A PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION

Jonathan Wilson, photographed by Kevin Connery

Written & Performed by Jonathan Wilson
Directed by Mark McGrinder

March 25 – April 20, 2025

Crow’s Theatre
Studio Theatre
345 Carlaw Avenue

Single tickets on sale Monday, June 3, 2024

Mixing history, comedy, and poignant reflection in equal measure, A Public Display of Affection, Jonathan Wilson’s deeply personal solo show, excavates the lives, loves, and landmarks of his queer youth on the streets of Toronto.

Deftly inhabiting a cavalcade of characters, Wilson leads us on a wry and intimate exploration of the Village he once knew, the legacy it created, and the future being forged by a new generation.

The Second City veteran and Dora Award-winning actor Jonathan Wilson (The Lion King, The Normal Heart, Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay) presents a bracing companion piece to his Dora-nominated, playwriting debut, My Own Private Oshawa

Written & performed by Jonathan Wilson
Directed by Mark McGrinder

Company

Jonathan Wilson

Playwright & Performer

For Studio 180: My Night With RegThe Normal Heart; Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish. Past theatre work includes the Canadian premiere of The Lion King (Dora Award – The Princess of Wales Theatre) and performances in his own play My Own Private Oshawa (Governor General’s Award nominee, Dora/Chalmers Nomination – Tarragon Theatre, New Yorker Theatre). Jonathan was also a writer and performer with The Second City for six shows (Dora Nomination). Other theatre credits include The Drowsy ChaperoneMoonlight and Magnolias (Sudbury Theatre Centre); The Clockmaker (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Possible WorldsThe Duchess (Theatre Passe Muraille); Not To Be RepeatedMedici Slot Machine (Tarragon Extra Space); Cinderella (The Elgin Theatre); This Could Be Love (The Poor Alex); and Annie Get Your Gun (Massey Hall). Jonathan was also writer in residence at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto where he wrote the play Kilt (Dora/New York Drama Desk nominations), which has had over 20 productions around the world. TV and film credits include Not To Be Repeated (CTV/The Comedy Network), My Own Private Oshawa (Gemini Nomination – CTV), Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye (Pax Network/CTV), Murdoch Mysteries (CityTV), This Is Wonderland (CBC), Life With Derek (Family) and Monk (USA Network), as well as hundreds of voices for animated series including SkatoonyIggy Arbuckle (Gemini Nomination), Pearlie and Little Bear.


Mark McGrinder

Mark McGrinder

Director

For Studio 180: (as director) Four Minutes Twelve Seconds; (as an actor) The Laramie Project, Stuff Happens, Our Class, Parade, Clybourne Park, You Will Remember Me, The Nether & Oslo. Mark is the Artistic Director of Studio 180 Theatre. His Studio 180 performing credits include Oslo, The Nether, You Will Remember Me, Clybourne Park and Stuff Happens. He has been a director and/or dramaturg(e) for many of Studio 180’s IN DEVELOPMENT projects and, as the program’s coordinator, has worked to connect creators with the appropriate collaborators required to bring their visions to the stage. He adapted and directed Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish for PANAMANIA, directed Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays and worked as Associate Director for Blackbird, God of Carnage and Studio 180’s 10th Anniversary reading of The Laramie Project. Mark was a member of the acting ensemble at the Shaw Festival for five seasons and he performed in several reviews with The Second City’s National touring company. He has been head or co-writer on several collective creations (Single and Sexy, That Artz Show and The Berlin Show) and his play MacHamlet was presented as part of the Alumnae Theatre’s New Ideas Festival. As an artist educator he has worked with high school, college and university students in and beyond the GTA and is continually inspired by the passion and vision of the young artists he has had the good fortune to connect with.