RISERx 2023 
Set Design by Delia Yuan
Costume Design by Carlyn Rahussar Routledge
Lighting Design by Gavin MacDonald
Sound Design by Sam Ferguson
Presented as part of  Why Not Theatre and Toronto Metropolitan University
The Theatre Centre, BMO Incubator at 1115 Queen Street West, Toronto

Founded in 2013, RISER was developed to help address the challenges of producing independent theatre in Toronto. RISER brings together senior leadership from the theatre community with emerging artists in order to maximize existing infrastructure, share resources, and risk, and support a commitment to create and innovate. Since its inception, RISER has supported the development of 41 new Canadian works and nurtured over 300 artists, with audience numbers reaching over 25,000 across RISER shows. These works have garnered 50+ awards and nominations, and have secured more than 100 post-RISER engagements and six publications. RISER has also begun a national expansion, with iterations in both Edmonton and Regina this year.
antigone lives*
An electrifying and unfaithful take on Sophocles’ classic Greek tragedy, this 200 bpm adaptation blends techno, despair, and family politics. One goat and a pack of jackals navigate global displacement as we witness the failure of democracy and subsequent hope for revolution. A thought-provoking and fierce exploration of justice, power, and the human spirit.

Written by Susanna Fournier
Directed by Caleigh Crow
Performed by Ella Berger, Manon Bourgeois, James Dawson, Jessica Konkle, Nathan Simpson
Set Designer – Delia Yuan
Lighting Designer – Gavin Mcdonald
Costume Designer – Carlyn Rahusaar Routledge
Sound Designer – Sam Fergusson
Directing Coach – Sarah Garton Stanley
Intimacy Director – Corey Tazmania
Fight Director – Christopher Mott
Assistant Set & Props Designer – Alyssa Duhaney
Assistant Lighting Design – Sasha Alymova
Stage Manager – Tanvi Vyas Assistant
Stage Manager – Daniella Reid
Production Manager – Carlos Varela
Technical Director – Curtis Whittaker
Assistant Production Manager – Jonathan Cestnick, Kiera Deorksen Smith
Seph

Forget what you think you know about gods. Set in an American post-capitalist collapse, this contemporary retelling of Persephone‘s story examines the heartbreaking challenges of growing up in a broken home, a rupture defined by life and death. A teenage coming-of-age story with epic themes; love, choice, and consequence. Love again.

Written by Tori Keenan-Zelt
Directed by Keshia Palm
Performed by Haley Garnett, Kendra Cordick, Ali Farhadi, Jade Tardif Da-Silva, Avery De Gouveia, Kiara-Kumail
Set Designer – Delia Yuan
Lighting Designer – Gavin Mcdonald
Costume Designer – Carlyn Rahusaar Routledge
Sound Designer – Sam Fergusson
Directing Coach – Sarah Garton Stanley
Intimacy Director – Corey Tazmania
Fight Director – Christopher Mott
Assistant Set & Props Designer – Alyssa Duhaney
Assistant Lighting Design – Sasha Alymova
Production Manager – Carlos Varela
Technical Director – Curtis Whittaker
Assistant Production Manager – Jonathan Cestnick, Kiera Deorksen Smith
Stage Manager – Sofia Di Cicco
Assistant Stage Manager – Myann Vu
TomorrowLove

What if you could hold the soul of your loved one in your hands? Or see inside their memories? Or talk to them after death? TomorrowLove is a cycle of short plays about love, sex, and the future. Questioning how innovation impacts relationships, these stories explore how technology can create new dimensions of human connection – and perhaps reveal what we should have known all along.

Written by Rosamund Small
Directed by Nikki Shaffeeullah
Performed by Jeff Clement, Ayden Elworthy, Elena Milo, Landon Nesbitt, Josh Palmer, McKenzie Somppi
Set Designer – Delia Yuan
Lighting Designer – Gavin Mcdonald
Costume Designer – Carlyn Rahusaar Routledge
Sound Designer – Sam Fergusson
Directing Coach – Sarah Garton Stanley
Intimacy Director – Corey Tazmania
Fight Director – Christopher Mott
Assistant Set & Props Designer – Alyssa Duhaney
Assistant Lighting Design – Sasha Alymova
Production Manager – Carlos Varela
Technical Director – Curtis Whittaker
Assistant Production Manager – Jonathan Cestnick, Kiera Deorksen Smith
Smith Stage Manager – Nika Jalali
Assistant Stage Manager – Elijah MacLeod
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