Pucker’s is a new theatre company in Toronto, founded by 郝邦宇 Steven Hao and Allison MacKenzie. Their inaugural season kicks off with a multidisciplinary remount of Jordan Tannahill’s Concord Floral.
Tannahill, an award-winning Canadian writer and director, wrote Concord Floral in 2016. The play won the 2015 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, and the 2015 Carol Bolt Award, and was a Finalist for the 2016 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama.
The performances take place at The Theatre Centre BMO Incubator from October 8 to 12.
Concord Floral: The Play
In the play, Concord Floral is a one-million-square-foot abandoned greenhouse, and a place where neighbourhood kids can find a refuge from the outside world. It’s a place of their own.
But, it’s also a place that hides a secret, one that they’ve all been avoiding. When two friends uncover that secret, it opens a Pandora’s box of consequences, including whispers, shadows, and a creeping plague that threatens them.
Tannahill developed the play in consultation with a group of teenagers from across the GTA, and many of them went on to perform it in its original form back in 2014 — also at the Theatre Centre.
The title comes from a real place, an abandoned greenhouse in Vaughan, Ontario, that was indeed used by teens for partying, hanging out, and escaping from adults. The play also references The DeCameron, a collection of short novellas written by Giovanni Boccaccio around 1350. That work sees ten teens hiding from The Plague in an Italian villa, where each of them tells ten stories over a two week period to help pass the time.
In Tannahill’s play, the stories are connected to the greenhouse and its regulars, gradually weaving together into a narrative that focuses around one girl, and one event that they’ve been trying to forget for years.
A ghost even makes an appearance, but it’s not the usual haunting. Can the teens confront the past, including their own actions?
It’s a story with a message about the real dangers of mob thinking, cruelty and complicity — one that seems particularly relevant now.
The Production
The ordinary and the surreal blend together in Concord Floral. It’s very much a contemporary setting, infused with cell phones and text messages.
Visions accost them at night, as the bonds of friendship between the group begin to fray and weaken with dark whispers and ghosts of the past. Betrayal and fear lead to an overdue reckoning.
The production is staged in the round, and combines live and pre-recorded dialogue with music. Images and gestures also enter the mix, creating a physical and non-traditional storytelling mode. It’s unlike any previous productions of the play.
Concord Floral is co-directed by Pucker’s Artistic Director and Stratford Festival performer 郝邦宇 Steven Hao and rising star choreographer Alli Carry, with original music by Ben Yoganathan, sound design by Kai Korven, lighting design by Mathilda Kane, and scenic design by Irene Ly.
The cast includes: Arjun Kalra, Rachel Cucheron, Kole Durnford, Gillian Bennet, Micaela Janse van Rensburg, Chrystal Tam, Mya Wong, Trinity Lloyd, Meg Gibson, and Clara Isgro.
Performances
Performance begin October 8, with opening night October 9, and continue until October 12.
You can keep updated on future projects by following Pucker’s Theatre on Instagram here.
- Find tickets and performance details for Concord Floral [HERE].
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox HERE.
- PREVIEW | Sinfonia Toronto Baroque & Beyond Celebrates the Season With Guest Artists The Ezra Duo - December 4, 2025
- INTERVIEW | Director Peter Phillips Talks About The Tallis Scholars And Their Toronto Concert - December 4, 2025
- PREVIEW | The Royal Conservatory Of Music Launches Orchestrated With Cory Wong - December 3, 2025
