Past Productions

Launched in 2003.

Ever since our acclaimed Canadian premiere of The Laramie Project in 2003, Studio 180 has been committed to providing powerful experiences that examine political and social issues and invite audiences to analyze and explore with us.

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THE CHINESE LADY

May 2–21, 2023

Tuesday- Saturday at 8:00 PM; Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM

Please note that masks are mandatory at all Tuesday evening and Sunday matinee performances, in accordance with Crow’s Theatre’s Health & Safety Commitment.

By Lloyd Suh
Directed by Marjorie Chan
Studio 180 Theatre and fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company in association with Crow’s Theatre

Studio Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest
345 Carlaw Ave, Toronto, ON M4M 2T1

Afong Moy is 14 years old when she’s brought to the United States from Guangzhou Province in 1834. Purportedly the first Chinese woman to set foot on U.S. soil, she has been put on display for the American public as “The Chinese Lady.” As the decades wear on, her celebrated sideshow comes to define and challenge her very sense of identity. Alternatingly dark, poetic, and whimsical, the play is a searing portrait of Western culture seen through the eyes of a young Chinese woman.

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Indecent

October 14 – November 6, 2022

By Paula Vogel
Directed by Joel Greenberg
Presented by David Mirvish as part of the Off-Mirvish Series

CAA Theatre
651 Yonge Street, Toronto

In 1923, after highly celebrated and groundbreaking productions in Europe, Sholem Asch’s drama God of Vengeance finally opens on Broadway. What European audiences had found brilliant, dazzling and moving, Broadway audiences respond with shock and disgust. The entire cast is arrested and charged with obscenity. Suddenly this evocative work of Jewish culture that explores religious hypocrisy among other social issues, is a cause célèbre. Indecent takes us behind-the-scenes to tell the true story of this forgotten controversy. The play explores the nature of theatre, anti-Semitism, censorship, politics, homophobia and true love.

Matt Baram and the company of Indecent, photo by Cylla von Tiedemann
Tracy Michailidis and Jessica Greenberg in Indecent, photo by Cylla von Tiedemann
Tracy Michailidis, Jessica Greenberg and Nicholas Rice in Indecent, photo by Cylla von Tiedemann

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MY SISTER’S RAGE

October 11 – November 6, 2022

Written and Directed by Yolanda Bonnell
Tarragon Theatre in association with Studio 180 Theatre and T.O. Live

When their Matriarch ends up in a coma, a ma’iingan-wolf clan family gathers together to work through their collective grief and begin to heal from an incident in the past. While the Aunties camp out in the hospital room, the younger cousins spend their time at the Grandmother’s house by the backyard firepit; all while being circled by a cackling crow jokester.

As the veil between the ancestral plane and the earthly realm gets thinner, tensions and emotions are high and vulnerabilities are exposed, revealing the true strength and resilience of the ma’iingan kwe.

Yolanda Bonnell’s My Sister’s Rage is a story about the nuances of holding trauma and joy at the same time and how laughter is medicine.

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A Public Display Of Affection

June 3–5, 2022

By Jonathan Wilson
Directed by Moze Mossanen

In Person at The Paradise Cinema
And Streaming Online

Mixing comedy, history and poignant reflection in equal measure, Wilson’s deeply personal solo show excavates the lives, loves, and landmarks of his youth. A bracing companion piece to My Own Private Oshawa, A Public Display of Affection looks back on Wilson’s time as a teen drop-out in Toronto in the late 70s and early 80s and the challenges faced (as well as the community formed) in the face of persecution, ostracization and the onset of the AIDS pandemic. Join Jonathan Wilson on an intimate exploration of the Village he knew, the legacy it left, and the future being forged by a new generation.

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Sweat

January 14 – February 2, 2020

By Lynn Nottage
Directed by David Storch

Co-Production with Canadian Stage

Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre
26 Berkeley Street, Toronto

For twenty years, a group of friends working at a steel mill decompress at the local bar. When rumors surface that the company is considering layoffs and flyers are hung to recruit non-union workers for less money, the war between community and capitalism begins and tensions start destroying not only jobs, but also relationships.

Ordena Stephens-Thompson, Ron Lea and Kelli Fox in Sweat, photo by John Lauener
Ron Lea and Peter N. Bailey in Sweat, photo by John Lauener
Jhonattan Ardila and Kelli Fox in Sweat, photo by John Lauener

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Oslo

February 9 – March 3, 2019

By J.T. Rogers
Directed by Joel Greenberg
Presented by David Mirvish as part of the Off-Mirvish Series

In 1993, in front of the world’s press, the leaders of Israel and Palestine shook hands on the lawn of the White House. Few watching would have guessed that the negotiations leading up to this iconic moment started secretly in a castle in the middle of a forest outside Oslo.

An edge-of-your-seat, witty, juicy & thrilling Tony-winning drama! Joel Greenberg’s crackling production … an excellent cast.

The Globe and Mail (★★★☆)

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The Nether

October 11 – November 4, 2018

By Jennifer Haley
Directed by Peter Pasyk
Co-Production with Coal Mine Theatre

In the immersive virtual world of the Nether, guests can log in, assume an identity and indulge their darkest desires. A serpentine crime drama and haunting sci-fi thriller, The Nether explores the consequences of living out one’s private dreams.

Hannah Levinson and David Storch in ‘The Nether.’ Photo: Tim Leyes
Robert Persichini as ‘Doyle.’ Photo: Tim Leyes
Hannah Levinson and David Storch in ‘The Nether.’ Photo: Tim Leyes

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King Charles III

February 10 – March 4, 2018

By Mike Bartlett
Directed by Joel Greenberg

David Mirvish presents a Studio 180 Theatre production

CAA Theatre (formerly the Panasonic), 651 Yonge St, Toronto

Charles. Camilla. William. Kate. Harry. One family holds the future of Great Britain in its hands. But what will the future be? The Queen is dead. The “King-in-waiting” finally ascends the throne. Defying centuries of tradition, Charles boldly attempts to reassert the crown’s power, landing himself – and his country – in a royal mess.

Mike Bartlett’s flat-out brilliant portrait of a monarchy in crisis.

The New York Times

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My Name Is Asher Lev

November 4–26, 2017

By Aaron Posner
Adapted from the novel by Chaim Potok
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Gerald Sheff & Shanitha Kachan present a co-production with Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company

Greenwin Theatre
Toronto Centre for the Arts
5040 Yonge Street, Toronto

A young Jewish artist is torn between his Hasidic upbringing and his desperate need to fulfill his creative promise. As his genius threatens to destroy his relationship with his parents and community, he must make a difficult choice between art and faith.

Jonas Chernick in My Name Is Asher Lev. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Ron Lea, Sarah Orenstein and Jonas Chernick in My Name Is Asher Lev. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Sarah Orenstein and Jonas Chernick in My Name is Asher Lev. Photo by Dahlia Katz.

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My Night With Reg

February 10–26, 2017

By Kevin Elyot
Directed by Joel Greenberg

David Mirvish presents a Studio 180 Theatre production

Panasonic Theatre
651 Yonge St, Toronto

At Guy’s London flat, old friends and new gather to party through the night. This is the summer of 1985, and for Guy and his circle the world is about to change forever. Deliciously funny and bittersweet, My Night With Reg captures the fragility of friendship, happiness and life itself.

British drama doesn’t get better than this.

Evening Standard

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You Will Remember Me

March 1 – April 10, 2016

By François Archambault
Translated by Bobby Theodore
Directed by Joel Greenberg

A co-production with Tarragon Theatre

Tarragon Theatre Mainspace
30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto

How will you be remembered? How will you choose to remember those you love? As the aging patriarch of a modern family – a university professor, political and intellectual force, and long-time sovereigntist – suffers from dementia, the people who love him struggle to make room in their lives for his care.

R.H. Thomson, Michela Cannon, Nancy Palk, Kimwun Perehinec and Mark McGrinder in You Will Remember Me. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.
R.H. Thomson and Nancy Palk in You Will Remember Me. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.
Kimwun Perehinec and R.H. Thomson in You Will Remember Me. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.

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Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish

July 16, 2015

By David Rakoff
Adapted and Directed by Mark McGrinder

Co-Presented with Panamania and Presented by CIBC

Fleck Dance Theatre
207 Queens Quay West, Toronto

Studio 180 Theatre paid tribute to essayist, humourist and national treasure David Rakoff with a concert staging of his whimsical and deeply moving portrait of life in the 20th century.

An extraordinarily and deliriously entertaining work… Heartfelt, charmingly profound… [A] giddy, wistful triumph.

New York Times Book Review

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NSFW

November 7–30, 2014

By Lucy Kirkwood
Directed by Joel Greenberg

The Theatre Centre
1115 Queen Street West, Toronto

Doghouse – a tawdry men’s magazine – traffics in titillation, while Electra – an elegant women’s publication – caters to the notion of empowerment. But their contrasting visions of ideal femininity might just have an equally savage effect.

Sharp, funny. An edgy little satire about the continuing exploitation of women by and in the media, and the hypocrisy of those involved. Recommended.

Toronto Star ★★★.5

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Cock

April 4–27, 2014

By Mike Bartlett
Directed by Joel Greenberg

The Theatre Centre
1115 Queen Street West, Toronto

Mike Bartlett’s punchy comedic drama puts you ringside as John wages war with his lovers, himself and a society that demands an answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Andrew Kushnir and Jeff Miller in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Jeff Miller and Andrew Kushnir in Cock. Photo by Karri North.
Andrew Kushnir and Jeff Miller in Cock. Photo by Karri North.

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God of Carnage

November 23 – December 15, 2013

By Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Presented by David Mirvish as part of OFF-MIRVISH: The Second Stage Series

Panasonic Theatre

Benjamin and Henry have had a fight. Their parents are meeting for a civil discussion of the incident. At least that’s the plan. Tensions flare, and the gloves come off in this hilarious, Tony award–winning comedy that strikes at the heart of bourgeois civility and reveals the savagery beneath the polished facade of polite society.

Linda Kash and Tony Nappo in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
Linda Kash and Tony Nappo in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.

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Clybourne Park

February 12 – March 3, 2013

By Bruce Norris
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Presented by David Mirvish as part of OFF-MIRVISH: The Second Stage Series

Panasonic Theatre

In the hilariously unsettling Clybourne Park – inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun – a battle over race and real estate rages across two generations in a suburban Chicago neighbourhood.

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The Normal Heart

October 19 – November 18, 2012

By Larry Kramer
Directed by Joel Greenberg

In association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

The story of a society in denial between 1981 and 1984, The Normal Heart unfolds like a real-life political thriller, as a tight-knit group of friends refuses to let doctors, politicians and the press bury the truth of an unspoken epidemic behind a wall of silence.

Sarah Orenstein and Jonathan Wilson in The Normal Heart. Photo by Karri North.
Jonathan Wilson and Jeff Miller in The Normal Heart. Photo by Karri North.
Jonathan Wilson and Martin Happer in The Normal Heart. Photo by Karri North.

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Clybourne Park

April 2–28, 2012

By Bruce Norris
Directed by Joel Greenberg

In association with Canadian Stage

Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs

In this hilariously unsettling comedy – inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun – a battle over race and real estate rages across two generations in a suburban Chicago neighbourhood.

Kimwun Perehinec and Mark McGrinder in Clybourne Park. Photo by Karri North.
The cast of Clybourne Park. Photo by Karri North.
Sterling Jarvis in Clybourne Park. Photo by Karri North.

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The Normal Heart

October 14 – November 6, 2011

By Larry Kramer
Directed by Joel Greenberg

In association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Larry Kramer’s landmark play about love and loss in the 1980s chronicles the rise of the AIDS crisis in New York City, seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks as he battles against a world unwilling to confront the epidemic.

More brilliant work from one of the most reliably interesting and challenging theatre companies in town.

Toronto Star ★★★★

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Our Class

April 4–30, 2011

By Tadeusz Slobodzianek
English version by Ryan Craig
Directed by Joel Greenberg

In association with Canadian Stage

Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs

In 1925 Poland, a group of Jewish and Catholic schoolchildren declare their ambitions: to be a fireman, a film star, a doctor. As the children grow up their country is torn apart by invading armies, and internal grievances deepen as fervent nationalism develops. The tension escalates into violence as these ordinary people carry out an extraordinary and monstrous act.

The cast of Our Class. Photo by John Karastamatis.
The cast of Our Class. Photo by John Karastamatis.
Jessica Greenberg and cast in Our Class. Photo by John Karastamatis.

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Parade

December 30, 2010 – January 22, 2011

Book by Alfred Uhry
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Co-conceived and Directed on Broadway by Harold Prince
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Co-produced with Acting Up Stage, now Musical Stage Company

Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs

In 1913 Atlanta, Georgia, a teenage factory employee is raped and murdered. Leo Frank, the young Jewish manager of the factory, is charged with the crime. By manipulating witnesses and tampering with evidence, the prosecution convinces the jury that Frank is guilty.

A soaring musical experience, a show that reaches for the stars and shines just as bright.

Associated Press

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The Overwhelming

March 8 – April 3, 2010

By J.T. Rogers
Directed by Joel Greenberg

In association with Canadian Stage

Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs

American academic Jack Exley travels to Rwanda to interview old friend Joseph Gasana about his struggle for good against daunting odds. But when Jack arrives in Kigali, he is unable to find the Tutsi doctor – or anyone who will even admit to having known him. Befriended by both locals and diplomats with veiled motives, Jack and his family become enmeshed in the tension, terror, professional risks and personal betrayals that they ultimately realize mark the start of a genocidal war.

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Stuff Happens

November 14 – December 23, 2009

By David Hare
Directed by Joel Greenberg

David Mirvish presents the Studio 180 production

The Royal Alexandra Theatre

Beginning in the first days of the Bush administration and following its march to war, Stuff Happens is a dramatic speculation, authenticated from multiple real-life sources, on the behind-closed-doors proceedings that have shaped world events. Renowned playwright David Hare blends documented public-record information and theatrical invention to create a riveting drama that centres on still-living history.

Studio 180’s production of Stuff Happens survives transfer to the big house with impact intact, force and lucidity undiminished.

National Post

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Blackbird

March 9 – April 4, 2009

By David Harrower
Directed by Joel Greenberg

In association with Canadian Stage

Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs

Fifteen years ago, Una and Ray had a relationship. They haven’t set eyes on each other since… Now she’s found him again.

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Offensive Shadows

September 26 – October 19, 2008

By Paul Dunn
Directed by Michael Shamata

Tarragon Theatre Extraspace

Paul Dunn’s sexy and darkly comic contemporary sequel to A Midsummer Night’s Dream… Artfully blending the romantic heart of Shakespeare’s classic with a modern sensibility, explore what happens when Demetrius, Helena, Hermia and Lysander finally wake up.

Andrew Kushnir in PUCK. Photos by John Karastamatis.
Mark McGrinder and Jessica Greenberg in Offensive Shadows. Photos by John Karastamatis.
The cast in Offensive Shadows. Photos by John Karastamatis.

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Stuff Happens

February 29 – March 29, 2008

By David Hare
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs

Beginning in the first days of the Bush administration and following its march to war, Stuff Happens is a dramatic speculation, authenticated from multiple real-life sources, on the behind-closed-doors proceedings that have shaped recent world events.

The cast of Stuff Happens. Photo by John Karastamatis.
The cast of Stuff Happens. Photo by John Karastamatis.
Yanna McIntosh and Barry Flatman in Stuff Happens. Photo by John Karastamatis.

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Offensive Shadows

August 2–12, 2007

By Paul Dunn
Directed by Michael Shamata

Presented in the SummerWorks Festival

Tarragon Theatre Extraspace

A critical and popular smash (it won the NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award), Paul Dunn’s sexy and darkly comic contemporary sequel to A Midsummer Night’s Dream explores what happens when Demetrius, Helena, Hermia and Lysander finally wake up.

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The Arab-Israeli Cookbook

March 3 – April 1, 2006

By Robin Soans
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs

The Arab-Israeli Cookbook combines onstage food preparation with intimate interviews to create a portrait of the lives of ordinary people in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. In their travels, the creators met and interviewed more than 80 people, from a wide background of cultures, classes and creeds. The resulting play presents over 40 characters describing their daily lives amidst the surrounding conflict.

More about The Arab-Israeli Cookbook

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The Passion of the Chris

July 3–10, 2004

A scourge of plays by Christopher Durang
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Presented as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival

Tarragon Theatre Mainspace

A corrosive collage of savage satire! Taking an opportunity to play, Studio 180’s core artistic team assembled this collage of works by social satirist Christopher Durang. With acid wit, Durang’s plays pierce the veneer of Western complacency to hilarious and often moving effect.

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The Laramie Project

February 27 – March 28, 2004

By Moisés Kaufman and members of 
the Tectonic Theater Project
Directed by Joel Greenberg

In association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Developed after the murder of openly gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1998, The Laramie Project gives voice to the real life testimony of more than 50 residents of Laramie, Wyoming, as they struggle to come to terms with the event and the questions raised in the wake of violence.

This play never judges anybody… [Its] straightforwardness, the inevitable snatches of comedy that arise from the interviews and the great swathes of sorrow also apparent in Laramie make the project utterly compelling.

Globe and Mail ★★★★

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The Laramie Project

February 12 – March 2, 2003

By Moisés Kaufman and members of 
the Tectonic Theater Project
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Artword Theatre

In October 1998, openly gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Five weeks later, Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, and over the course of the next year conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town.

The Cast of The Laramie Project. Photo by John Karastamatis.
Kimwun Perehinec and Deborah Drakeford in The Laramie Project. Photo by John Karastamatis.
Mark McGrinder in The Laramie Project. Photo by John Karastamatis.

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