrie’s tale of the Neverland wove in the witty stage directions from the author which are present in the original play text, and explored the rich themes of imagination and adolescence in a hilariously heartfelt production.
Design by Paige Madsen
A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Summer 2021
Panoply partnered with Ovation! Performing Arts Academy to create a vibrant new production of Shakespeare’s class tale of magic and miscommunication. The show featured an ensemble cast of professional actors and an elite troupe of young local performers! Our new adaptation of Dream brought to light the many wondrous and strange elements of the story. The show was presented in a beautiful park in Richmond Hill, ON, and was also featured as part of Motus O Dance Theatre’s 31st Anniversary Festival onstage in Mount Forest, ON.
Design by Sienna Singh.
Lovesick Workshop - Fall 2020
An abridged adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost set the story during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lovesick told the story of a group young people as they longed to find love and intimacy from a safe distance. Performed outdoors at the Toronto Music Garden at the beautiful city harbourfront, Lovesick explored how people can stay connected when they’re forced to keep apart.
Photos by Steve Lanksy; Design by Isabelle Ellis.
Peter Pan Audio Drama - Summer 2020
A new adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan presented as an audio drama by a full cast. Gender roles, adolescence, and independence are all explored in this uplifting retelling of the classic tale. The production was rehearsed & recorded fully online and presented digitally during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. All proceeds went to support the Toronto-based organization Black Women in Motion. The show is hosted on YouTube & SoundCloud. Check out more about this production HERE.
The Bacchae - Winter 2020
This epic re-telling of Euripides’ classical Greek tragedy set the story against the backdrop of the Riot Grrl feminist music movement, reframed from the perspective of the female characters. A fast-paced, punk-infused production set in the Supermarket Bar in Kensington Market.
Photos by Amelia Blaine. Design by Augusta Monet.
Romeo & Juliet - Summer 2019
A movement-based, Italian-infused production of the quintessential tragedy set in the romantic courtyard of St. George by the Grange. Co-produced with Mixtape Projects, Romeo and Juliet replaced iconic text with witty Italian translations and explored the piece through stylized movement.
Photos by Stefi Kopp; Design by Amelia Blaine
Macbeth: More than Man - Winter & Spring 2019
Using original practices (rehearsal methods similar to those of Elizabethan England theatre troupes) this dynamic ensemble explored and subverted themes of gender, power and corruption. Macbeth: More Than Man was originally set in the stunning great hall of St George by the Grange and later remounted at the 2019 Parados Festival.
Photos by Liz Colleran; Design by Amelia Blaine
Much Ado About Nothing - Summer 2018
Our inaugural production set the proverbial (and literal!) stage for Panoply! This lively and heartfelt production of Much Ado took place at Riverdale Park West, assembling friends, family and park-goers alike to experience our collective for the first time.
Photos and Design by Amelia Blaine