MADGEN THEATRE FESTIVAL
festival pass
This year’s festival runs from Aug. 20-22, and presents four new one-act Canadian plays:
PEACHES by Elio Zarrillo; Uprooted by Kabrena Robinson;
Problematic History Teacher by MJ Kang; and I Have a Dream in Chinese by Irene Yi.
Hoping to catch more than 1 show?
A Festival Pass provides admission to all 4 shows for the price of 2.
Purchase tickets for individual shows at the links below.
By Irene Yi
On a long-haul flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, a woman unpacks the struggle of the immigration system, the COVID-19 pandemic, workplace discrimination, and the lasting impact of political repression. I Have a Dream in Chinese explores the beauty and complexity of living between two worlds, two cultures, and two names.
SHOWING:
Fri. August 21 @ 8:30pm*
Sat. August 22 @ 8:45pm
*Includes post-show talkback.
By Elio Zarrillo
Peach farmer, Greg, and his apprentice, Prince make a startling discovery in the midst of their daily harvest: a play has grown from one of their trees, destroying the crop. With the orchard’s peaches spoiled by the sprouted script, the two decide to act it out. The lines between the play and their own lives begin to blur, unearthing buried histories, firmly-rooted binaries, and one long-avoided confrontation. PEACHES asks; what survives when rot sets in?
Showing:
Thurs. August 20 @ 7:00pm
Sat. August 22 @ 1:00pm*
*Includes post-show talkback.
By MJ Kang
Problematic History Teacher, a comedic satire, investigates the complexities that arise when specific ethnic studies courses are taught by those without lived experiences in that culture. Mike, a white male history teacher, self-proclaimed good guy, teaches Asian Canadian studies at a private arts boarding high school.
Showing:
Fri. August 21 @ 7:00pm
Sat. August 22 @ 7:00pm*
*Includes post-show talkback.
By Kabrena Robinson
When a young Jamaican woman migrates to Canada in search of "a better life", she finds herself lost in a surreal world where ancestral spirits, folklore, and memory blur the line between dreams and reality. Uprooted is a bold solo performance about migration, identity, survival, and the enduring pull of home.
Showing:
Thur. August 20 @ 8:45pm
Sat. August 22 @ 3:30pm*
*Includes post-show talkback.
Theatre of the Beat Presents
I HAve A Dream in Chinese
Show Times
Fri. August 21 @ 8:30pm*
Sat. August 22 @ 8:45pm
*Performance is followed by a post-show talkback.
This play is 60 minutes, no intermission.
Creative Team
WRITTEN BY
Irene Fan Yi 易帆
DIRECTED BY
Huirui Zhang Su
PRODUCED BY
Eric Trudell
CAST
Daibei Wang
Shuyi Jia
LIGHTING + SOUND DESIGNER
Eshan Kumar
WORKSHOP DRAMATURG
Maya Wong
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Kay Wong
PLAY Synopsis
I Have a Dream in Chinese is a solo performance that follows a Chinese immigrant traveling on a long-haul flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver. As the journey unfolds, the protagonist moves between past and present, between two names, Song and Ivy, and between two cultural worlds. Through poetic monologue, bureaucratic dialogue, and surreal memory, the play explores experiences of racial microaggressions, immigration systems, workplace precarity, and the lasting psychological impact of political repression and the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan. I Have a Dream in Chinese examines how identity is reshaped by migration and asks what it means to build a life in a place where one’s belonging is constantly questioned.
The play was previously developed at the Advance Theatre Festival, by Ruby Slippers. It was also produced at the Ottawa Fringe Festival in 2026, where it won Outstanding Design.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Racial discrimination, COVID-19.
Access needs? Review our Venue Access Guide here.
Theatre of the Beat Presents
PEACHES
SHOW TIMES
Thurs. August 20 @ 7:00pm
Sat. August 22 @ 1:00pm*
*Performance is followed by a post-show talkback
with Community Dramaturg, Ashley Naomi.
This play is 90 minutes, with no intermission.
Creative team
WRITTEN BY
Elio Zarrillo
DIRECTED BY
Stevie Garcia
PRODUCED BY
Emily Paterson
CAST
Clint Butler
Kristen Thompson
LIGHTING + SOUND DESIGNER
Eshan Kumar
STAGE MANAGER
Salma Qureshi Wennekers
COMMUNITY DRAMATURG
Ashley Naomi
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Kay Wong
Play Synopsis
PEACHES is an irreverent, surreal, and queer exploration of the stories we grow for survival. Peach farmer Greg and his apprentice Prince make a startling discovery in the midst of their daily harvest: a play has grown from one of their trees, destroying the crop. With the orchard’s peaches spoiled by the sprouted script, the two decide to act it out. The lines between the play and their own lives begin to blur, unearthing buried histories, firmly-rooted binaries, and one long-avoided confrontation. As Greg and Prince wrestle for ownership of the script, it becomes clear that the play won’t stop growing until they’ve resolved all that’s gone bad between them. PEACHES grapples with whether harmful origins can be sites of healing and if taking control of the narrative is ever truly possible. What survives when rot sets in?
PEACHES was first commissioned in 2022 by Zee Zee Theatre’s National Queer & Trans Playwriting Unit. As a part of that unit, in November 2023 it was workshopped at Theatre Outré in Lethbridge, AB. In April 2025 a workshop reading was shared at Page1 Theatre’s OutFest in Halifax, NS, where it won the Jury’s Choice Award. It has received development support from Theatre Projects Manitoba and the Manitoba Association of Playwrights.
trigger warnings:
Strong language, transphobia.
Access needs? Review our Venue Access Guide here.
Theatre of the Beat Presents
Problematic History Teacher
SHOW TIMES
Fri. August 21 @ 7:00pm
Sat. August 22 @ 7:00pm*
*Performance will be followed by a post-show talkback,
with: Dr. Kelsey Jacobson, Community Dramaturg,
Himanshu Sitlani, Director, and MJ Kang, Playwright.
This play is 60 minutes, no intermission.
CREATIVE TEAM
WRITTEN BY
M.J. Kang
DIRECTED BY
Himanshu Sitlani
PRODUCED BY
Jenylle Rufin
CAST
Lousia Zhu
LIGHTING + SOUND DESIGNER
Eshan Kumar
STAGE MANAGER
Victoria J Marmulak
COMMUNITY DRAMATURG
Dr. Kelsey Jacobs
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Kay Wong
PLAY SYNOPSIS
Problematic History Teacher investigates the complexities that arise when specific ethnic studies courses are taught by those without lived experiences in that culture. Mike, a white male history teacher, self-proclaimed good guy, teaches Asian Canadian studies at a private arts boarding high school. On Open House Day, he presents his teaching methodology to parents and students. He has sourced great material for his curriculum and truly cares about what he teaches. He may speak off the cuff a few times and go deep into his personal history, but that's all part of being Mike, AKA Problematic History Teacher. It's a title he's given himself. The character will be played by an Asian actor who identifies as female. It's a satire that raises complex questions to prompt dialogue about teaching a culture outside your lived experiences and about who has the right to tell certain cultural stories.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Racist and prejudiced comments.
Access needs? Review our Venue Access Guide here.
Theatre of the Beat Presents
UPROOTED
SHOW TIMES
Thur. August 20 @ 8:45pm
Sat. August 22 @ 3:30pm*
*Performance will be followed by a post-show talkback,
with Sashoya Simpson, Community Dramaturg.
This play is 45 minutes, no intermission.
CREATIVE TEAM
WRITTEN BY
Kabrena Robinson
DIRECTED BY
Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah
PRODUCED BY
Rais Clarke-Mendes
CAST
Alicia Plummer
DRUMMER
Akilah Abdullah
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Eshan Kumar
SOUND DESIGNER
Riel Reddick-Stevens
STAGE MANAGER
Emma Jo Conlin
COMMUNITY DRAMATURG
Sashoya Simpson
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Kay Wong
PLAY SYNOPSIS
What happens when the dream of a better life becomes a slow erasure of your identity?
Uprooted is a surreal solo performance that follows Crystal Wataz, a young Jamaican woman navigating the quiet realities of migration in Canada. As the weight of displacement unravels her sense of self, the veil between dreams and reality dissolves. She is drawn into “Wanda Lan,” a liminal world of folklore and ancestral spirits, where water carries memory and truth.
Blending dub poetry, movement, and Afro-Caribbean storytelling and mythology, Uprooted explores the emotional and generational impact of displacement, colonization, and identity through a distinctly Jamaican diasporic lens. The play honours the rhythms and voices of Caribbean life while illuminating the resilience, survival, and cultural inheritance carried by those who migrate.
At once deeply personal and profoundly political, Uprooted invites audiences into a story of remembrance, healing, and the enduring search for belonging.
Trigger Warnings
Explores Xenophobia, immigration-related discrimination,
and themes of grief and loss.
Access needs? Review our Venue Access Guide here.
Meet the 2026 emerging producers fellowship
Mentored by
Laura McCallum
(Outside the March)
Mentored by
Kevin Matthew Wong
(WhyNot Theatre)
Mentored by
Sheree Spencer
(Lincoln Center)
mentored by
Daniel Chapman-Smith
(Project: Humanity)
PROGRAM HISTORY
Beginning as the “Emerging Producers Festival” in 2024, the festival’s name transitioned to “MADGEN: Emerging Producers Festival” in 2025, and again to “MADGEN Theatre Festival” in 2026. What hasn’t changed is the paid opportunity available to emerging producers who want to try their hand at producing community-centred, socially engaged theatre in a mentored and supportive learning environment.
This unique program is made up of two parts:
The Emerging Producers Fellowship (EPF): a cohort of 4 producers is selected each year, assigned a Toronto-based producing mentor, provided training with guest facilitators, and then given a budget to produce a staged reading of a new Canadian play.
The MADGEN Theatre Festival: runs from Thursday to Saturday, August 20-22, 2026, in Toronto’s East Danforth neighbourhood. The festival showcases Theatre of the Beat’s unique community-centred producing methodology, incorporating community dramaturgs, and immersive environments that provide food and music connected to the themes of each production.
EMERGING PRODUCERS FELLOWSHIP: Producers participate in an intensive residency program that provides hands-on training and learning regarding TOTB’s unique approach to producing community-centred, socially engaged theatre. This training period includes in-person learning sessions with TOTB staff as well as guest facilitators, covering a wide range of practical administrative skills, as well as sharing insights on the intricacies of production. Producers will also receive one-on-one mentorship from an established theatre Producer. These individuals will offer support throughout the program, making themselves available to answer questions and meet for regular check-ins.
MADGEN THEATRE FESTIVAL: Producers will then apply their learnings as they work collaboratively to produce their individual productions, as well as coordinate other connected components of the three-day Festival. Each producer must select a new, one-act play from the MADGEN’s 2026 Playwright Call to be produced as a staged reading, hiring creative teams, conducting marketing events, and overseeing their budget (provided by TOTB). They will also plan and implement immersive components of the festival, hiring live music, food vendors, and artisans connected to the themes of their show. All of which will benefit most from people like you joining us at the festival and in the audience.
View Previous iterations of the festival by clicking the images below
supporters
THEATRE of the beat
2174 Danforth Ave. Toronto, ON