Dead Name Theatre Is Producing INTO THE WOODS!

THE COMPANY

We are ​Dead Name Theatre (DNT) and we seek to uplift and centre the voices, experiences and talents of trans, non-binary and queer creatives in Toronto. We acknowledge that Toronto is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit. 

DNT's three leading values are Representation, Community, and Storytelling as Activism. 

With Representation we seek to provide more opportunities for the immensely talented theatre practitioners who have been denied opportunity because of their marginalized gender and sexual identities. DNT aims to create a rehearsal space that is populated by trans, non-binary and queer creatives, from actors to designers, directors, stage managers and front of house team. Besides providing opportunities, we believe this representation will inspire the next generation. We strive to be the representation we never had as youth. 

In regards to Community, with a rehearsal space where we are the majority, we will be able to tell trans, non-binary and queer stories from a place of authenticity and support rather than tokenism. Our representation on stage is far and few between and can often fall into stereotypes and tokenism in character portrayals of these identities. But if we create as a community, we can offer a more nuanced representation of trans, non-binary and queer characters on stage, simultaneously reducing the toxic and harmful rehearsal practices that our community has learned to survive in. The question we are asking is, “If an actor feels affirmed by their cast, crew and creative team, what level of performance might they be able to reach?” 

Storytelling as Activism, relates to the core of why we do theatre. If we tell a nuanced, authentic, beautiful, heart-breaking and relatable trans, non-binary, queer story, we can begin to reclaim our full humanity from our audience. If we can share in our storytelling what the weight of transphobia, transmisogyny, enbyphobia, queerphobia and homophobia does to our community, our audience might be able to offer us empathy and start to dismantle these phobias in their own minds. 

You can read more about who we are here: https://deadnametheatre.weebly.com/ 

THE PRODUCTION

In our first company production, we will share a concert version of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods through the lens of our community. This concert will take place live in Toronto in June 2023. We believe this piece about navigating identity, finding self-love, learning and healing from the mistakes of our parents, balancing independence and interdependence (among many others) should be made more accessible to the trans, non-binary and queer community. In our concert-style performance, we aim to bring light to the importance of representation while creating a safe space for our community members and artists to create freely. To do so we need your help. 

Contributing to this campaign will allow us to: 

- Pay for our rehearsal hall 

- Pay our artists and creatives the rate they deserve 

- Share this production with a wider audience 

- Grow our company and envision future projects, community spaces and collaborations 

We will also be hosting events to create community connections and fun opportunities for us to reach our financial goals. Keep an eye out for these future events! 

THE SUGGESTED DONATION TIERS

The Cow as White as Milk | $1 - $24 

The Cape as Red as Blood | $25 - $59 

The Hair as Yellow as Corn | $60 - $99 

The Slipper as Pure as Gold | $100 or More 

All contributions will be thanked in the show program regardless of donation tier.

Thank you so much for supporting Dead Name Theatre and this production. Please help spread the word by posting about us, signing up for the company newsletter, donating to the campaign or sending the link to a trans and/or non-binary friend.