History
The Modern Times Stage Company was established by York University graduates Soheil Parsa and Peter Farbridge in March 1989. From its first production at the Toronto Fringe Festival, the company is now recognized as an important player in Canadian theatre.
The company has toured to Montreal, Colombia, the United States, Europe and Iran. It has been nominated for 60+ Dora Awards in its 30+ years of existence. Soheil Parsa has been shortlisted several times for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre (Directing), and has received a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012 from the Ontario Government for his contribution to the arts.
In January 2022, Pakistani-Tanzanian immigrant, award-winning playwright, director and performer, Rouvan Silogix was appointed as the Artistic Director following Soheil’s retirement from the company. Previous Work
2022 | Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Modern Times Stage Company and Crow’s Theatre present the Toronto premiere of BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO, written by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Modern Times Artistic Director Rouvan Silogix.
Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tony Award nominated, and National Endowment for the Arts award winner for Outstanding New American Play, BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO is set amid the chaos of the 2003 American occupation of Iraq. In this darkly comic tale, the lives of two American marines intersect with an Iraqi gardener as they search through the rubble of war for friendship, redemption, and a toilet seat made of gold.
2022 | The House of Bernarda Alba
A Co-Production of Aluna Theatre and Modern Times Stage Company: Iron-willed matriarch Bernarda Alba decrees eight years of mourning following her husband’s death, enacting a domestic lockdown that cuts her five daughters off from the world outside the walls of their home; but her daughters are women, not children, each hungers for her own place in the world. Their repression only fuels their desires for a life beyond.
2019 | The Cherry Orchard | Toronto
The Cherry Orchard Presented at Streetcar Crow’s Nest March 26-April 13, 2019 The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s final play. It has been
2018 | bloom | Toronto
bloom Presented at Buddies in Bad Times March 26 to April 8, 2018 Inspired by TS Eliot’s “The Wasteland”, “bloom” is a humorous and haunting
2017 | Blood Weddings | Toronto
Blood Weddings Presented at Buddies in Bad Times A Modern Times Stage Company/Aluna Theatre Coproduction March 4 to March 19, 2017 Lorca’s ‘Blood Wedding’ is
2016 | The Death of the King | Toronto
The Death of the King March 25 to April 10, 2016 Coproduced with the Theatre Centre Critically-acclaimed Iranian playwright, Bahram Beyzaie wrote The Death of the King shortly after