Ash Knight, Artistic Executive Director of Pleiades Theatre, today announced Pleiades’ 2024/25 Season. After their most noteworthy season ever, Pleiades will keep the momentum going with a scale of work requiring a split of its season into two parts.

“This year’s theme is FRAGMENTATION,” says Ash Knight, Artistic Executive Director of Pleiades. “1st and 2ndgeneration Canadians can sometimes feel fragmented from each other, and their families both here and in other lands. Both generations can struggle with figuring out where they belong and how others see them, and therefore how they see themselves. This fragmentation of identity can become isolating. I’m hoping to use the work we are doing this year to show all Canadians that this fragmentation can unite us all as a shared experience. Every 1st and 2ndgeneration Canadian can share this feeling of fragmentation and celebrate themselves, together.”

Part One of the season has Pleiades developing a new piece called Karma by Aksam Alyousef. Continuing our commitment to MENA voices over the last few years, we are working across Canada with Aksam in Edmonton.

Aksam has expertly woven together a tale of horror and hope. A young man named Adeeb claims that he had lived a previous life in Syria. His mother Karma is worried about his mental health and forces him to bury this idea as he grows up. Now an adult, he must travel to Syria on a quest that leads him to members of his former family, and explore the intersections between his past and current lives.

Karma is a play inspired by reincarnation and the choices we make, and will explore the question: how does the environment in which we are created affect our thoughts, beliefs, and actions? How might this change in different circumstances?

KARMA

Workshop with Public Presentation

Playwright: Aksam Alyousef

Date: Sunday, November 3, 2024

Location: Aki Studio - 585 Dundatreet East, Toronto

Doors Open: 2:45pm

Public Presentation: 3:15pm

Talkback: 5:15pm

Dramaturge: Ash Knight

Featuring: Nabil Traboulsi, Roula Said, Lara Arabian, Sam Khalilieh and Samer Dagher

Tickets can be purchased at: www.zeffy.com

Pleiades is also putting out a nationwide call out for 1st and 2nd generation Canadian stories. Trying to provide a platform for theatre artists across Canada, we now have the ability to work with playwrights not only located in Toronto. If you identify as 1st or 2nd generation Canadian and have the first draft of a play that you are looking to develop, send it in to us. Several will get support and some may even be chosen for a production.

Lastly, in the first half of the season, we will be conducting our popular “Get out of Your Head: An Acting? Workshop”. These workshops are designed for anyone looking to connect with being present. Learn to silence your inner voice, whether acting or engaging in public speaking. Turn your focus to the task at hand. The activities used will require some movement so be prepared to do so. The first of these will be held on Sunday, October 27th, 2024, 3PM at Snelgrove Community Centre in Brampton in a partnership with the Punjabi Arts Association.

Sharing First and Second Generation Canadian Stories | pleiadestheatre.org

Pleiades aims to redefine what it means to be Canadian, through theatre.

We encourage first and second generation storytellers - particularly artists of colour, but through intersectionality, and also Deaf artists, artists with disabilities, artists living with mental illness, New Gen artists, 2SLBTQIAP artists, and Indigenous artists - to create:

• INSPIRATIONS: new, relevant plays exploring 1st and/or 2nd generation stories;

• TRANSLATIONS: sharing stories from other languages for all audiences;

• ADAPTATIONS: exploring existing works through a new lens.

Founded in 1997 by John Van Burek, then led by Andrey Tarasiuk from 2017-2023, Pleiades is now under the leadership of Artistic Executive Director Ash Knight.