Shakespeare in the Ruff is a collectively run not-for-profit theatre company building a community & a cultural hub in Toronto’s East End. Underpinning all of our works the core value of accessibility.

“With Richard Three, Shakespeare in the Ruff affirms their tradition of re-imagining Shakespeare in powerful ways.”

Robyn Grant-MoranIntermission, 2023

““It’s Shakespeare in the Ruff, our city’s most constantly engaging outdoor theatre company.””

Richard OuzounianToronto Star, August, 2015

“"As the well-paced tension builds to a bloody climax, director Eva Barrie makes sure audiences get lots of what they’ve come to expect from the reliably excellent Ruffians: strong, engaging performances that make complex language and stories easy to follow..."”

Jordan BimmNNNN, NOW Magazine, August, 2018

““Shakespeare in the Ruff can be relied on for a stimulating, unusual take on the Bard, and the company’s fifth production, Romeo & Juliet, continues the tradition.””

Jon KaplanNOW Magazine, August, 2016

“"No recent Shakespeare adaptation we've seen has been quite so bold as the fiercely feminist [Portia's Julius Caesar] from Shakespeare in the Ruff"”

Carly Maga & Karen FrickerToronto Star

“"'The Winter’s Tale' bolsters Shakespeare in the Ruff’s reputation for taking the world’s most famous plays and making them surprising again"”

Carly MagaThe Toronto Star, 2019

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Shakespeare in the Ruff is on the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishnaabe and the Wendat. We acknowledge them and any other Nations (acknowledged and unacknowledged, recorded and unrecorded) as the past, present and future caretakers of this land, traditional territory named Tkaronto, “Where The Trees Meet The Water”, “The Gathering Place”.