Buddies in Bad Times Thea is si of a and of T T n land (a una unre presen of as TkaronTo (“Where The Trees meeT The WaTer”; “The gaThering plaCe”). Buddies is honoured To Be a home for queer, Trans and 2-spiriT arTisTs on These sToried and saCred lands ThaT have Been sTeWarded By Indigenous peoples for Thousands of years Before The arrival of Colonial seTTlers.
A Director's + PlAywright's note
ted: Ok. So, like, what to say.
sus: Well, we started this project 12 years ago and it’s had as many incarnations as we have. Originally, it was born out of seeing my own rage, disappointment, and desire — and that of my peers — in Rimbaud’s feral poem, A Season in Hell. I wanted to theatricalize the poem’s essence and changing forms rather than stage its content. While this impulse has remained, the tone and scope of the play has shifted.
ted: How can we say, the world is fucked, but be tender at the same time? I don’t know if I would have known how to locate the bravery the play is asking for 12 years ago. The world felt fucked then, but it feels so much more fucked now.
sus: So, how do we keep engaging with this world? is a question this production is asking. Can we create an arena in which to think critically and feel openly together? This feels essential within capitalism as it continues to consume civic spaces and promote desensitization. Theatre is a place we can actively name and resist forces purposely steering us towards isolation.
ted: What’s wild is that half my job as an artistic director is explaining the value of art to people. Why is the best thing we seem to have come up with so far for the value of art fucking GDP? Or that it vaguely makes you a better person? For me, the value of art is that maybe it can be a catalyst for personal transformation.
sus: I think that’s why I keep coming back to art every time I quit. Art creates opportunities for those infinitesimal moments — we can never really isolate — in which something can be born: a feeling arising or an idea finding its way to language. Events that seem entirely unrelated but trigger a series of actions resulting in movements, relationships, revolutions.
ted: And like, Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich: Tristan Tzara, Sigmund Freud, and Vladimir Lenon were all patrons of this weird café. Who knew when they put the sign up that this café would give birth to the Soviet Union, psychoanalysis, and Dadaism?? You never know… When I think of why this work is at Buddies it’s because I don’t know how, but this place will change you.
sus: How do you think Rimbaud would feel about this production?
ted: …A little bit vain? I’d want to give him that. Like someone took a really great thirst trap of him he wants to post on main. How would you want him to feel?
sus: Seen. I want artists and thinkers and change-makers and anyone trying to keep moving towards aliveness and away from numbness to feel seen in this work.
Rebecca Vandevelde, Julia Howman // production managers
Sebastian Marziali, Amber Pattison, Mojo Noble // technical directors
El Patey, Kit Norman, Van Ward // head technicians
Darren Shaen, Nicole Bell, Antel Kollenberg, Elaine Wong, Mackenzie McCallum-Mallory, Zoe Daca, Mike Dowdall, Mike Grdosic, Dylan TateHowarth, Nate Gurarie, Julie M Li // crew
Thank you
Brendan and Eric at McWood Studios, Micah and David at Theatre Passe Muraille, Pip at Nightwood, Navid, Van, and Aidan at Theatre Centre, Julia at Native Earth Performing Arts.
*The participation of these artists is arranged by permission of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Independent Theatre Agreement (ITA).
**Indicated designers on this production are represented by the Associated Designers of Canada, Local ADC659.
take rimbaud is produced by permission of the Playwright and Marquis Literary (Colin Rivers) www.MQlit.ca.
Susanna Fournier's take rimbaud was originally commissioned by The Howland Company and developed as part of its 2015 RBC Emerging Company Residency with Canadian Stage. It was further developed with the support of the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and the 2016 Banff Playwright's Lab. The playwright acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Thank you
The Banff Playwright's Lab 2016 director Brian Quirt and faculty, Marcus Youssef. Canadian Stage and 2016 residency curators Matthew Jocelyn and Birgit Schreyer-Duarte. Early draft support from Daniel Brooks and Guillermo Verdecchia. Alexander Crowther, Thomas Duplessie, Cara Gee, Xina Gilani, James Graham, Davinder Mahli, Adrian Morningstar, Paolo Santalucia, and Kristen Zaza. The University of Toronto's Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies. Jill and Linda Connell, Sascha Cole, and Esther Jun.
Content and sensory warnings: mature themes and language, haze, strobe and flashing lights, use of a prop weapon, suicide, substance abuse, gunshot and loud sounds, partial nudity, honey nut Cheerios with "natural almond flavour."
ArtIst bIos
Susanna Fournier // playwright – Susanna is a playwright, director, storyteller, and educator. As a rowdy formalist suspicious of labels, her work has been called many things — “ambitious” “queer” “impossible” and sometimes even “theatre.” Her plays include: PYPER, The Empire Trilogy: The Philosopher’s Wife, The Scavenger’s Daughter, Four Sisters (Playwright’s Canada Press), take rimbaud, antigone lives*, Ghosts of My House, HEART/BODY, and Next Time I Die. Susanna was a core collaborator on Buddies in Bad Times x the red light district’s award winning, 7-part project, LULU // aspects of a femme fatale, and promises she’ll never put a couch onstage unless it’s on fire. www.susannafournier.com
ted witzel // director – ted witzel is a queer theatre-maker and artistic leader based in toronto / tkaròn:to (these days). primarily a director, ted is also variously a dramaturg, curator, teacher, writer, translator, designer, and performer. he has worked with theatres and cultural organizations across canada, the uk, germany, and italy (she gets around). fusing high-octane performance, rigorous dramaturgy, filthy homosexuality, digital aesthetics, and poetic text, ted’s directing is located at the intersection between the personal and the political, and the (visceral, emotional, intellectual) frictions between them. previous Buddies credits: artist-in-residence 2014 – 18 with LULU // aspects of a femme fatale, the scavenger’s daughter [2019], taylor mac’s holiday sauce (the afterparty) [2020], Roberto Zucco [2024], current Buddies’ artistic director.
Thomas Mitchell Barnet // actor, R – Thomas is an actor and musician based in Toronto. Most recently he played Cuddy in Soulpepper’s production of Witch. He has also performed for Mirvish, The Stratford Festival, and The Citadel in Edmonton, as well as a handful of TV gigs here and there. In the future he hopes to produce any of several unfinished one person shows as well as record a second album. Enjoy :)
Julian De Zotti // actor, Paul – It’s been almost a decade since Julian has set foot on stage — last in Theatre SmithGilmour’s tour of As I Lay Dying (Dora nomination). Previous Buddies credits include Sky Gilbert’s As You Like It. He moonlights in the film + TV world, having written and led four scripted TV series and a feature film for CBC Gem and Amazon, premiered at SXSW and Canneseries, and won a Canadian Screen Award. He’s also the co-founder and producer of the HOT PILOT PARTY.
Ruth Goodwin (she/her] // actor, Sylv – Ruth is a Torontobased actor and co-founder of The Howland Company. Her screen credits include Global TV’s Private Eyes, Netflix’s Wedding Season, CBC’s Baroness Von Sketch Show, Workin’ Moms, Murdoch Mysteries, and more. Ruth has also spent the past decade creating and performing critically acclaimed stage work, earning a Toronto Theatre Critics Award and two Dora Award nominations. Select theatre credits include The Wolves (Crow’s Theatre & Howland), Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Crow’s & Howland), The Assembly (Porte Parole), and Entrances and Exits (Howland), which she cocreated and for which she received a Canadian Comedy Award nomination.
Rose Tuong (they/them] // actor, Sapph – Rose slides around on the slick back of a turtle. Anagram of eros, duly sybaritic. Previously at Buddies: LULU // aspects of a femme fatale and The Herald.
Breton Lalama (he/him] // actor, 1 – Breton Lalama is an award-winning writer, performer, and filmmaker. The film he co-wrote and starred in, Really Happy Someday, is now available on Crave. This 1 4 G. @bretonlikethecrackers
Hallie Seline (she/her] // actor, 2 – Hallie Seline is a Québecborn, Toronto-based actor, theatre-artist, and a part of the Founding Artistic Leadership of The Howland Company. For Howland: The Welkin (with Soulpepper Theatre & Crow’s Theatre), Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Prodigal, The Wolves (with Crow’s), Three Sisters, Casimir and Caroline, Punk Rock. Other Select Theatre Credits: Upcoming - Dry Streak,
The Last Mayor of Rusty River (Blyth Festival); The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare BASH’d); The Farm Show: Then & Now, Resort to Murder, The Donnellys Trilogy (Blyth Festival); Prairie Nurse (Lighthouse Festival); As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare BASH’d). Selected Film/TV Credits: Fellow Travelers (Showtime), Everything’s Going to be Great (Lionsgate). Hallie has won a Dora Mavor Moore Award and a Toronto Theatre Critics Association Award. take rimbaud is Hallie’s Buddies debut.
Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster (she/her] // actor, 3 – Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster is a founding member of the collective The Howland Company, and an assistant professor at York University. She has performed with the Shaw Festival, Soulpepper, Public Recordings, Canadian Stage, Citadel Theatre, Blue Bridge Repertory, Cahoots, Native Earth, Tarragon, and beyond. Selected Directing Credits include Witch (Soulpepper), Steel Magnolias (Capitol Theatre) The Orphan of Chao (Shaw Festival), Hypothetical Baby (Howland/Nightwood), Three Women of Swatow (Tarragon), The Home Project, (Howland Company/Native Earth/ Soulpepper), The Wolves (Howland/Crows’ Theatre), 52 Pick-Up (Howland), Everybody (York University), and Casimir and Caroline (Sheridan College).
Cameron Laurie (he/him] // actor, 4 – Cam is an actor who puts on plays with The Howland Company. Past Howland Credits = The Welkin, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Prodigal, Three Sisters, Casimir & Caroline, Punk Rock. Past Credits for Other People = The Donnellys Trilogy, The Drawer Boy, Saving Graceland, The Trials of Maggie Pollock (Blyth Festival), A Little Closer (The Vault), The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare Bash’d), This Feels Like The End (Next Stage). Cam also plays guitar and yells a little in the band Stuck Out Here.
Troy Taylor (he/him] // stage manager – Troy works as a Stage Manager in Toronto for dance, theatre, and live events. In the past, he’s worked for Soulpepper Theatre, The National Ballet of Canada, Volleyball World, Yonge Street Theatricals, Fall for Dance North, Canadian Stage, Ross Petty Productions, The Shaw Festival, Dance Ontario, Nightwood Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Mirvish, Human Body Expression, and The Stratford Festival. When not at work, he likes to spend his time at the park with his dog Jupiter, and partner Craig.
Jenna Borsato (she/her] // apprentice stage manager –Jenna is excited to be making her Howland/Buddies debut. And! She is super grateful to be doing what brings her so much joy. APSM Credits: After the Rain (Musical Stage Co./ Tarragon + NAC); Bremen Town (Tarragon). Selected SM Credits: Three Men on a Bike (GFT); Fractals of Possibilities (Zoe Kwan); Anthony’s Journey (TPM/Anthony’s Journey Co.); Towards Rebirth (Shakespeare in the Ruff). Outside of Theatre, Jenna has a passion for music, eating + cooking delicious food, reading, and wandering around new neighbourhoods. A shoutout to her family and friends for their support, always. And a very special shoutout to her love, Cass, for her unwavering encouragement, love, and support.
Ting – Huan 挺歡 Christine Urquhart (she/her] // set + costume design – my work questions viewpoints, histories, and narrative structure through form as a Design driven interrogation, the body as politics and getting audiences out of ‘black box’ mentality to be witnesses to a different kind of event. Costume Designer for The Hobbit (Stratford); Set Designer for You, Always (Canadian Stage); Costume Designer for Witch (Soulpepper); Set and Costume Designer for Blues for an Alabama Sky (Shaw); Costume Designer for Orphan of Chao (Shaw); Set and Costume Designer for Craze (Tarragon), Set and Costume Designer for Wicked Nix (YPT). Training: Theatre Design BA Honours Degree Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama 2011; Erasmus Art and Design exchange program Sofia Bulgaria 2009; Fine Arts and Theory BA Honours Degree Cardiff Metropolitan University 2008; Fine Arts Diploma Farnham Arts College 2006. Awards: 6 times Dora Nominated for respective Set and Costume Design, Nominated for the Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award for Costume Design 2025 and 2026. urquhartdesign.com / @tinghuanchristineurquhart
Chanti Laliberte (she/they] // wardrobe support – A Torontobased craftsperson with a BFA from York University and co-owner of Awl Or Nothing Creative Inc. Chanti founded ‘Toronto Wardrobe People’ and they continue to build queer community, advocating for artists through Twerkforce Collective. Their wardrobe work has been seen onstage throughout Ontario, including Stratford Festival & Blyth Festival. For Buddies: The Born-again Crow (BiBT/ NEPA), Speaking of Sneaking (BiBT/Groundwork Redux/Obsidian), School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (Obsidian/Nightwood/BiBT). Elsewhere: Mahabharata (WhyNot Theatre); Maanomaa, My Brother (BBTC/Canadian Stage), Fairview (Canadian Stage); The Men In White, Prairie Nurse, Bang Bang, trace (Factory), among others. Stay hydrated.
Darren Shaen (he/him] // lighting design – Darren Shaen is a lighting designer artist mood maker based in Toronto who works in theatre and nightlife. He frequently uses alternative light sources, industrial objects, and found materials. He is inspired by quotidian beauty, analog technology, and the aesthetics of queer nightlife past, present, and future. Selected lighting designs for stage; GAPE w/ Susanna Haight and Tia Kushniruk w/ Mile Zero Dance, pacing (dir./choreo Susanna Haight) with Arts Orillia’s 2025 Dance & Design residency, the 2025 Rhubarb! Festival, MÀSCARA (by Pulga Muchochoma) with Dance Immersion, the 2024 SummerWorks Festival, and This Lament I’ll Lip-Sync Until I’m Born Again dir./choreo Riley Sims) with Social Growl. Selected lighting, ambience, and installations for raves/parties in Toronto’s and Hamilton’s underground party scenes; Twist, Plantasia, Natural Born Sinners, Strangers, Places (Techno for Worms), Sous Bas Spring Pop Up, The Beginning, Club Mud, and the biannual queer warehouse rave series Something For the Lovers. Darren also annually
designs the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Pride Festival. Darren currently works as a head technician at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto, Darren has had his hands inside every technical installation of Buddies season over the past 4.5 years. He holds an MFA in Lighting Design from The University of British Columbia.
Nicole Eun-Ju Bell (she/her] // projection design – Nicole Eun-Ju Bell is a Toronto based, queer Korean-Canadian, multidisciplinary artist with a passion for performance and technology. Among other things, she is a projection designer, XR Artist, and production manager. Her work has been presented by various Toronto-based theatre companies and has toured across North America. For Buddies: White Muscle Daddy (projection design). Other: Kim’s Convenience (Soulpepper), The Little Prince (Theatre Passe Muraille), 365 Days/365 Plays (Sunface Collective). As an associate: Detroit: Music of the Motor City (Soulpepper), The Cave (JMar Electric/Luminato).
Dasha Plett (she/her] // composer + sound design – Dasha Plett is a Winnipeg-based artist working with performance, sound, and video. She has worked with Zaiba Baig, Stratford Festival, Mammalian Diving Reflex, Frances Koncan, Waawaate Fobister, and Debbie Patterson. Dasha is also one half of We Quit Theatre, a nationally touring performance project with Gislina Patterson. Despite living in Manitoba, she was dubbed one of “10 Toronto theatre artists to watch” by Next Magazine in 2024. She is a proud member of IATSE ADC659, and a professional audio describer. Past Buddies credits include Roberto Zucco and Kainchee Lagaa + Jhooti. Visit Dasha online at www.princessdasha.com. Free Palestine.
Chala Hunter (she/her] // intimacy coordinator – Chala Hunter is a bilingual Writer, Producer, Intimacy Coordinator, and Actor, originally from Treaty 6 territory — Saskatoon, SK. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School and has performed in theatres across Canada, including LULU // aspects of a femme fatale at Buddies, The Philosopher’s Wife and Four Sisters by Susanna Fournier, and The Supine Cobbler by Jill Connell. She is currently based in Tkaronto. She was a writer and assistant to Showrunner Adam Pettle for NURSES (Global) and BURDEN OF TRUTH (CBC) and was an associate producer with Wango films, and a 2024 recipient of the CMPA Producer’s mentorship. Most recently, she was the Intimacy Coordinator on Crave/HBO’s hit show Heated Rivalry, and has just wrapped production as the Intimacy Coordinator for The Body, Quinn Shephard’s new show for Netflix.
Julie Dyan (she/her] // fight director – Julia Dyan is a Torontobased Actor, Fight Director, Stunt Performer, Stage Combat, and Acting Instructor. She is co-founder of Violence in Motion, a training school for actors (or anyone curious!) to develop their skill in Film and Stage Combat. Julia teaches Acting for Media at Centennial College in the Performing Arts program. She is a proud member of the AACE (Association of Acting Coaches and Educators). Currently, she is Stunt Performing on the hit TV show Boston Blue. Julia has a toddler who loves to party in the middle of the night.
Meredith Wolting (she/her] // scenic painter – a set and props designer, scenic artist, and children’s book illustrator, Meredith is based in Toronto and works with a range of theatre companies and arts education programs. She is the resident set designer at Bravo Academy for the Performing Arts, and is the illustrator of The A-G Piano Book Series as well as Opera Atelier's series of student resource comic books. Meredith leads creative workshops for all ages, and strives to empower the next generation of creatives as a teaching artist in design at the Canadian Opera Company. Follow along: @meredithwolting
the howlAnD comPAny
The Howland Company is one of Toronto’s leading independent theatre companies that strives for innovation on and off stage.
The Howland Company is an artist-led and art-driven theatre company, dedicated to the production of electric stories that speak to the world and the times in which we live. Howland seeks to challenge and inspire audiences through productions, training, and community initiatives like The Reading Group, fostering a new wave of theatre-makers and theatre-goers.
take rimbaud Producer + Director of Marketing HALLIE SELINE
take rimbaud Producer + Finance Manager CAMERON LAURIE
Artistic Leadership
RUTH GOODWIN, SAM HALE, COURTNEY CH’NG LANCASTER, CAMERON LAURIE, HALLIE SELINE
Associate Members
SEBASTIAN BIASUCCI, 郝邦宇 STEVEN HAO, JARETH LI
Board of Directors
BENJAMIN DERMER, RONA GHANBARI, JAMES GRAHAM, MICHAEL JOSEPH, EDYTA PACUK, STEVEN SAGER, STEPHANIE STEVENS
Our SuppOrterS
take rimbaud is produced with The Howland Company’s support from the Canada Council for the Arts and with the support from the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.
FOUNDATIONS
The McLean Smits Family Foundation
The Paul Butler and Chris Black Foundation at Toronto Foundation
THE READING GROUP VENUE SPONSOR Society Clubhouse
howlAnD’s communIty oF Donors
The Howland Company is grateful to the following donors for their generous support this season. Without donor support, our work would not be possible.
Thank you for believing in the future of innovative, independent theatre and investing in our mission of fostering a new wave of theatre-makers and theatregoers. Send us an email at info@thehowlandcompanytheatre.com or click the link below to donate.
$1,000 – 5,000
Rona Ghanbari
James Graham
Raj Kothari
Brian O’Malle
Peter Wismath* Anonymous
$500 – 999
John Van Burek
Barrie Chercover
Benjamin Dermer
Valerie Fast
Grainne Goodwin
Ron and Gillian Graham
Anita Gupta
Stephanie Stevens Anonymous
$250 – 499
Jennifer Cerny
Teri Worthington Coombes*
Kate Fast
Emily Graham
Mimi Graham
Graham Laurie
Wilhelmina + Joe Laurie
Blyth Printing Inc
Mary Rella
Maria Ricossa
Steven Sager
Maureen Simpson + Almos Tassonyi
Pamela Stevens
Holger Syme
Stone River Productions Inc.
Sophia Sunderji
Charlotte Toal
Katherine Wilson
$100 – 249
Brian Beagle
Christopher Bozek
Susan Coyne
Mary Davis
Marian Doucette
Barbara Fingerote*
Karen Franklin
Renalee Gore
Yvonne Gore
Susanna Gouinlock
Carol Hornsby
Adrian Horwood
Tracey Hoyt
Omar Husain
Kelsey Jenkins
Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster
Sheila Moll*
Stephen Oliver
Kathleen Payne
Joe Pinizzotto
Milos Popovic
Tasha Potter
Vinay Sarin
Rosamund Small
Brenda South
Voices Rock Canada
Sophie Welsman* Anonymous
Supporters recognized for donations over $100 from January 1, 2025 – April 13, 2026.