Laura talks to playwright and performer Karen Hines about her solo show Crawlspace. Hines explains how her play was inspired by her true-life experience of buying a home, how it fundamentally changed her as a person and redefined her concept of home.

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Crawlspace (Interview with Karen Hines)

Writer Karen Hines dreams of homeownership so when she discovers a lemon yellow coach house advertised as a “condo alternative,” she decides to invest her life savings. She adores the granite countertop and the walk-in closet and its lack of basement. But on move-in day, she sits on the window sill and it crumbles beneath her. She soon learns that she hasn’t bought a coach house. She’s just sunk everything she owns into a glorified car garage.

Crawlspace (Part 1)

Karen learns that not only is her coach house actually a converted garage, but also that it’s encroaching on her neighbour’s property. And because her neighbour won’t sell her the land, she can’t sell the house. And because she spent all her money on the house, she can’t afford to do the repairs. She falls deeper into debt and despair, and then she notices a mysterious foul odour emanating from god knows where.

Crawlspace (Part 2)

The stench pervading from somewhere is a mystery no one can solve. Karen incurs tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt to find the problem and … deal with it. Karen’s coach house goes from bad investment to a health hazard. She must get out.

Crawlspace (Part 3)

Chris talks to playwright Emil Sher and journalist Ian Brown about Ian’s bestselling book-turned-play, The Boy in the Moon. Both tell the story of Ian’s quest to connect with his son, Walker, who was born with a rare genetic disorder. The two writers discuss the challenge of portraying Ian’s family on stage; the guilt and shame associated with disability; and why Ian had to rethink the idea of love and where to find it.

The Boy in the Moon (Interview with Ian Brown and Emil Sher)

An early delivery of their son catches Ian Brown and his wife Johanna Schneller by surprise. Their son Walker is born with a rare genetic disorder, which went undetected in the womb. His condition will impact everything from walking to talking to eating. And life changes, completely.

The Boy in the Moon (Part 1)

Walker is diagnosed with Cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, a condition so rare only 300 people in the world have been diagnosed with it. Ian and his wife are faced with the task of raising a boy who can’t tell them anything, and soon find themselves imagining everything. They yearn to communicate with Walker and ask him questions. What do you dream at night? What do you think about? Why do you keep hitting yourself?

The Boy in the Moon (Part 2)

Ian reflects on the beautiful moments — the private language of tongue clicks and the joys of an echoing hallway. He also recalls the worst moments — his wife at the bottom of the darkness, and well-meaning friends who cannot help. The family makes a decision with a profound impact; a turning point with no turning back.

The Boy in the Moon (Part 3)

Laura talks to Governor General award-winning playwright Nicolas Billon about his play "BUTCHER", a dark political thriller set on Christmas Eve. Billon explains why he felt the need to invent a country, and a whole language, to tell the story he wanted to tell; how Hitchcock's thrillers inspire his writing; and what he thinks of the notion that "you can have peace or you can have justice, but you can't have both."

BUTCHER: Interview with Nicolas Billon

At first, it seems like a Christmas miracle. The Lavinian interpreter arrives to find the old man moaning in pain. Besides being fluent in his language, Elena is also a nurse with some timely advice. As the four wait for an ambulance to arrive, she quickly deduces a lot more about the man — from the hook that hung around his neck to the missing fingernails on his toes. But tensions rise as it becomes clear: the old man isn’t the only one in the room with secrets.

BUTCHER (Part 2)

It’s Christmas Eve at a Toronto police station, and Inspector Lamb is no longer having a silent night. A drugged old man in a Santa hat and military uniform has been dropped on his doorstep. Around the man’s neck: a butcher’s hook spiked with a business card that reads “arrest me.” The cop makes two calls: to the lawyer on the card and an interpreter who speaks Lavinian. The lawyer arrives first.

BUTCHER (Part 1)

“Revenge is the confession of pain … it wants you to feel what it feels.” We all know what it means to kill someone, but what does it mean to break them? No one in the room is playing the same role as when they entered it. No one will ever be the same again.

BUTCHER (Part 3)

Laura and Chris revisit the perfect play for summer, Bunny by Hannah Moscovitch. The play explores taboos of female sexuality when Sorrel, a grown-up married woman, finds herself alone in a canoe with a much younger man. She is wrestling with whether to give into her desires, or stick to what society expects for her.

PlayME NOW: Bunny by Hannah Moscovitch

Chris talks to Governor General award-winning playwright Robert Chafe about his play "Between Breaths", a life-affirming look at the life of Dr. Jon Lien who was known as the "Whale Man of Newfoundland". They discuss how Robert's experience growing up as a gay man in Newfoundland and how the death of one of his main collaborators impacted this work.

Between Breaths (Interview with Robert Chafe)

By Robert Chafe. Between Breaths tells the story of Dr. Jon Lien, the "Whale man of Newfoundland," known for his pioneering efforts in freeing whales from fishing nets. Told in reverse chronological order, the play portrays his final moments when he finds himself trapped in his own body, much like the whales he worked to free. Note: this play includes coarse language.

Between Breaths (Part 1)

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