For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo…
Shakespeare’s iconic tale of star-crossed young love takes the stage at High Park this summer with the return of Canadian Stage’s Dream In High Park. It will be the 42nd season for the perennially popular outdoor theatre festival in the park’s scenic amphitheatre.
Romeo & Juliet will take the stage from July 13 to August 31 in a production led by multi-award-winning director Marie Farsi, with Praneet Akilla as Romeo and Lili Beaudoin as Juliet.
“ROMEO & JULIET is a truly thrilling theatrical experience and a huge audience favourite in the park,” says Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy in a statement. “It has spectacular romance, heart-wringing tragedy, it explores enduring and universal themes of love, conflict, and fate — it could be the perfect Dream in High Park play.
“We are thrilled to have director Marie Farsi — who has emerged as one of the most exciting directors in the country — working with us for the first time. And we are equally thrilled to welcome Praneet Akilla and Lili Beaudoin in the title roles, who will surely prove to be a swoon-worthy R&J.”
A look at Dream In High Park through the years, from the 40th anniversary video:
Romeo & Juliet: Personnel
Director Marie Farsi‘s work as a director is primarily focused on new plays. She has worked with many of Canada’s noted theatre companies, including Crow’s Theatre, The Musical Stage Company, the Banff Centre for the Arts, Tarragon Theatre, Here For Now, Hip.Bang!, Rumble Theatre, Aux Écuries and Théâtre La Seizième, along with larger organizations such as the Stratford Festival and the Arts Club.
Notable credits include the sold-out Crow’s Theatre production of Fifteen Dogs (2023), and Ghost Quartet (including the film) with Crow’s Theatre and Eclipse Theatre Company, the latter winning both a Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award Best Director of a Musical, and Dora Award for Outstanding Direction in the Musical Theatre division in 2021.
Stars
Indian-Canadian actor and producer Praneet Akilla was born in Mumbai, and moved to Calgary as a child with his family. His love of theatre, and musical theatre in particular, became evident by middle school, but he went on to study chemical engineering at McGill University. After landing a job in his field at Suncor, he’d spend his free time acting in community theatre and short films. By 2018, however, he was ready to make the plunge, and left engineering for acting full-time.
In 2020, he snagged a leading role on Netflix’s October Faction, and he’s best known for his work on television today, including leading roles on The CW’s Nancy Drew, Disney Freeform’s Motherland Fort Salem, and the Canadian Screen Award nominated medical drama Skymed.
Canadian actress Lili Beaudoin began acting at the age of six, when she became a founding member of Leaky Heaven Circus in Vancouver. She performed seven of their productions, and shared a Jessie Richardson award for ensemble acrobatic choreography. Lili studied acting at The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and the Australian Youth Theatre in Sydney, and acrobatics at the Circus Centre in San Francisco. Along with other theatre credits, she’s appeared on screen in the films The 4400, Dead Like Me and Voyage of the Unicorn.
She is also known as a prolific voice actor, including voicing Crick from Beat Bugs, Plaid Stripes and Kettle Corn from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Rayne Martinez/Tempestra from Max Steel, and Edie Von Keet from the series Littlest Pet Shop: A World of Our Own (2018). She has also voiced anime characters, including Merle and Marin in the English dub of the 2020 Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai anime, and Lana in the new English dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s Future Boy Conan.
The cast is rounded out by Matthew G. Brown, Joella Crichton, Daniel Krmpotic, Ziska Louis, Diego Matamoros, Dan Mousseau, Meilie Ng, Asher Rose, Mike Shara, and Michaela Washburn.
Along with Farsi, the creative team includes set and costume designer Sim Suzer, lighting designer Logan Raju Cracknell, associate lighting designer Emilie Trimbee, sound designer Olivia Wheeler, and choreographer Stephen Cota.
Performances & More
From June 13 to August 31, performances take place daily;
- Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m.
- Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
Backstage tours
Between July 22 and August 19, backstage tours are available at 6:30 p.m. before each Tuesday evening performance. Please reserve your spot in advance here.
Dog night is August 6!
Tickets
Rush tickets are available at all performances of Dream in High Park.
Rush tickets are available online at noon the day of the performance, or at the gate beginning 2 hours prior to each performance and are offered at pay-what-you-wish pricing (with a suggested minimum of $20.)
Concessions are available to purchase, and Canadian Stage encourages audience members to bring their own blankets and picnics.
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