By visiting this Website, you agree to the use of essential + preferences Cookies. If you want to opt in to statistics Cookies to have your Website visit analyzed, check the box below & click ‘Submit’. We do not track your visit if you leave the box unchecked. For more details, see our Cookie Policy.

Skip to content
A person with a short cropped beard & moustache, wearing a fishnet costume & black cylindrical hat poses dynamically against a concrete wall, flexing their right arm while holding a sucker to their mouth with their left hand.
Image featuring text superimposed over a photograph. Bootycandy in yellow font. A person with a short cropped beard & moustache, wearing a fishnet costume & black cylindrical hat holds a sucker to their mouth, posed dynamically against a concrete wall.

A dark comedy A dark comedy

about a queer Black man’s life & evolution.

Home Events Performance Bootycandy

Bootycandy

From Wednesday, September 30 to Saturday, October 17, 2026 – Buddies in Bad Times and Obsidian Theatre Company present the Canadian premiere of Bootycandy, a meta-theatrical, semi-autobiographical dark comedy by Robert O’Hara that fleshes out an intricate embodiment of Black queer life. Presented at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

Power, permissibility & privilege

The durational comedy of parental hypocrisy. A reverend in high heels. A formal lesbian breakup at a tropical destination.

The THEYHEARD folks are trying to start new rumours, but fortunately there are a lot of witnesses. Bootycandy shows us a young man’s experience of power, permissibility and privilege from the childhood dinner table to the playwrights’ circle to the dark disarray of a stranger’s hotel room.

The Buddies in Bad Times/Obsidian Theatre production of this LAMBDA Literary Award-winning (2015) play by American playwright Robert O’Hara is directed by Jay Northcott, and features Christopher Allen (The Master Plan, As You Like It), Helen Belay (The Wonderful, Queen Goneril & King Lear), Kyle Brown (Tyson’s Song, Come From Away), Dan Mousseau (The Born-Again Crow, Bremen Town) and Meghan Swaby (Table for Two, Interior Design).

About Buddies in Bad Times

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is the world’s largest and longest-running queer theatre. For 48 years, Buddies has carved out a sexy, disobedient edge in Toronto’s theatre scene and has been a world leader in amplifying queer voices and developing their stories for the stage. In its year-round theatre season, Buddies is a home for artistic risk – a place where emerging talent hone their radical visions, and where established artists do the daring works other theatres might shy away from. Read more about them here.

About Obsidian Theatre Company

Founded in 2000, Obsidian is Canada’s leading culturally-specific theatre company. An award-winning organization, Obsidian Theatre has spent over 25 years training, producing and showcasing Black artists across the country. Read more about them here.

“Our production of Bootycandy is developed as a conversation between Black Canadians as audience and actors, and how to create our experiences on stage. Even though this is an American script, we are using it to understand and question our identity and history as Canadians.”

– Jay Northcott, director

Image featuring text superimposed over a photo. Bootycandy in yellow font. A person with a short cropped beard & moustache, wearing a fishnet costume & black cylindrical hat poses dynamically against a concrete wall, flexing their right arm while holding a sucker to their mouth with their left hand.

(Photo credits: Jay Northcott. Photography & creative direction by Fran Chudnoff, styling by Angela Cabrera, makeup by Rahnell Branton & graphic design by Lucinda Wallace.)

 

Event details

Presented by: Buddies in Bad Times & Obsidian Theatre Company 

Type of event: theatre performance

Written by: Robert O’Hara 

Directed by: Jay Northcott 

Cast: Christopher Allen, Helen Belay, Kyle Brown, Dan Mousseau & Meghan Swaby

Dates: Wednesday, September 30 – Saturday, October 17, 2026 – with the following notable dates:

  • Preview: Wednesday, September 30
  • Blackout night:* Friday, October 2

*An evening created by and for the Black community. A space to celebrate Black stories, artists and audiences. It’s a night for Black theatregoers to come together and experience theatre through shared culture, joy and connection.

Start times:

  • Wednesday – Saturday evenings @ 7:30 PM ET
  • Sunday afternoons @ 4:00 PM ET

Duration: approx. 1 hour & 30 minutes (no intermission)

Cost: Prices include fees but not HST.

    • Low-income ticket: C$15.00
    • Subsidized ticket: C$30.00
    • Regular ticket: C$50.00
    • Supporter ticket: C$80.00

Location: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexandra Street, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1B4

Booking link: Book your tickets here

Contact details: Buddies in Bad Times, 12 Alexandra Street, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1B4, Canada; Box office: (416) 975-8555, tickets@buddiesinbadtimes.com, buddiesinbadtimes.com

 

Content warning: For audiences 19+.

Accessibility: There is an elevator for wheelchairs. There are also gender-neutral and accessible bathrooms. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is committed to removing barriers for their audiences and artists. If you have specific requests – such as seating, tickets for a personal support worker, info on ASL, etc., please email tickets@buddiesinbadtimes.com or call them at (416) 975-8555. More info here.

Refund policy: If you would like to exchange your ticket or be granted a refund, please email tickets@buddiesinbadtimes.com. Requests will be approved at the discretion of Buddies in Bad Times and Tallulah’s Cabaret, as well as any producing partners. No refunds or exchanges will be granted within 48 hours of the event start time. If approved, a full refund of the ticket cost, minus any applicable service fees, will be credited to your account within 30 days.