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A young woman wearing white, with long hair over her shoulder, looks at the camera. She is very amused. Why is that? A mature woman wearing a black top and a blue patterned scarf stands back, looking with suspicion at the younger woman. How do they know each other? Do they have a secret?
A young woman wearing white, with long hair over her shoulder, looks at the camera. She is very amused. Why is that? A mature woman wearing a black top and a blue patterned scarf stands back, looking with suspicion at the younger woman. How do they know each other? Do they have a secret?
Photo: Tsipporah Shendroff & Anne Harper. Photo by Harris Bailey.

Only sorta fictional: Only sorta fictional:

a satire poking fun at affluent citizen NIMBYism toward supportive housing.

Photo: Tsipporah Shendroff & Anne Harper. Photo by Harris Bailey.

Home Events Performance TOFringe: Stealing Home

TOFringe: Stealing Home

From Friday, July 4 to Sunday, July 13, 2025 – Spangle Theatre presents Stealing Home at the 2025 Toronto Fringe Festival. A comedy set in a fictional Toronto neighbourhood, it pokes fun – and throws more than a little shade – at people who live in an affluent part of the city. Running in the Alumnae Theatre Mainspace.

A sharp-elbowed satire about those who shout, “Not in my neighbourhood!”

When the City of Toronto announces plans to build supportive housing on a parking lot in East Westonville Village, local homeowners lose their minds. “Housing for the homeless?,” they cry. “Not in our neighbourhood!” Yet the very people homeowners fear are already among them and their lives are woven together in surprising ways. A reporter comes running. The scent of money attracts dark interests. The mayor dithers. A porch pirate and a wellness influencer work the crowd. The parking lot (personified in this cast of characters) finds fame and dares to dream of being warm in winter. And what happens to Nimrod, the littlest Chihuahua?

The team features some familiar Alumnae Theatre veterans and performers. Written and produced by Annie Massey, and directed by Pat McCarthy, the cast features David Borwick, Anne Harper, JeN Hashimoto, Tsipporah Shendroff, Josh Welsh and Kayne Wylie.

“Although fictional, Stealing Home borrows shamelessly from real-life Toronto neighbourhoods where local residents fight efforts to provide housing for the less fortunate. ‘We’re not against housing the homeless,’ they say. ‘We just don’t want any here.’ Well-heeled residents bemoan petty theft, but this play asks the question: Who is really doing the thieving?”

– Annie Massey, Playwright & Producer

About the show and Spangle Theatre

Spangle Theatre assembles a group of talented theatre artists from all over Toronto to bring you Stealing Home, a play that was inspired by the city’s reaction to the homelessness crisis. Originally titled Pave Paradise, the play was first presented as a staged reading at Alumnae Theatre’s 2024 Big Ideas Festival, going on to premiere at Toronto’s St. James Park, in an outdoor presentation that summer.

They’re most grateful to Studio Lab Theatre Foundation for their support of this production.

A dishevelled young man looks at the camera with a curious expression. Perhaps he has a secret. An older man wearing a straw hat looks down at the younger man with a puzzled expression. Both are wearing black. They look like friends.

(Photo credits: Spangle Theatre. Kayne Wylie & David Borwick. The image on the Events page features Tsipporah Shendroff & Anne Harper. Photos by Harris Bailey.)

 

Event details

Presented by: Spangle Theatre 

Type of event: theatre performance

Written & produced by: Annie Massey

Directed by: Pat McCarthy

Cast: David Borwick, Anne Harper, JeN Hashimoto, Tsipporah Shendroff, Josh Welsh & Kayne Wylie

Dates & times: Performances take place throughout the Toronto Fringe Festival – which runs from Wednesday, July 2 to Sunday, July 13, 2025 – at various times and dates:

  • Friday, July 4 @ 4:45 PM ET
  • Saturday, July 5 @ 8:00 PM ET
  • Tuesday, July 8 @ 6:30 PM ET
  • Thursday, July 10 @ 9:30 PM ET
  • Friday, July 11 @ 6:15 PM ET
  • Saturday, July 12 @ 1:00 PM ET
  • Sunday, July 13 @ 2:15 PM ET

Latecomers will only be admitted into the theatre within the first 5 minutes of the performance. Re-entry will not be permitted.

Duration: 55 minutes (no intermission)

Cost: C$15.00 plus fees, with discounts for kids and pass holders. July 8 is a Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) performance.

Location: Alumnae Theatre, Mainspace, 70 Berkeley Street, Toronto, ON, M5A 2W6, Canada

Booking link: Book your tickets here.

Contact details: Annie Massey, Producer spangle.theatre@gmail.com

 

Content warning: Though it won’t be of particular interest to young children, children are welcome – parental guidance advised. Mature language. Abrupt cues. Stealing Home is a comedy, but it does talk about homelessness and gives details about the number of people who die each year while homeless in Toronto. There is also a scene in which a package is mistakenly identified as a sex toy.

Accessibility: Alumnae Theatre’s Berkeley Street entrance and mainstage theatre are wheelchair-accessible. There is a wheelchair-accessible restroom on the ground floor. More info here. This show will offer a Touchbook for patrons. Touchbooks offer a tactile experience of various elements of the set, props, and costumes through touch. It can be accessed by checking in at the Front of House area at the show venue.