Shakespeare in the Ruff is dedicated to decolonizing the Shakespearean canon by challenging who tells these stories, and who they are told for. We create radical, accessible adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays in Toronto’s vibrant east end.

Join us for our 15th anniversary mainstage production:

PASTORAL

A sequel to As You Like It

By Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho)

Directed by Warona Setshwaelo

Reserve your spot here.

In Withrow Park, beneath the willow trees

Previews: August 15 and 16

Opening: August 18

Run: August 18 – 30, Tuesday through Sunday

All shows at 7:30pm

Run time: 85 min

Cast

Jeff Yung 容海峯 — Orlando

Jeff Yung is an actor, martial artist and sometimes poet and ¼ of the Shakespeare in the Ruff leadership collective. Most recently Jeff was part of the Canadian Festival of New Musicals (Musical Stage Company, LUMINATO, Soulpepper) appearing in The Crossroads by Kalos Chu and Ian Chan. Previous stage credits include: Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare BASH’d) Prodigal (Howland/Crow’s), Trojan Girls (OtM/Factory), Monday Nights (PuSh/LUMINATO/TC), Antigone (YPT), Vietgone (MTC/fu-Gen), and Banana Boys (Factory/fu-Gen). Recent screen credits include the A24 horror undertone, the action thriller Infiltrate, and an appearance in season 3 of Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent.

Reese Cowley — Rosalind

An Enemy of the People (Theatre J); As You Like It, King John, Taming of the Shrew (STCA); Babbitt (STC); Lesson In Forgetting (Pleiades Theatre); Fefu and Her Friends, An Enemy of the People (Erindale Theatre). Voiceover: The Hite Report; Hungry Ghosts; I Stood Alone; The Extraordinary Adventures (Post Hypnotic Press Audiobooks). Training: University of Toronto and Sheridan College: BA Acting; Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy: MFA Classical Acting. Reese is a queer, Sri Lankan actor and playwright. @reesecowley_

jonnie lombard — Celia, Becky

jonnie is a trans theatre thing from the woods stumbling through side quests of sentience. they perform, poeticize, and party in pop-art melodrama playgrounds, from bars to basements to bathrooms and back again, always with the primary intention of wearing hot new outfits. jonnie has recently been a pigeon, a snail-mountain lovechild, a monster made of markers, a cyber-canine demon, a gender-questioning mouse, and ophelia. they have learned and grown at the Paprika Festival, Factory Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times, and most of all from their friends; they are so excited to be amongst the Ruffians getting all pastoral with it in the park this summer. if you ask jonnie to go dancing they will always say yes!

Norman Yeung — Oliver, Lumberjack Jack

Norman has performed internationally and across Canada, including three seasons at Stratford Festival. Favourite roles include Rosencrantz in “Hamlet” (Stratford Festival), “The New Canadian Curling Club” (Theatre Orangeville/Drayton), “Chimerica” (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre/Canadian Stage), “The Kite Runner” (Theatre Calgary/Citadel), “Resident Evil: Afterlife” (Screen Gems/Sony), and “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil” (Space/CTV). As a writer, his new play “Aging Youth Gang” will premiere in April, 2027 at Theatre Passe Muraille, produced by TPM and fu-GEN. Other plays include “Theory” (published by Playwrights Canada Press), “Pu-Erh,” “The Zoonotic Story,” and “I Know I’m Supposed to Love You.” His plays have received The Voaden Prize and Tyrone Guthrie Awards and been nominated for the Tom Hendry Award, Carol Bolt Award, and Dora Award. He was a finalist for the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize. Norman holds a BFA in Acting/Theatre from UBC and a BFA (Honours) in Film from TMU. He’s unreservedly stoked to be working with Shakespeare in the Ruff. www.normanyeung.com

Asher Rose — Jacques

Asher Rose (they/them) is an award-winning actor and writer born and raised in Tkaronto. On-screen they are known for Violence, Accused, and The Players. They have recently been seen on Toronto stages in Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare BASH’d), Romeo & Juliet (Canadian Stage), and CHILD-ish (Tarragon Theatre). Asher’s debut short film screenplay, The Lift, was an official selection of eight festivals across Canada, the US, and UK, and Asher’s performance won multiple Best Actor awards. In addition to writing and acting, Asher is a dedicated community advocate. They were instrumental in the creation of the world’s first award for Best Non-Binary / Gender-Nonconforming Actor (ACTRA Toronto Awards), and are one of the authors of the Best Practices for Working with Trans Actors guide. They are proud to stand alongside organizers fighting for decolonial justice for all, from Turtle Island to Palestine. Find more at @asherjuderose.

NEWS

Announcements

VENUE ACCESS GUIDE – MARATHON MACBETH

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Announcements

Ruff Reads June: The Displaced

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Announcements

Ruff Reads May: Interior Chinatown

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Join us for Shakespeare in the Ruff’s 15th anniversary season of love! Click here to find out more.

SUPPORT

“Expertly adapted by Nathaniel Hanula-James and Christine Horne, and deftly directed by Patricia Allison, Tiff’ny of Athens is a testament to Shakespeare in the Ruff’s legacy and body of work.”
Janine Marley

“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

“"'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

““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

“I’m all for interrogations of the “Shakespeare in the park” model of outdoor theatre, and Ayache’s innovation on the Bard’s original play makes a compelling case for audiences to reintroduce themselves to the intricacies of Shakespeare’s writing without languishing in its familiarity.”
Aisling MurphyIntermission Magazine, 2024

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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”.