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Collage image featuring text & photographs. Top right: Shedding a Skin. Images of a young black woman with short hair, dressed in black. In the photo in the bottom left corner, she smiles at us. The other photos repeat an image of her gazing down and smiling, hands clasped in front of her.
Detail of a collage image featuring text & photographs. Top right: Shedding a Skin. Images of a young black woman with short hair, dressed in black, gazing down and smiling, hands clasped in front of her.
Photo: Director Cherissa Richards, by Kristen Sawatzky, treatment by Fran Chudnoff.

Connection is resistance Connection is resistance

in a solo comedy where the new honours the old.

Photo: Director Cherissa Richards, by Kristen Sawatzky, treatment by Fran Chudnoff.

Home Events Performance Shedding a Skin

Shedding a Skin

From Tuesday, April 22 to Sunday, May 4, 2025: Nightwood Theatre, in association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, presents the Canadian premiere of Amanda Wilkin’s award-winning Shedding a Skin, directed by Cherissa Richards and starring Vanessa Sears, at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

A one-woman buddy comedy for the heartbroken

On the 15th floor of a London tower block, a revolution takes place. Myah has ejected herself from a corporate hellscape only to crash-land in the spare room of an elder named Mildred – an evasive auntie with laminated house rules and hidden wounds. But healing takes many shapes, and sometimes it looks like sneaking your roommate’s duckanoo*.

Shedding a Skin is a series of exquisitely observed, quietly radical scenes that offer a hand to those feeling the weight of the world. It’s a play about finding kindness in unexpected places; about understanding what our elders can teach us; it’s new skin honouring old. It’s a play about joy, healing and protest. Drop your baggage at the door and come inside. Connection is resistance.

Amanda Wilkin’s Shedding a Skin is the 2020 winner of Soho Theatre’s acclaimed Verity Bargate Award. The play premiered at Soho Theatre, London, in June 2021.

* Duckanoo is a sweet, boiled pudding dessert with origins in the Caribbean.

“I defy anyone to walk out untouched.”

– The Guardian

About Nightwood Theatre

Nightwood Theatre is Canada’s preeminent feminist theatre. Nightwood cultivates, creates and produces extraordinary theatre by women and gender-expansive artists, liberating futures, one room at a time. Founded in 1979, Nightwood Theatre has created, produced and toured award-winning plays that have garnered Dora Mavor Moore, Chalmers, Trillium and Governor General’s awards. The company is helmed by Artistic Director Andrea Donaldson and Managing Director Naz Afsahi, whose leadership has received public acclaim for artistic excellence, the successful training and development of emerging female talent, and their ongoing advocacy around gender equity.

About Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is the world’s largest and longest-running queer theatre. For 46 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. Since 1979, Buddies has welcomed over one million audience members and premiered over 1,000 new works for the stage.

Collage image featuring text & photographs. Top right: Shedding a Skin. Images of a young black woman with short hair, dressed in black. In the photo in the bottom left corner, she smiles at us. The other photos repeat an image of her gazing down and smiling, hands clasped in front of her.

(Photo credits: Director Cherissa Richards. Photography by Kristen Sawatzky, treatment by Fran Chudnoff.)

 

Event details

Hosted by: A Nightwood Theatre production, in association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre 

Type of event: solo theatre performance

Written by: Amanda Wilkin 

Directed by: Cherissa Richards 

Performed by: Vanessa Sears

Dates: Tuesday, April 22 – Sunday, May 4, 2025

  • Mask mandatory performances on Wednesday, April 23 & Tuesday, April 29 @ 7:30 PM ET.
  • Black Out Night: Friday, April 25 @ 7:30 PM ET. Black Out Night is a performance for Black audiences that invites Black theatre-going communities to experience a show for them, by them! All self-identified Black audience members are invited. You can find more info here.
  • Relaxed performances Saturday, April 26 & Saturday, May 3 @ 2:00 PM ET.

Start times:

  • Tuesday – Saturday evenings @ 7:30 PM ET
  • Saturday & Sunday matinées @ 2:00 PM ET

Duration: 2 hours (including intermission)

Cost: All prices include fees & taxes.

  • General: C$48.00 – $53.00
  • Arts workers/students/seniors in need: C$25.00 – $30.00
  • Community access (intended for any members of the community in need): C$18.00

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

Booking link: Book your tickets here.

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

 

Accessibility: Info here. Relaxed performances take place Saturday, April 26 & Saturday, May 3 @ 2:00 PM.

COVID-19 policy: See info here. Mask mandatory performances on Wednesday, April 23 & Tuesday, April 29 @ 7:30 PM.

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.