A performance poem for 8 voices at the end of the world
The world premiere of take rimbaud is set for May 6 – 23, 2026 in Toronto, directed by ted witzel.
***BUY TICKETS TO THE WORLD PREMIERE***
A Howland Company production in partnership with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Toronto, 2014 / Paris, 1871 / hell, always
~ This is why I quit art ~
Four poets, a sloppy love triangle, an unfinished art film, and an electric oven. Can we still talk about the apocalypse as if it hasn’t already happened? It’s 2014 in Toronto (hell) and 1871 in France (also hell). The poets torture themselves to make work that means something rightnow, but time feels slippery and no narrative can keep them safe. Nevertheless! Sappho’s brand manager has suggestions for her website, and queerness is really marketable right now. Especially if the queers in question are already dead.
A performance poem traversing the worlds of Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, Sylvia Plath, Sappho, and post-art school malaise, take rimbaud flirts with creation, revolution, and violence at the end of the world.
take rimbaud was a featured project at The Banff Centre for the Arts National Playwrights Lab.
Photos below feature our sold-out workshop presentation in 2016 at Canadian Stage (photos by Lyon Smith) and the world premiere photoshoot featuring Susanna Fournier, photography + creative direction by Fran Chudnoff, styling by CC Calica, makeup by Rahnell Branton.