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Wrecking Ball: MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

Presented by The Wrecking Ball T.O. Collective Supported by Volcano, Theatre Passe Muraille, Common Boots Theatre and The Theatre Centre
Large audience sits in the round surrounding an empty stage. Long banners hang from the balcony banisters.

The Wrecking Ball swings again! 

Born in 2004 from a desire to confront politics head-on, The Wrecking Ball is a political performance ripped from the headlines. 

Written and staged in just two weeks by some of Toronto’s boldest artists—including playwrights, directors, performers, stand-up comedians, and musicians like Yolanda Bonnell, d’bi.young anitafrika, Rimah Jabr, Xina Gilani, Janice Jo Lee, Denise B McLeod, and Cody Berry-Ottertail —this work is raw, urgent, and entirely in the spirit of the original Wrecking Ball: theatre as resistance, response, and (w)reckoning.

Founded by Jason Sherman, Ross Manson, Lara Azzopardi and Andrew Soren, as a grassroots artistic response to political turmoil, it offered theatre makers a stage to speak back to power—loudly, publicly, and without apology. For over a decade, it sparked a national movement and gave a generation of artists the platform to say what needed saying. Now, in 2025, amidst global upheaval, rising authoritarianism, and the unraveling of democratic norms, the time has come for The Wrecking Ball to swing again.

Join us for a night of performance that cracks open the news cycle and gives it a human heartbeat. Expect a night of raw, powerful performances in an informal cabaret setting where the stage becomes a space for political outrage, laughter, and community. A night where politics meets performance, where art speaks back. 

Let’s gather – bring your fire, your wit and your people.

Previous Wrecking Balls:

A full audience half lit sits in pre show lighting. An empty chair is seen on stage.
May 12, 2025

This performance is 2 hours

Tickets are Pay What You Can Afford: ($15 or PWYC)

Venue

Franco Boni Theatre

Performance Dates

Monday, May 12  – 7:30PM

The Theatre Centre aims to be a space for living and breathing civic conversations that react to the real time events happening around the world and close to home.

We have dedicated the week of May 12 to political conversations and live art that raises big questions.

Wrecking Ball is one of 3 events this week!

A red graphic with an illustration of The Theatre Centre with a streetcar passing by. White text reads West Queen Wes
August 28, 2024
SLEEP AND STAY.  The Toronto hot spot hotel destination located in the Queen West neighbourhood! At the Drake you can sleep comfortably while simultaneously surrounding yourself with art, culture, and 10/10 hospitality. Since opening their doors in 2004, the Drake has strived to foster a neighbourhood hub.  Sleep, eat, and ignite your curiosity!  While at...

Original Presentation:

Originally presented at De Singel in Antwerp during the festival CARTA in April 2024

Special Thanks:

Canada Council for the Arts. De Singel. Gui Morilha | banner and project documentation image. Hildegard De Vuyst | dramaturgy and consultation. Aislinn Rose & The Theatre Centre team. Why Not Theatre | producer 2015. Guillermo Verdicchia | dramaturgy.