Pablo, a rising attorney, and doctoral candidate Tania, his very pregnant wife, have dreams of a grand garden full of native plants when they buy the house next door to long-time residents, Virginia and Frank, in a lush, historic neighbourhood. Frank’s green thumb is sure this will finally be the year the Horticultural Society bestows him with first place for his carefully cultivated flower beds. But an impending barbeque for Pablo’s colleagues and a delicate disagreement over a long-standing fence line, soon put the old adage “love thy neighbour” to the test. Hose fights and midnight spy missions ensue as the two couples resort to outrageous antics in the pursuit of the garden of their dreams. They say good fences make good neighbours, but no one comes out smelling like a rose in this hilarious comedy about learning to love thy neighbour.
Recommended for 12+
“Native Gardens is timely, thoughtful, and hilarious” – Broadway World
“A true breath of comic fresh air. It’s a biting, perceptive, and ultimately hopeful sendup to our fraught relationships with those around us…” – DC Theatre Scene
The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Written, composed, and directed by Jonathan Christenson a Catalyst Theatre production
October 23 – November 3, 2024
France, 1940. After months of training and successful assignments, seven exceptional female SOEs (Special Operative Executives) are dropped into their most dangerous mission to date. Risking their lives for the fate of the nation, The Invisible embark on perilous missions of sabotage, propaganda, and espionage — helping to bring down the greatest threat of their time, only to go completely unseen.
From the writer and director behind the smash-hits Vigilante and Nevermore comes a new musical tour-de-force, inspired by the stories of real-life female SOEs. This genre-busting mash-up of historical research, film-noir, graphic novels, and musical theatre is a contemporary portrait of brave women who risked it all to fight during WWII–only to find themselves betrayed by the very world they believed they were fighting for.
Recommended for 12+
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including intermission
Content Advisory: This production contains loud noises and mature content relating to WWII, Nazi Germany, the violence of war, and residential schools.
“…The Invisible [is] unlike any other piece of musical theatre you’ll see this year.” – Stir Vancouver
“This show takes a dash of Captain America, a dollop of Agent Carter, and a fistful of Wonder Woman, and adds the sensibility of Bob Fosse, the late, great director of Cabaret.” – The Globe & Mail
“It feels not only like an immensely entertaining musical, but a conversation about digging deep, and what matters.” – Edmonton Journal
The Mixolydian
by Ashley Cook a Green Thumb Theatre production
directed by Michelle Olson
Backstage Stage – November 13 – 17, 2024 School Tour – November 18 – December 8, 2024
After the loss of her Shoom (grandfather), Bellevue feels disconnected from her culture and language. She even stops painting and making the art she loves. With the help of her ancestor Nokomis and her “imaginary friend”, a shapeshifter named Thomas, Bellevue learns that Shoom’s knowledge lives on in her, and there is more to her friend Thomas than meets the eye.
The Mixolydian is a play rooted in Anishnaabe and Métis storytelling, that incorporates cultural tradition and language while exploring themes of loss, creative thinking, and social responsibility.
Recommended 5+
Miracle on 34th Street
Adapted by Caleb Marshall and Erin Keating, from the classic short story by Valentine Davies
Directed by Heather Cant
December 4 – December 22, 2024
Macy’s new department store Santa, Kris Kringle, spreads the magic of the season, convincing holiday shoppers that Christmas is about much more than presents. But when Mr. Kringle claims to be the real Santa Claus, his sanity comes into question, and the very spirit of Christmas hangs in the balance, especially for one young girl whose faith in Santa is put to the ultimate test. This heart-warming, holiday classic brims with the magic and warmth of the season, with enough Christmas for spirit the whole family.
Recommended 8+
18 Jews Order Chinese Food
By Jenna Berenbaum
Directed by Joel Bernbaum
in partnership with the Saskatchewan Jewish Arts Festival
World Premiere
February 5 – February 16, 2025
After the death of her beloved husband, Jack, Chavi’s children and grandchildren gather around her to grieve – and drive each other crazy. As the family prepares for the funeral, questions about the origin and purpose of traditions arise. As each family member seeks comfort in their own way, they uncover where their own faith comes from and what truly unites them as a family. Steeped in Jewish humour and culture, this heartfelt and funny home-grown story asks what it means to be Jewish in a modern, prairie family.
18 Jews Order Chinese Food is a play homegrown in our community. Local playwright Jenna Berenbaum first created a ten-minute version of the play for the Short Cuts Festival of new work in 2021. The play was then expanded to a one act play as part of Sum Theatre and Persephone Theatre’s First Monday program in 2022. In 2023, the Saskatchewan Jewish Arts Festival, with support from SKArts and B’nai Brith Lodge #739, presented a staged reading of the full two act version, which is now receiving its first full production at Persephone Theatre.
Recommended 12+
The Adventure of Young Turtle
By S.E. Grummett, with music by Rae Spoon and Ruaridh MacDonald
Directed by Jay Northcott
A So.Glad Arts production
World Premiere
Backstage Stage – March 6 – 9, 2025
A world premiere of a new play for young audiences from Saskatoon’s own So.Glad Arts, this whimsical undersea odyssey uses music, physical theatre, and large-scale puppetry to share the story of a young turtle’s first experience away from home and the friends they make along the way.
Exploring themes of self-discovery, as well as environmental themes such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, The Adventure of Young Turtle is a charming quest of finding oneself in unexpected places.
Recommended 5+
Made in Italy
by Farren Timoteo
Directed by Daryl Cloran
March 12 – 23, 2025
Join the Mantini family for a hilarious and heartwarming feast of stories of growing up Italian in Jasper, Alberta in the 1970s. Salvatore holds on to the traditions of his homeland, while his teenage son, aspiring pop-icon Francesco, feels caught between two worlds. Exploring generational differences in an immigrant family, Made in Italy is a hilarious celebration of family, food, and the disco inferno – a mostly true story about a kid with the heart of Rocky Balboa and the moves (and hair) of John Travolta! A knock-out performance not to be missed!
Recommended 12+
Running time: 2h 10 m, including intermission
“Made in Italy is not just wildly entertaining but informative. You’ll learn how best to curse in Italian, which saints to call upon for specific needs, what pasta fagioli soup is, and why you should eat your salad at the end of a meal. You get to do it all and laugh for two hours” – Calgary Herald
“The show’s primary colour is comedy, but within that framework, Timoteo makes solid, serious points about the immigrant experience, as well as striking just the right note of poignancy in the end.” – Winnipeg Free Press
“Farren Timoteo is impressively multi-talented and Made In Italy is consistently funny… he sings, dances, does more physical routines than the Cirque du Soleil, and more broad Italian accents than all three Godfather movies.” – Vancouver Sun
Million Dollar Quartet
Book By Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux Original Concept and Direction By Floyd Mutrux Inspired By Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis And Carl Perkins
Directed by Ian Harmon
April 23 – May 11, 2025
This Tony® Award-nominated musical is set on December 4, 1956, when an extraordinary twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley together at Sun Records in Memphis for what would go down as one of the greatest jam sessions in the history of rock and roll. Million Dollar Quartet brings that legendary December night to life with an irresistible tale of broken promises, secrets, betrayal, and celebrations that is both poignant and funny.
Great balls of fire, there will be a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on down by the riverside. Catch the fever, grab your blue suede shoes, and let’s have a party because memories are made of this!
Recommended 12+
G’zaagiin Maleńki – I Promise You a Forest
a Voyageurs Immobiles production in partnership with Remai Modern Backstage
May 7 – 11, 2025
“G’zaagiin” means “I love you” in Anishinaabemowin. “Maleńki” means “little child” in Polish. This immersive, theatrical, music concert is a joyful introduction to live performance for the very young, and those with curious hearts. A non-verbal, sonic experience, using a drum, a cello, and melting ice to create sounds, textures, and poetic movement for young children to discover.
“We created a friendly show where children and their parents are an integral part of the adventure. With us, they ARE the forest. Together, we listen to each other, we respond to each other, at the level of each person’s experience. With you, we are the soundscape of this forest. We unfold a world alive with sounds, images and sensations, an imaginary space that gives no answers, no lessons, but opens up possibilities. Because that’s what it’s all about, when you decide to promise a forest to future generations!” ~ From an interview with the artists
Recommended ages 18 months – 5 years
Running time: approximately 1 hour
The performance is 30 minutes, and will be immediately followed by an art making activity at the Remai Modern.
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Persephone Theatre is thankful for the generous support of the City of Saskatoon, The Saskatchewan Arts Board, Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation, Canadian Heritage Cultural Spaces Fund, and the Canada Council for the Arts.