COMPASS
COMPASS
New Play Development Program
COMPASS New Play Development Program is dedicated to creating and premiering new work on our stages.
The Grand will commission, develop, and premiere original plays that are relevant to our city, and region. While these homegrown plays will begin here, our stories will be shared with stages around the world.
“A major thread throughout my career has been a focus on developing new work. New work allows us to reflect our city, and its people – to show who we are and who we want to be.” –Dennis Garnhum
Theatre Creators' Reserve Grant Learn More »
On Stage 2021/22
Re:Opening Festival
The Festival featured new work by four local artists. This multidisciplinary four-week event asked the artists to use their unique skillsets to create new work. Learn More »
Photo by Mai Tilson
Room
ROOM brings together artists from the UK and Canada to tell a story written by London resident Emma Donoghue. Following the success of the award-winning film and novel, Donoghue penned a stage adaption with songwriters and theatre-makers Cora Bissett and Kathryn Joseph. The production premiered in the UK in 2017 with original partners Theatre Royal Stratford East, National Theatre of Scotland, and Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Further development of the script is being supported by COMPASS and Covent Garden Productions. Learn More »
Emma Donoghue
© Punch Photographic
Title Sponsor
Grow
GROW sees the return of the PROM QUEEN songwriting team Colleen Dauncey and Akiva Romer-Segal, along with book-writer Matt Murray. This dynamic team represents the best emerging talent this country has to offer. COMPASS and the Canadian Music Theatre Project at Sheridan College will develop GROW in preparation for its premiere in March/April 2022 and looking ahead to future productions beyond the Grand. Learn More »
Colleen Dauncey and Akiva Romer-Segal
Title Sponsor
In Development
Grand Ghosts
by Trina Davies
Trina is hard at work on the new COMPASS commission. She was joined by imaginative artist Jillian Keiley as director & dramaturge on the project in 2021.
Here’s what she had to say about this script’s development:
“On December 2, 1919 Ontario theatre tycoon Ambrose Small sold all of his theatres, including the Grand, for a massive amount of money. The same day he disappeared. He left behind all of the money, a jealous wife, a disgruntled employee, gambling buddies, and a mistress. In the century that has passed, his ghost has been spotted in dark corners of his favourite theatre, the Grand. This spooky, vaudeville-inspired piece has been haunting me and I can hardly wait to share it with Grand audiences.”
Trina Davies
Jillian Keiley
Development Sponsored by
Homes: A Refugee Story
(Working Title)
Originally an award-winning novel, HOMES is being adapted for the stage by the dynamic writing team of Haysam Kadri and Winnie Yeung. Homes: A Refugee Story is the heart-rending account of Abu Bakr al Rabeeah, an Iraqi-born boy who as a child survived the civil war in Syria and now lives in Edmonton.
Past Development
Juno's Reward
Written by Megan Watson
Presented as part of the 100 Schools program
Photo by Mallory Brown
Presenting Sponsor
Make a Difference Community Pillar Partner
Partners
This London Life
Written & Directed by Morris Panych
Premiered at the Grand Theatre in October 2019
Photo by Dahlia Katz
Title Sponsor
Development Sponsored by
Silence: Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell
By Trina Davies
Directed by Peter Hinton
Premiered at the Grand Theatre in January 2018, toured to the National Arts Centre October 2018.
Photo by Claus Andersen
An Undiscovered Shakespeare
by Spontaneous Theatre
A workshop production presented by the Grand Theatre and the Stratford Festival.