Three days only – from Thursday, September 25 to Saturday, September 27, 2025 – Strange Maker Collective presents their second annual What The Festival, an active celebration of all things drag, clown and puppetry. Theatre and cabaret performances, plus a balloon workshop and a panel on clown and bouffon,* all in spaces at Youngplace.
Toronto’s wildest live theatre festival
What The Festival (WTF) is here to promote, produce and present the best in ‘strange-making’ live entertainment.
The Festival will present work from notable strange makers in wonderful and award-winning feature shows, two cabarets designed to delight, plus a workshop, a panel and lovely lobby surprises. Audiences can expect endearing, eyebrow-raising spectacles from the most creative minds in drag, clown, puppetry, circus, burlesque and beyond with unforgettable ideas, costumes and DIY stagecraft.
(Photo credits: Strange Maker Collective | What The Festival. THE SHINIEST PIECE TRAILER TRASH. Meegan Sweet.)
What The Festival shows
JUICE BREAK: Thursday, September 25 @ 7:30 PM ET at Small World Music Centre (60 min.)
Created and performed by Morgan Brie Johnson and Alexandra Simpson. With prankish charm and unsettling nostalgia from the Dora Award-winning Animacy Theatre Collective, JUICE BREAK goes behind the scenes with two hot-girl-dweebs and their relentless pursuit to be well.
PEGGY’S PLACE: Thursday, September 25 @ 9:00 PM ET at Sweet Action Theatre (60 min.)
Created by Morgan Joy (Sweet and Sultry Burlesque). Performed by Morgan Joy, Dani Zimmer and Bobby Knauff. Peggy’s Place is a soon-to-be-classic afterschool special, puppet sit-com, filmed in front of a live-studio audience. This slice-of-life romp is an interactive lesson in friendship, starring Peggy Plummer and her puppet roommates Hobart and Lenor.
THE SHINIEST PIECE TRAILER TRASH: Friday, September 26 @ 7:30 PM ET at Sweet Action Theatre (60 min.)
Written and performed by Meegan Sweet (Edmonton). In the crummiest small town, in the crummiest trailer park lives the crummiest little raccoon. This turd has one dream: to become a HUMAN BEING!
MILK MILK LEMONADE: Saturday, September 27 @ 7:30 PM ET at Sweet Action Theatre (60 min.)
Created and performed by Emma Nelles and Jonas Trottier. Fresh from winning What the Festival’s Strange Maker Award, and The Second City Award for Best Comedy at the 2025 Toronto Fringe Festival, Milk Milk Lemonade returns! The (class) clowns of Mallowmarsh P.S. navigate the rough-and-tumble world of elementary school to answer the age-old question: I know you are but what am I?
![Image featuring text and photograph. Top: WTF! logo What The Festival Sep 25-27. Centre: An alien drag performer, with rainbow-coloured hair and boa, and snakes emerging from her headdress looks at us. The [Im]possible Cabaret. Host: Anne Alien. Bottom: Sat, Sep 27. Show: 9pm. www.wtfestival.ca. 18+ Sponsor logos.](https://i0.wp.com/www.youngw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wtf-2025-ev-1024x1024.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&ssl=1)
(Photo credits: Strange Maker Collective | What The Festival. THE [IM]POSSIBLE CABARET. Anne Alien.)
What The Festival cabaret performances
STRANGE MAKER SHOWCASE: Friday, September 26 @ 9:00 PM ET at Small World Music Centre (90 min.)
Hosted by Toronto’s premiere tragicomedienne Pearle Harbour, the Strange Maker Showcase is fueled by the best in clown, puppetry and drag acts, including Dyce 2 Watch Out 4 (Drag King), Christine Moynihan (Clown), Glinda Mercury (Burlesque), Kanna Worm (Drag/Cosplay), Jayden Gigliotti (Circus), Pinkity Twinkity (Drag Queen) and Jesse Buck (Clown).
THE [IM]POSSIBLE CABARET: Saturday, September 27 @ 9:00 PM ET at Small World Music Centre (90 min.)
Hosted by drag thing Anne Alien, The [Im]possible Cabaret features Cherry Bomb (Cosplay), Fox C Shanty (Drag Thing), Eric Cinnsealach (Clown), Conjunctivisis (Drag Queen), Carly Rae Stepson (Drag Thing), Jupiter Lightningstorm (Circus) and SPLAT (Drag Creature), with Joshua Bonnici and Goldy Yason (Burlesque).
But wait – there’s a workshop & a panel!
Get Bent: A Balloon Twisting Workshop with Ginger Blossom: Saturday, September 27 @ 3:00 PM ET in the Social Art Studio Space (2 hours). A balloon twisting workshop where you’ll learn there’s a lot more things you can create than puppy dogs!
Clown & Bouffon: Despair & Hope panel: Saturday, September 27 @ 5:00 PM ET in the Small World Music Centre (60 min.). This panel will be moderated by Justin Miller (aka Pearle Harbour), and features Karen Hines, John Beale and Heather Marie Annis. The world is a dark place right now, and so what better time to hear from professional clown and bouffon creators about how they deal with despair and hope in their work, in the stories they tell, and how they understand their place amidst it all.
About What The Festival (WTF)
Founded by Alicia DiStefano and Byron Laviolette, WTF is dedicated to the promotion, production and presentation of Toronto’s best in drag, clown and puppetry. They are committed to creating a space for artists to play, audiences to laugh and the community to celebrate.
* Originating in French theatre, bouffon is a style of performance based on mocking its subject.
(Photo credits: Strange Maker Collective | What The Festival. Clown & Bouffon: Despair & Hope panel. Left to right: John Beale, Karen Hines, Heather Marie Annis & Justin Miller.)
Event details
Presented by: Strange Maker Collective
Type of event: performance festival featuring drag, clown, puppetry and more
Featured performers, workshop facilitators & panelists: Ginger Blossom, Pearle Harbour, Karen Hines, John Beale, Heather Marie Annis, Morgan Brie Johnson & Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Joy, Dani Zimmer & Bobby Knauff, Meegan Sweet, Emma Nelles and Jonas Trottier, Dyce 2 Watch Out 4 (Drag King), Christine Moynihan (Clown), Glinda Mercury (Burlesque), Kanna Worm (Drag/Cosplay), Jayden Gigliotti (Circus), Pinkity Twinkity (Drag Queen) & Jesse Buck (Clown), Cherry Bomb (Cosplay), Fox C Shanty (Drag Thing), Eric Cinnsealach (Clown), Conjunctivisis (Drag Queen), Carly Rae Stepson (Drag Thing), Jupiter Lightningstorm (Circus) & SPLAT (Drag Creature), with Joshua Bonnici & Goldy Yason (Burlesque)
Dates: The Festival runs from Thursday, September 25 – Saturday, September 27, 2025. See individual performances/workshop/panel above for exact dates and times.
Duration: Various – please see the descriptions above.
Cost: Prices do not include fees.
- Featured shows & cabarets: C$17.55 – $38.95 each performance
- Get Bent workshop: C$65.00
- Clown & Bouffon panel: Free, registration required
Location: Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street, Toronto, ON, M6J 2W5, Canada
All programming takes place in spaces within Youngplace: Social Art Studio Space, Small World Music Centre & Sweet Action Theatre.
Booking link: Book your tickets here by selecting the performance/workshop/panel you wish to attend.
Contact details: Strange Maker Collective, What The Festival, toronto.wtfest@gmail.com, wtfestival.ca
Content warning: Appropriate for audiences 18+. Please consult the individual performances/workshop/panel.
Accessibility: Youngplace is fully accessible, with a wheelchair ramp at the building entrance and an elevator and fully accessible washrooms inside the building. If taking the TTC, the 63 Ossington bus is wheelchair-accessible. More info here. Email the Festival at patron.wtfestival@gmail.com if you would like further assistance.