Why It's Impossible to Raise a Girl, a new play by Sophia Fabiilli, starring Zoë Sweet and directed by Evalyn Parry, will run September 19-29, 2024 at Kingston Grand Theatre.

What do you do when your life is casually on the verge of collapse? Beth is struggling to stay afloat as a single parent, a working professional, and a 45-year-old resident of her mother's basement. Diving into the complex relationship between mother and child, Why It's Impossible to Raise a Girl is a dark and funny one-woman show about life's transitions and parenting in precarious times.

Co-Created by Zoë Sweet, Sophia Fabiilli and Sarah Kitz (Artistic Director of the Great Canadian Theatre Company), Why It's Impossible to Raise a Girl offers a moving and at times hilarious portrait of parenthood. With a surprising, thought-provoking twist, the play dares its audiences not to spoil the secret for future attendees.

Why It's Impossible to Raise a Girl will make its World Premiere in Kingston before moving onto Ottawa to be part of the Great Canadian Theatre Company’s 2024-25 Season from January 21-February 2, 2025.

Playwright Sophia Fabiilli’s recent work includes Liars at a Funeral at the Thousand Islands Playhouse, which broke the record for the best-selling comedy in the company's history; Liars at a Funeral will be produced next at the Alberta Theatre Projects and Western Canada Theatre in 2024. Her play The Philanderess was the winner of the Second City Award for Best New Comedy as well as the Ellen Ross Stuart Opening Doors Award.

Director Evalyn Parry is an acclaimed, multi-disciplinary theatre creator. Recent works include the international touring production Kiinalik:These Sharp Tools (Buddies in Bad Times; Winner of Dora Award for Best New Play, featured at Edinburgh Intl Festival, Belfast Intl Festival, Mexico’s Cervantino Intl Festival, Chile’s Teatro a Mil), Gertrude and Alice (Independent Auntie Productions/Buddies, nominated for Governor General’s Award and multiple Dora Awards), and her widely travelled show SPIN. She is the winner of the KM Hunter Award for theatre, the Ken McDougall Award for Directing, and from 2015 to 2020, she served as the artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto. 

Performer Zoë Sweet is a theatre maker and co-Artistic Director of FeverGraph Theatre Company as well as Co-Artistic Producer of The Dead Roads Collective. Acting credits include Behaviour (Great Canadian Theatre Company), Butcher (Theatre Kingston), The Red Hose is Leaving (with Erika Batdorf), It’s Your Funeral (Upper Canada Playhouse), Brave New World (Litmus Theatre), Dead Roads (Dead Roads Collective – Why Not Theatre’s RISER Project), Objections to Sex and Violence (Praxis Theatre/Fevergraph), Look Back In Anger (Fevergraph), Enough Rope (Fevergraph – Summerworks).

Why It’s Impossible To Raise a Girl

September 19-29, 2024

Kingston Grand Theatre

To purchase tickets:

www.kingstongrand.ca

When: September 19 to 29, 2024 - Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30pm; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm. The performance on Sunday, September 22nd at 2pm will offer free childcare. Limited Pay What You Can tickets available on weekdays.

Preview: September 19, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Opening Night: September 20, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Where: Kingston Grand Theatre, Baby Grand Theatre (218 Princess St.)

Approx. Runtime: 75 minutes

Price: Tickets range from $14.06-$33.82 plus HST and handling fee.