take rimbaud was nominated for 5 DORA MAVOR MOORE AWARDS in the Toronto 2026 season. Including OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY, DIRECTION, ENSEMBLE, SCENIC DESIGN, SOUND DESIGN.
~ Narratives are hard to shake ~
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. A performance text 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 from the world premiere production.
A Howland Company production in partnership with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Playwright: Susanna Fournier Director: ted witzel
Featuring: Thomas Mitchell Barnet, Rose Tuong, Ruth Goodwin, Julian De Zotti, Breton Lalama, Hallie Seline, Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster, Cameron Laurie. Design by: Set & Costume Designer - Ting – Huan 挺歡 Christine Urquhart, Lighting Designer - Darren Shaen, Projection Designer - Nicole Eun-Ju Bell, Composer and Sound Designer - Dasha Plett. Photos by: Wade Muir.