Coffeehouse Theatre Society is producing The CoffeeMakers Festival: a digital series of new and old works in an effort to raise money for the Toronto chapter of Black Lives Matter.
The youth-run non-profit will host live-streamed performances every Saturday starting at 6 p.m. from June 13 to July 25 on their Facebook Page (Coffeehouse Theatre Society).
It will feature readings of classic plays and new works, created and performed by local emerging artists.
The online festival will double as a fundraiser for the Toronto chapter of Black Lives Matter with Coffeehouse Theatre Society matching donations up to $500.
Coffeehouse Theatre was founded in 2018 by a group of high school seniors in Tsawwassen as a way to keep doing theatre outside of school. They produced two plays in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and the CoffeeMakers Festival will make up their third season.
The original plan was to stage Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Camryn Smith, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a version of the play will now be presented in a live-stream format as the final performance of the festival.
Coffeehouse is also incredibly excited to showcase original works by new playwrights, including an adaptation of Shelby Satterthwaite’s play LightRapid Transit, which was slated to premiere in March before being cancelled.
The rest of the lineup includes two, ten-minute plays by recent Capilano grads Jasmine Le Masurier and Camryn Smith and a one-act play by University of Victoria student J Johnson. Rounding out the festival will be readings of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and the Ancient Greek comedy Frogs by Aristophanes.
One week will also feature a talkback discussion with Coffeehouse directors and artists.
