Announcements

Ethnocultural mandate or casting statement:

Shakespeare in the Ruff is dedicated to decolonizing the Shakespearean canon by challenging who creates these stories, and who they are for. Our work strives for the integration of our Five Key Values: Creative Audacity, Education, Accessibility, Anti-Racism and Decolonized Practice, and Respect. We create original, radical adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, seeking to flip the Eurocentric, colonial gaze and give platform to marginalized voices. We encourage submissions from IBPOC, LGBTQ2S+, and Disability communities.

Additional information:

Shakespeare in the Ruff is auditioning for various roles in our summer 2026 production of “As You Like It”, adapted by Jeff Ho and directed by Warona Setshwaelo. The adaptation contains both new writing by Jeff Ho and original language from Shakespeare’s play.

First day of rehearsal: July 13th, 2026 

Opening: o/a August 15th, 2026

Closing: August 30th, 2026

Fee: $833/week under the CAEA D.O.T. Policy.

Please note: Shakespeare in the Ruff rehearses and performs outdoors in Withrow Park, Toronto. Weather policies are in place for safety. Because we perform in a public park, the cast is also part of the setup and teardown crew. We will always strive to assign tasks based on access needs. 

Deadline to apply: Tuesday February 17 2026

Audition dates: Monday March 2nd, Tuesday March 3rd, Thursday March 5th.

Role:

Rosalind – (she/her/they/them) – Daughter to Duke Senior. Is banished alongside cousin and bff, Celia, where chaos, delight, joy, and LOVE ensues. Disguises themselves as “Ganymede” for LOVE (and with Orlando). 

Celia / others (TBD) – (any gender) – Rosalind’s cousin, child of Duke Frederick. Fabulous, a bag of sass and more, and astonishingly bright and fiery. Is banished alongside Rosalind. Falls for Oliver, or is it the other way around?! This role will be shaped alongside the performer’s gender, so welcome submissions from any folks who identify with this track.  

Oliver / others (TBD) – (he/him) – Orlando’s brother, who tries to have him exiled. Total bro, I mean his name is Oliver, after all. Wears old spice, says it all, doesn’t it. BUT – goes through a redemption arc, earns and grants forgiveness, and falls in love and becomes a great companion for Celia.  

Jacques – (any gender – TBD – role will be shaped around the performer) – Perceptive. Speaker of truths with a melancholic slant. And a voice of the here, the now, and an observer of the frustrations and celebrations of the best and worst of human nature. Funny without knowing it

Please email in A SINGLE DOCUMENT a photo, resume and one page (max) letter to submissions@shakespeareintheruff.com.

In your letter, please include a brief introduction to yourself and your work, your experience with heightened text, and your experience with outdoor theatre.

Deadline to apply is Tuesday, February 17. A huge thank you to all that apply but we will only be contacting via email those we wish to invite for an audition.

Accessibility:

Audition, rehearsal, and performance spaces are physically accessible.

Happy 2026, Ruff Readers!

To those of you who read along with us every season, welcome back! And to those who are just learning about Ruff Reads now, we hope you’ll join us!

This spring we’ll be reading through and discussing a selection of books that examine the themes and ideas found in Shakespeare’s As You Like It and our upcoming summer adaptation by Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho). 

First up in March is Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. We’ve been fans of this book for ages and love that the movie is bringing so much more attention to it! Have you read the book? Seen the film? Or the play? Let’s talk about it!

In April we’ll cozy up with Dating Dr. Dil, the first book in Nisha Sharma’s If Shakespeare Were An Auntie series. The first romance novel in Ruff Reads history! And perfect for our “season of love”.

Up next in May will be Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu, diving into the themes of Asian representation explored in our summer production of As You Like It.

Exile plays a key role in As You, and we’ll wrap up our Ruff Reads season in June with The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives, a collection of essays edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen. 

Once again, Ruff Reads is thrilled to be partnering with our favourite east end bookshop, Queen Books. Stop by to pick up your copies and receive 10% off with the code RUFFREADS. All titles are also available as e-books, audiobooks, and through the Toronto Public Library,

Ruff Reads meets monthly on Zoom on (usually!) the last Thursday as the month, and we share additional content and ancillary reads through our Instagram account, @shakesruffreads. Give us a follow! And email christine@shakespeareintheruff.com to receive reminders and Zoom links for meetings. 

Happy reading, everyone!
PS: Ruff Reads is currently reading As You Like It to gear up for the season! If you’d like to read along with us, an excellent digital edition is available through the Folger Shakespeare Library website.

Welcome to Ruff Reads Autumn, a bonus book club session curated and facilitated by Ruff Reader Cass Marcus Davey! This fall we’re diving into one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest (and earliest) tragedies: Titus Andronicus! Here we go!

TITUS ANDRONICUS  by William Shakespeare

Thursday September 25th at 8pm on Zoom

Cass has put together an incredible list of resources to help you find copies of the play in various formats. Find it here: Fall Ruff Reads resources

DM us or contact christine@shakespeareintheruff.com for the Zoom link. (Don’t have time to read the play but still interested in the conversation? Join us anyway!) 

About the play, from the Folger Shakespeare Library: 

**CW: Titus Andronicus contains scenes of violence, rape, mutilation, and cannibalism.

Titus Andronicus overflows with death and violence. Twenty-one sons of the Roman general Titus Andronicus have died in battle, leaving four alive. After defeating the Goths, Titus permits the sacrifice of the oldest son of their queen, Tamora.

Titus helps Saturninus become emperor. Saturninus plans to marry Titus’s daughter, Lavinia. Instead, she marries Bassianus, aided by Titus’s sons, one of whom Titus kills. Saturninus then marries Tamora. The stage is set for multiple revenge plots.

Tamora’s lover, Aaron the Moor, instructs her two sons to kill Bassianus, then falsely implicates two of Titus’s sons. Tamora’s sons also rape Lavinia, cutting off her tongue and hands. To save his sons from execution, Titus cuts off his own hand, but Aaron sends him their heads.

Lucius, Titus’s last son, leads an army of Goths against Rome. Titus kills Tamora’s sons and serves them to her in a pie. In the ensuing events, Lavinia, Tamora, Titus, and Saturninus all die. Lucius becomes emperor and sentences Aaron to death.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and what could be more Shakespearean than imitating and adapting? (Here’s looking at you, Saxo Grammaticus.) In these drop-in classes led by Nathaniel Hanula-James, you’ll read a short scene or play, identify an interesting tool the writer’s using, and then give it a whirl yourself.

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We have exciting community nights taking place during the run of The Tempest: A Witch in Algiers. Check our list of events and reserve your tickets!

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Shakespeare in the Ruff is delighted to announce an exciting new member of our collective leadership: Nathaniel Hanula-James. As Ruff continues to grow and evolve, this new addition marks a significant step towards achieving our vision of a sustainable and dynamic leadership collective.

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Shakespeare in the Ruff is auditioning for one role in our summer 2024 production of “The Tempest: A Witch in Algiers”, adapted by Makram Ayache and directed by Kwaku Okyere. A Witch in Algiers contains both new writing by Makram Ayache and original language from Shakespeare’s play.

First day of rehearsal: July 15th 2024

Opening: August 17th 2024

Closing: September 1st 2024

Fee: $785/week under the CAEA D.O.T. agreement.

Shakespeare in the Ruff rehearses and performs outdoors in Withrow Park, Toronto.

Deadline to apply: Wednesday April 10th

Audition date: Thursday, April 18th. 

Auditions will take place in an accessible space.

Role:

ARIEL: Femme, Black performer. Ariel is a thousand year old spirit, who has the gravity of the entire world and the whimsy of a mischievous sprite. Ariel is a close friend and ally to Sycorax in one lifetime and the subordinate and indentured servant of Prospero in another.

Please email a photo and resume to christine@shakespeareintheruff.com, and indicate whether you would be available to audition in person on Thursday, April 18th.

Deadline to apply is Wednesday April 10th at 6pm. A huge thank you to all that apply but we will only be contacting via email those we wish to invite for an audition.