After two seasons in a row feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Persephone Theatre has announced a full slate of shows for its 2022/23 season.
The Saskatoon-based theatre company’s 2019/20 season was cut short only a handful of days after announcing its 2020/21 season. Both seasons were affected by the pandemic — one ended prematurely, and the other was entirely scrapped.
But Persephone Theatre’s newest season announcement features the return of a production previously planned in each of the COVID-affected seasons.
Persephone’s newest Main Stage season is kicking off with the first show that was canceled in March of 2020. The tragicomedy Stones in his Pockets by Marie Jones is the opening production of the new season. The two-hander play is set in a rural Irish town that is drawn into the filming of a Hollywood movie.
Later in the season brings with it the return of a show from the previously-cancelled 2020/21 season. Saskatchewan playwright Kenneth T. Williams’ The Herd was set to have its world premiere back in 2020 with Persephone Theatre. Williams’ play explores ideas of faith, science, and Indigenous sovereignty in the wake of media excitement over two white bison calves being born at a First Nations ranch.
There’s new shows in the lineup as well: Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, produced by 2B Theatre and presented in partnership with both the Broadway Theatre and the Saskatchewan Jewish Arts Festival, will be on the Main Stage in October. The combination theatrical and musical production was created by Hannah Moscovitch, Christian Barry, and award-winning musician Ben Caplan. Per the press release, the show follows two Jewish-Romanian refugees arriving in Canada in the early 20th century.
No Persephone season would be complete without comedy, and a pair of them are part of the Main Stage lineup. The fast-paced, feminist farce The Fiancée features Lucy, a woman in the 1940s who promised herself to multiple men who went off to war — and all return on the same day. And The Birds and the Bees is a new comedy exploring the personal and familial relationships of a mother and her grown daughter in rural Canada. The show is a collaboration between Persephone Theatre and Regina’s Globe Theatre.
The Backstage Stage is back at Persephone Theatre in the 2022/2023 season as well. Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers is a show produced by Tarragon Theatre and Black Theatre workshop and runs from March 16 to 29, 2023. Written and performed by Makambe K. Simamba, the show “is a protest for all Black life beyond headlines and hashtags, a prayer for all families left behind, and a promise to the community that all Black lives matter,” per the press release.
Persephone Theatre’s Youth series, in addition to performances of Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, will also feature a Manitoba Theatre for Young People production of Frozen River running from Nov. 9 to Dec. 9, 2022. Written by Michaela Washburn, Joelle Peters, and Carrie Costello, the show explores themes of reconciliation and broken promises, and will tour schools throughout Saskatchewan as well as appear on the Backstage Stage.
The final show of the 2022/2023 season is an “introductory theatre experience” for young children in a retelling of the classic children’s tale Velveteen Rabbit, written by Kevin del Aguila and based on the book by Margery Williams. The show runs from Apr. 22 to 30, 2023.
With Persephone Theatre gearing up for its largest season in years, Saskatoon can prepare for a variety of shows to take the stage after so much was cancelled by COVID-19.
Persephone Theatre’s Main Stage shows in order of production:
Stones in his Pockets – Sept. 14 – Oct. 2, 2022
Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story – Oct. 12 – 23, 2022
The Fiancée – Nov. 30 – Dec. 18, 2022
The Herd – Feb. 8 – 26, 2023
The Birds and The Bees – Mar. 20 – Apr. 23, 2023
Season subscriptions will be available for purchase as of June 1. You can find more information at www.persephonetheatre.org.
