York’s playGround Festival: the fine art of fostering

Mary-Lou Schagena, publicist in the Faculty of Fine Arts, sent the following article to YFile.


Theatre @ York’s annual playGround Festival is full of the unexpected, featuring new, experimental plays, plays-in-progress, works “ready in the wings” and promising performance projects that generally reflect an adventurous spirit and a risk-taking mindset by up-and-coming student playwrights and performers.


The plays will be staged Feb. 10-13 in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre in York’s Centre for Film & Theatre.


A new theatre production goes through many stages before its name is lit up on the marquee, from embryonic vision to long gestation periods with readings, rewrites, workshops and the like. The playGround Festival is just the ticket to gain more insight into this exciting creative process.


Now in its 12th year, the festival serves as an incubator for student creativity, presentation and production development. Additionally, it gives students the opportunity to showcase their talents outside a course curriculum context while allowing their peers a chance to see the work of their fellow students.


The 12 plays will be showcased in two separate series, as follows:



  • Series A runs Feb. 10 and 11 at 7:30pm, and Feb. 13 at 1pm
  • Series B runs Feb. 11 at 1pm, and Feb. 12 and 13 at 7:30pm.

Admission is $5. For tickets, call the box office at 416-736-5172, ext. 3.