BAD ROADS

• Details

  NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

  In the Donbas region of Ukraine, a war is raging, and people want to understand why. Based on astonishing testimonies from the outset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014, BAD ROADS explores the heartbreaking effects of conflict on intimate relationships and a country’s social fabric. 

  Ukrainian playwright Natal’ya Vorozhbit deftly intertwines themes of love, sex, trauma, loss, and resistance through powerful and darkly comic episodes exploring, most of all, of what it is to be a woman in wartime.

  Ukrainian Canadian Andrew Kushnir is an award-winning playwright, director, activist, and artistic director of the socially engaged theatre company Project: Humanity, a leading developer of verbatim theatre in Canada including Towards Youth: a play on radical hope, and Freedom Singer at Crow’s Theatre. His production of Casey and Diana at the Stratford Festival was named “the most moving play of 2023” by the Toronto Star.

  “Bad Roads feels like more than a play – it’s a kind of portal” explains director Andrew Kushnir. “How do we, in our part of the world, connect beyond the headlines of the past 19 months? Sometimes it takes a piece of theatre to help us grasp the complexity of a place, its people, its struggle, its mysteries, and riddles. Just showing up to experience this deeply humane play is a remarkable act of solidarity.” 

  ^{An inside look at BAD ROADS with director Andrew Kushnir and actors Seana McKenna, Diego Matamoros, and Shauna Thompson.}

  AUDIENCE ADVISORY:

  BAD ROADS includes stage depictions of physical, emotional, and sexual violence as is both typical in wartime and distinct to the Ukrainian context. For further information regarding the content of the show, please contact the Box Office.
  

   

  DOWNLOAD THE HOUSE PROGRAMME 

   

  READ THE REVIEWS

  The Globe and Mail "Critic's Pick"

  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/reviews/article-bad-roads-a-brutally-revealing-ukrainian-play-about-war-in-the-digital/

   

   

  Intermission Magazine

  https://www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/bad-roads-crow-s/

   

  BroadwayWorld

  https://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/Review-BAD-ROADS-at-Streetcar-Crowsnest-20231113

   

  Slotkin Letter

  https://slotkinletter.com/2023/11/review-bad-roads

   

  Ludwig van Toronto

  https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2023/11/15/scrutiny-natalya-vorozhbits-bad-roads-harrowing-theatre/

   

  Next Magazine

  https://nextmag.ca/review-crow-theatres-bad-roads-is-a-gut-churning-essential-experience/

   

  Front Mezz Junies

  https://frontmezzjunkies.com/2023/11/12/crows-theatre-bad-roads/

   

  Our Theatre Voice

  https://www.ourtheatrevoice.com/items-2/'bad-roads'-by-natal'ya-vorozhbit-with-translation-by-sasha-dugdale

   

  A View From the Box

  https://aviewfromthebox.net/2023/11/14/crows-theatres-bad-roads/

   

  Opera Ramblings

  https://operaramblings.blog/2023/11/13/sex-death-and-despair-a-ukrainian-tragedy/

   

  Istvan Dugalin Theatre Reviewer

  https://istvandugalin.com/2023/11/11/bad-roads-crows/

   

  Jame Karas Reviews

  https://jameskarasreviews.blogspot.com/2023/11/bad-roads-review-of-play-about-russias.html

   

  Torontonicity

  https://torontonicity.com/2023/11/12/bad-roads-crows-theatre-review/

   

  MEET THE COMPANY

  Brilliantly bringing the stories to life are a powerhouse company of actors including, Andrew Chown (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Crow’s Theatre; Shakespeare in Love, Citadel Theatre), Katherine Gauthier (Five seasons at Shaw Festival; A Doll’s House, Soulpepper), Craig Lauzon, (The Darkest Dark, Young People’s Theatre; Detroit, Coal Mine Theatre), Diego Matamoros (Founding member of the Soulpepper Theatre Company; Earl of Gloucester in King Lear, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, England),  Seana McKenna (30 seasons at the Stratford Festival; Things I Know To Be True, David Mirvish/The Company Theatre), Michelle Monteith (The Seagull, Soulpepper; Public Enemy, Canadian Stage), and Shauna Thompson (Orphans for the Czar, Crow’s Theatre; Prodigal, The Howland Company/Crow’s Theatre).

  The award-winning design team includes set and properties designer Sim Suzer, costume designer Snezana Pesic, Lighting Designer Christian Horoszczak, and Sound Designer Thomas Ryder Payne (The Master Plan, Crow’s Theatre).

  The leading Ukrainian playwright of her generation, “a Ukrainian Sarah Kane” (The Guardian), Natal’ya Vorozhbit premiered BAD ROADS at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2017, and wrote and directed the feature film version, Ukraine’s official Oscar selection, in 2020. Since premiering in Kyiv in 2018, BAD ROADS has become an undeniable hit and an important representation of wartime life in Ukraine.

  PERFORMANCE NOTES

  Post-show Talkback in the Theatre:

  • Thursday, November 23

  Pre-Show Chat in the Lobby @ 1pm:

  • Sunday November 26

  Mask Required Performances:

  • Tuesday, November 14 @ 8:00pm
  • Sunday, November 19 @ 2:00pm (also a Pay-What-You-Can performance)

  “A masterly and woundingly memorable evening.” The Independent
  
  “Complex and compelling.” The Times
  
  

  Subscribe & Save! Purchase a four or six ticket flexible subscription and save up to 30% compared to single tickets!
   

  SUPPORTING SPONSOR

  Nancy Lockhart
• The Team

  CAST

  • Andrew Chown - He, Soldier 1
  • Katherine Gauthier - She, Teenage Girl
  • Craig Lauzon - Commander, Soldier 2
  • Diego Matamoros - Head Teacher, Vasya
  • Seana McKenna - Woman 1, Vasya's Wife
  • Michelle Monteith - Woman, Teenage Girl 2
  • Shauna Thompson - Woman 2, Teenage Girl, Girl