Books published by Playwrights Canada Press,Canada

Refractions: Scenes is a collection of scenes from diverse contemporary works by Canadian playwrights that reflect the country's artistic landscape through a breadth of themes, styles, cultures, regions, and creative practices.

The archetypal student-teacher romance is cleverly turned on its head for the post-#MeToo era in this striking new play by the acclaimed author of What a Young Wife Ought to Know and Bunny.Jon, a star professor and author, is racked with self-loathing after his third marriage crumbles around him when he finds himself admiring a student-a girl in a red coat. The girl, nineteen-year-old Annie, is a big fan of his work, and also happens to live down the street. From their doorways to his office to hotel rooms, their mutual admiration and sexual tension escalates under Jon's control to a surprising conclusion that will leave you wanting to go back and question your perceptions of power as soon as you finish.

What stories do we tell ourselves to keep our walls up and our privilege intact? What is the cost of revolution?In this contemporary retelling of Antigone, denial of what rages outside of a city's perimeter comes to a head when a young princess named Alison tries to expose the truth of her beloved cousin Henry's death. By night, Henry went as Andy, as together he and Alison scaled the walls of their kingdom to help the migrants who are kept out of sight. Burdened by the weight of the inequality that his future reign represented, he killed himself. But his mother, Queen Regina, hails his death as a valiant knight and will do anything she can to keep Alison silent. The two women become locked in a poetic battle of power and prejudice, until a push turning into a shove might mean it's too late to find peace.

A new year of high school is full of excitement and potential-but three teens didn't expect it to bring such a dark change to their lives. After spending a summer reinventing herself in Paris, Emma is ready for her new life to start, while her best friend Lily is eager for them to reconnect. Lily throws a last-minute party fuelled by alcohol and Instagram, which leads to a long-awaited encounter between Emma and Lily's older brother Chris. But the next day Emma feels that something went terribly wrong. When a doctor's appointment and a visit from police confirm that there was a sexual assault at the party, and the whole school turns against Emma, the three friends grapple with what actually happened between Emma and Chris. This smart and intense play about the complexities of relationships and community opens up a much-needed conversation about the nature of consent.

In this striking debut, Parris turns the spotlight on the Black women who organize communities, support their incarcerated loved ones, and battle institutions, living each day by a ride-or-die philosophy, strengthening their voices and demanding to be heard.

Should women abandon religion?Four female panellists face off in a wild, whip-smart televised debate about the intersection of religion and misogyny. On one side, there's Maryam, a progressive Muslim lawyer, and Yehudit, an Orthodox Jewish spiritual leader. The other has Liz, a lesbian antitheist pundit, and Margaret, an excommunicated nun. The debaters wrestle with themselves and with each other: Can you be a feminist and believe in religion? What can or can't be forgiven? Why do we have faith to begin with? Between the arguments, each of the debaters return to a seminal and secret moment in their past that represents a crisis of faith, leading the debate to become more and more personally charged, until it climaxes in an epic battle.Unholy delves into the biblical struggles that tear us apart and make us who we are. It's about having the courage to take the leap in life and into love. What is more holy than that?

A curated collection of short scenes from Canadian plays, complete with teaching strategies and learning activities for each.

A beautifully penned story that paves a path to a mother's unspeakable pain.