"An extraordinarily imaginative production."

--Christopher Hoile, Stage Door Review

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All The Cows Are Dead follows an artisan butcher who instructs his petulant and misanthropic nephew how to be more like him, leading both to discover how both the butcher and the poet are, in fact, the same. 

WORLD PREMIERE

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A powerful new work by contemporary Ukrainian playwright Oleg Mikhailov, Letters of Ice and Sand makes its world premiere in Barrie. Written from inside a nation at war and spanning generations of conflict—from the Soviet-Finnish Winter War to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine—the play gives voice to those whose lives have been shaped by violence, displacement, love, and loss, offering a deeply human perspective on one of the defining global crises of our time.

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"An ache of a play, Steve Ross also directs this and he does it with care, detail, imagination and economy.The performances are superb."

- The Slotkin Letter

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 “Steve” serves as our guide and confidant as he shares with us the story of a year’s worth of monthly trips to the family home for what inevitably become uncomfortable interactions with his mother, who is suffering from depression.

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"With Madame Minister, Talk Is Free Theatre, the always surprising theatre company based in Barrie, has come up with yet another hit."

-Christopher Hoile, Stage Door

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Živka Popovič is a small-town woman who vainly feels she deserves to live among the higher classes and receive more respect from those in her circle. When she receives news that her husband might be made a minister in the new government, her expectations and anticipation soar, knowing that her dreams will come true.

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"[An] antertaining production [that] strides strongly and confidently forward, overflowing with astute silliness and witty solidness as they travel with a lightness of foot alongside the sharpest of deliveries."

––Front Mezz Junkies

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This boisterously hilarious, yet poignant musical follows Dionysos, Greek god of wine and drama, and his slave, Xanthias, on a journey to Hades to collect renowned critic and playwright, George Bernard Shaw, so that he may enlighten the easily misled and coerced masses of Earth. Along this journey, Dionysus and Xanthias meet Chekhov, Congreve, Ibsen, Brecht and, of course, the chorus of frogs. Then, Shakespeare shows up and starts declaiming his greatest hits; before long, he engages in a battle of words with Mr. Shaw. Who will win the honor of becoming reincarnated: The Bard or Bernard?

The Sermon follows the life of an aspiring young pastor navigating the unpredictable and wacky terrain of evangelical bible college as he prepares to deliver his senior-year sermon. On his mission to be more like Christ, he wrestles with temptation, doubt, a professor with a vendetta and an unholy obsession for Donna Summer.

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The gripping and thought-provoking drama, inspired by true events, blends political intrigue, romance, and questions of identity as it follows a French diplomat who becomes entangled in a decades-long relationship with a mysterious Chinese opera performer. As assumptions, fantasies and realities collide, long-held perceptions are challenged with disastrous consequences. 

Anton Chekhov's The Seagull is a poignant portrait of artists, dreamers, and lovers struggling to find significance in a changing world. At the centre of the play is the young writer Konstantin, whose desire to create new forms of art is met head-on with resistance by those in his sphere. Relationships unravel and aspirations are tested, exposing the tensions between youth and experience, innovation and tradition, success and failure. 

WORLD PREMIERE

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The Hayloft is a comedy about the increasingly difficult dream of building a life together. When a married couple transforms their newly renovated in-law suite into a vacation rental, parents, neighbours and guests begin to test both their patience and their relationship.