The Surrogate Digital Program

HERE FOR NOW THEATRE in Association with Crow's Theatre, House & Body, and BCurrent Performing Arts

April 17 - 26, 2026 WORLD PREMIERE www.herefornowtheatre.com 519.272.HFNT (4368)

WELCOME TO OUR 2026 SEASON I am thrilled to welcome you to an extraordinary year of theatre. Our 2026 season celebrates curiosity, courage, and the exhilarating artistry of taking bold creative leaps. Each play in this year’s lineup is united by a fearless imagination. These remarkable playwrights embrace risk in ways that feel fresh, daring, and deeply resonant.

Their stories challenge expectations and invite us to see the world — and ourselves — from new perspectives.

As a company devoted to developing new work, we believe theatre should be alive with possibility: a space where boundaries are pushed, narratives are expanded, and discovery happens night after night. This season embodies that spirit.

I cannot wait to share these powerful stories with you. Welcome to 2026.

Fiona Mongillo Artistic Director

As the incoming Executive Director of Here For Now Theatre, I am so genuinely excited to be on this journey with you. I have sat where you are sitting now, watching this company create something truly special, and I have felt the magic that unfolds on this stage.

Together, we will continue our commitment to great actors, thoughtful directors, strong scripts, and performances that move us, now within this beautifully re-configured, intimate thrust space that brings artists and audiences closer than ever before.

Thank you for believing in this work.

Your support has made all of this possible. With all of us gathered here, sharing this space and this moment, I know we will continue to create bold, powerful theatre in the Rose McQueen Performance Space, work that is alive, daring, and deeply human.

Crystal L. Spicer Executive Director

THE SURROGATE

by Mohsin Zaidi Jake and Sameer have spent years preparing for this moment—the birth of their first child.

But when Marya, their surrogate, is admitted to the hospital with complications, the couple is forced to confront questions they never expected: Who gets to decide what makes a family? And at what cost?

Set over the course of a single sleepless night, The Surrogate is a 21st-century exploration of privilege, and the complexities of modern family-making in a world where the rules are still being written.

From award-winning author, Mohsin Zaidi (A Dutiful Boy), comes a gripping debut drama that explodes the notions of contemporary parenthood.

A Note from the Artistic Director I am continually drawn to work that challenges us — not just as theatergoers, but as citizens navigating an increasingly divided world. The Surrogate is exactly that kind of play.

Topical and urgently of the moment, The Surrogate examines the polarized society we inhabit — a landscape where political, moral, and ethical identities are not just beliefs, but fault lines. In this story, every character is driven by deeply held convictions and a powerful sense of what they need, deserve, or believe is right. Yet in pursuing those outcomes, they collide with one another in ways that feel personal, inflammatory, and impossible to untangle.

What makes this play so compelling is that no one stands comfortably on higher ground. From one perspective, each character may seem unreasonable, dismissive, even cruel. From another, their fears, desires, and actions feel painfully human and entirely justified. As alliances shift and arguments escalate, we in the audience are asked to continually reconsider where we stand — and why.

The Surrogate doesn’t offer easy answers. Instead, it invites us into the discomfort of empathy, forcing us to confront how quickly we judge, how deeply we cling to our own moral frameworks, and how difficult it is to truly hear one another across ideological divides.

Fiona Mongillo Artistic Director Here For Now Theatre

Show Sponsor: DJ Anderson Accomodation Partner:

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM Cast Fuad Ahmed * Sameer

Thom Nyhuus * Jake

Antonette Rudder * Christina

Siddharth Sharma Qasim

Sarena Parmar * Marya

Creative Team Mohsin Zaidi Playwright

Christopher Manousos * Director & Dramaturg

Andrew Broderick Costume Designer

Maddie Bautista** Sound Designer

Nazerah Carlisle* Stage Manager

Chris Malkowski ** Original Lighting Design

Christopher Elizabeth Associate Sound Designer

Cara Rebecca * Intimacy Director

Emilie Trimbee Associate Lighting Designer

Scott Penner ** Set Designer

Peter N. Bailey, Chloë Dirksen, Zorana Sadiq Dialect Coaches

Running Time: Approximately 95 minutes, with no intermission Because of the close, immersive nature of our theatre, we’re unable to seat latecomers once the performance has started. For the same reason, we can’t offer re-entry if you step out during the show. We invite you to arrive early, settle in, and enjoy the full experience with us.

For more information about the show and to see production photos scan the QR code: Originally commissioned, developed and world premiere by Crow's Theatre, Chris Abraham, Artistic Director; Sherrie Johnson, Executive Director *The participation of these Artists is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance-Opera-Theatre Policy (DOT). **Indicated designers on this production are represented by the Associated Designers of Canada, Local ADC659

A NOTE FROM CROW’S THEATRE Welcome to The Surrogate, a world premiere by the deeply compelling writer Mohsin Zaidi, directed by Christopher Manousos. We’re thrilled to partner once again with Here for Now, our third collaboration with the Stratford-based company, alongside our friends at BCurrent Performing Arts, and House +Body as part of our 2025.26 season at Crow’s.

Mohsin Zaidi is a vital new voice in playwriting. Coming from a background in law, and hot on the heels of his best-selling and critically acclaimed memoir A Dutiful Boy, Mohsin brings a rare and incisive moral intelligence to the stage. We are honoured to have commissioned his first-ever play. With an innate understanding of the intricate ethical provocations that 21st-century couples face, Mohsin has crafted a work that is as intimate as it is explosive. The Surrogate is a complex portrait of the modern family, where sexuality and religion, race and privilege collide, igniting moral and legal conflict.

Christopher Manousos, Crow’s Associate Artistic Director, returns to the director’s chair. after captivating audiences last season with his electric adaptation of Measure for Measure, jolting the classic into an urgent contemporary setting.

There is plenty still to come in our 2025.26 season. Erin Shields’ world premiere Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary offers a bold and irreverent reimagining of four women named Mary, reframing the Gospels through a fiercely contemporary lens. In the Studio Theatre, Andrew Kushnir returns with The Division, a deeply personal documentary journey across Ukraine and into his family’s history.

We’ll announce our 2026.27 season in mid-March, which also marks our 10th anniversary season in this building. When we opened these doors a decade ago, we weren’t entirely sure what would take root here. Ten years on, the lobby is loud, the floors creak on cue, and this place has become what we hoped it might: a home for artists and audiences who want to gather around complicated stories.

We’re glad you’re here, and we can’t wait to share with you what’s in store for next season.

Chris Abraham Artistic Director, Crow’s Theatre

Sherrie Johnson Executive Director, Crow’s Theatre

DIRECTOR’S NOTE What drew me to The Surrogate was its refusal to offer easy answers.

At its core, this is a play that lives in the grey. It resists the comfort of certainty and instead asks us to sit inside contradiction – to hold space for multiple truths at once. That, to me, feels deeply human. We are constantly navigating competing beliefs, desires, and responsibilities, and this story captures that tension with urgency and care.

The play unfolds over a single night but within that compressed time, the stakes become enormous. These are complex people in a moment of crisis, and the drama comes from how fiercely they protect what matters to them. What interested me most in the rehearsal room was not deciding who is right but understanding why each person feels they must act the way they do.

At the heart of The Surrogate is a question about what it means to create a family – and what happens when deeply human experiences intersect with systems of law, economics, and power. When something as intimate as birth becomes entangled in contracts and competing rights, where do our moral responsibilities begin and end?

And yet, beneath all of this, there is something simpler driving every action in the play: love. Each character is, in their own way, trying to protect the people they love, or the future they imagine. That impulse, to defend what we love, can be both profoundly generous and deeply complicated.

My hope is that this production doesn’t tell you what to think, but invites you into the conversation. That it leaves you with questions that linger, and perhaps even with a willingness to see the world, and each other, with a little more compassion.

Christopher Manousos Director

Land Acknowledgment We acknowledge that our theatre stands on the traditional territory of the Anishnabek, Haudenosaunee, and Ojibway/Chippewa peoples. We recognize the enduring presence and deep artistic traditions of Indigenous communities in this space and across Turtle Island.

As storytellers, we honour the generations of knowledge keepers, artists, and caretakers who have shaped this land’s history. We commit to listening, learning, and building meaningful relationships as we share and celebrate the power of theatre, and invite you to do the same.

COMPANY BIOGRAPHIES FUAD AHMED - SAMEER This is Fuad Ahmed's Here For Now Theatre debut!

A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Actors Conservatory and a recipient of REEL Canada’s RBC Emerging Artist Award, Fuad is best known for his breakout role as Dr. Ned Patel in the World War II drama Bomb Girls (Global). Recent on-screen credits include: Late Bloomer (Crave), Allegiance (CBC), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC) and the films Christmas Casanova (Netflix) and Stealing Vows. You can see him next as a new series regular on the hit TV show Sullivan’s Crossing (CTV/Netflix).

Theatre credits include: Liars at a Funeral (Drayton Entertainment), New (CanStage/RMTC), Anahita’s Republic (Factory Theatre), Small Mouth Sounds (Segal Centre), After Wrestling (Factory Theatre), Shakespeare in Love (RMTC/Citadel) and Disgraced (Citadel).

Instagram @syed_fuad_ahmed

MADDIE BAUTISTA - SOUND DESIGNER Maddie Bautista (she/her) is a Bi, Saudi Arabia-born Filipina sound designer and composer. You can catch Maddie creating and shaping sound in iconic theatres across the country – from composing original music in the earliest stages of new work development, to tuning systems with live musicians and large casts. She has created music and sound design for over 80 productions and counting across Canada, for theatres such as the Stratford Festival, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Grand Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Soulpepper, the Tarragon, and more.

She moonlights as half of xLq with Jordan Campbell – a queer pop performance duo who tours across the country with their daring, interactive theatre and bizarre, grungy drag.

Maddie received 2 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Love You Wrong Time (Outstanding Sound design and composition, and Outstanding Ensemble) and 2 nominations.

Upcoming: Cyrano (The Citadel, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, & The Grand Theatre), Botticelli in the Fire (Downstage), and Arsenic & Old Lace (The Globe Theatre) www.maddiebautista.com

ANDREW BRODERICK - COSTUME DESIGNER Andrew Broderick is a multidisciplinary artist and creative consultant. He is also an Associate Artist with House+Body. Previous Costume: Measure for Measure (House+Body/Crow’s Theatre); EXHUME ME, EMPTY/Immediacy (House+Body). Previous Performance: Octet, Great Comet (Crow’s Theatre) Primary Trust (Arts Club), Choir Boy (Canadian Stage/Arts Club) The Color Purple (Neptune/Citadel/MTC), Hadestown (Citadel), The Amen Corner, Sweeney Todd, Peter and the Starcatcher, Everybody (Shaw Festival), You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Pirates of Penzance (Stratford Festival), Hairspray (Charlottetown Festival/Rainbow Stage), Dreamgirls (The Grand Theatre). Big thanks to the talented group (on and off stage) who contributed to The Surrogate, and to all the loved ones who act as reminders of beautiful the world can be.

NAZERAH CARLISLE - STAGE MANAGER Nazerah Carlisle is a Toronto-based stage manager and graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University. She has had the privilege of working for companies such as Soulpepper, Tarragon, Musical Stage Co, Toronto Dance Theatre, Opera Atelier, Shakespeare in the Ruff, Toes for Dance, Fujiwara Dance Inventions and Dusk Dances. When Naz isn’t stage managing, she’s djing events around Toronto and helping at her family business, Courage My Love.

COMPANY BIOGRAPHIES CARA REBECCA - INTIMACY DIRECTOR Cara Rebecca is an artist and administrator whose creative practice spans acting, directing, fight, intimacy, movement, and teaching. She is driven to create work that witnesses the aspects of life that most people are compelled to look away from. Select Fight and Intimacy: Frozen (Aquarius), Trident Moon (Crows/NAC), Keffiyeh/ Made in China (Teesri), Mickey & Joe (TOE), Sakura (Centaur), Max & Aaron Write a Musical, POTUS (Segal), Bed & Breakfast (Hudson) and The Flood (Imago). Directing: Snow White (County Stage), QUEERasure: Sex Garage (Ragtag). Assistant Directing: Funny Girl, Amadeus (Upcoming, Shaw), Sakura (Centaur). Select Acting: Still Life, Antioch (Talisman); Indecent, Clue (Segal); The Importance of Being Earnest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (St Lawrence); Fall On Your Knees (CanStage/Neptune/NAC/Grand). Let's be kind and creative out there!

CHRIS MALKOWSKI - ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGNER Chris Malkowski is a professional lighting designer based in Toronto, Canada and has designed lights for over 100 productions in dance, drama, opera, musical theatre, art installations and live events. His work has been staged at many theatres in Canada including the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Vancouver Opera, Soulpepper Theatre, and Canadian Stage. His work has also taken him globally gracing international festival stages in Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland) and North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco) .

CHRISTOPHER MANOUSOS - DIRECTOR & DRAMATURG Christopher Manousos is a theatre director, the Artistic Director of House + Body, and the Associate Artistic Director of Crow’s Theatre. Through House + Body, Christopher directs contemporary reimagining’s of classical works, develops new plays, and provides training and mentorship to emerging artists, playwrights, and performers.

He is an alumnus of the Stratford Festival’s Michael Langham Director’s Workshop and the Shaw Festival’s Neil Munro Intern Directors Program.

Christopher has trained extensively in the Suzuki Method of Actor Training and Viewpoints with Anne Bogart, SITI Company, and Tadashi Suzuki in both New York and Japan.

As an educator, Christopher has taught and directed productions at the University of Windsor, Randolph College, Sheridan College, and the Stratford Festival’s Shakespeare Intensive.

THOM NYHUUS - JAKE Thom Nyhuus is an actor and writer from Ottawa. Theatre credits include: Aztrov in The Stone Woman (Let Me In Theatre), Andy in Early August (Lighthouse Festival), and Pastor Joshua in The Christians (Scrap Paper Theatre). In film and television, he can be seen in Devil in Disguise (Peacock), and Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix). His first play, Cannibal, was presented during the 2019 Next Stage Festival, and his follow up, Boy Friends, is in development with the Vault Creation Lab.

COMPANY BIOGRAPHIES SARENA PARMAR - MARYA Sarena Parmar is an actor and playwright. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School and the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre.

Sarena has been fortunate to work on stages across Canada, including the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Bard on the Beach, Tarragon Theatre, and Canadian Stage. Favourite productions include: Dancing at Lughnasa (Shaw Festival), The Winter’s Tale (Groundling Theatre), and All’s Well That Ends Well (Bard on the Beach). Her play, The Orchard (After Chekhov), premiered at the Shaw Festival, making her the first South Asian playwright produced in the company’s history.

In film and television, recent credits include Code 8 (Netflix), Pretty Hard Cases (CBC) and Skymed (Paramount +). As a young actor she appeared on How To Be Indie (YTV), Degrassi (CTV) and Radio Rebel (Disney).

SCOTT PENNER - SET DESIGNER Pronouns: he/him. Hometown/Current Town: Toronto/Brooklyn For Here For Now Theatre: Debut Other Theatre: Job (Broadway); Indecent, Elf (RMTC), Cymbeline (Stratford); Fireflies, Intimate Apparel, (Northlight, Chicago; Dion, Waiting for Godot (Coalmine) Guys & Dolls, Frozen (Arts Club); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Flint Rep); Rasheeda Speaking (Jeff Nomination, Shattered Globe Chicago) ; Shirley Valentine, The Extinction Therapist (Aquarius); The DaVinci Code (Drury Lane Chicago); Shakespeare’s Will (Indiana Rep); Love’s Labour’s Lost, Constellations, Fallen Angels (American Players Theatre); Body Politic, A Few Brittle Leaves (Buddies); Billy Bishop Goes To War, The Drowning Girls (Globe) Upcoming Projects: Death of a Salesman (Stratford), Spare Parts (Off-Broadway) Come From Away (Grand), It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken (Aquarius), Casey & Diana (American Players Theatre) Social Media: @scottpennerdesign

ANTONETTE RUDDER - CHRISTINA Antonette Rudder is a Toronto-born, Toronto-based actor with an extensive career in classical and contemporary theatre. A longtime Stratford Festival performer, she has appeared in a wide range of productions, including leading the acclaimed production of Wedding Band, as well as performances in Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, and Les Belles Sœurs.

Alongside her stage work, Antonette works across film and television and currently recurs on NBC’s Brilliant Minds. Her screen credits include Boston Blue, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent Toronto. The Surrogate marks her debut with both Crow’s Theatre and Here For Now Theatre, milestones she is deeply grateful for.

COMPANY BIOGRAPHIES SIDDHARTH SHARMA - QASIM Siddharth Sharma is a Toronto-based actor, director, and producer working across television and independent film. His screen credits include recurring and guest roles on series such as Late Bloomer, Gen V, Motorheads, The Way Home, and Children Ruin Everything.

Alongside his acting work, Siddharth has directed and produced over five short films. His most recent project, Unfamily, a grant-funded short, screened at CSA-qualifying festivals across Canada.

He is the co-founder of Hold the Sauce Films, where he develops story-driven independent work, and Toronto Film Plug, an initiative focused on connecting filmmakers, resources, and audiences.

Through performance, production, and community-building, Siddharth is committed to strengthening Toronto’s independent film ecosystem.

MOHSIN ZAIDI - PLAYWRIGHT Mohsin Zaidi is a New York based, award-winning author and playwright.

His critically acclaimed memoir, A Dutiful Boy (Penguin, 2020) won the American Lambda Literary Award and the British Polari First Book Prize. It was also named a Guardian, GQ, New Statesman and Attitude Book of the Year. The Guardian describes it as 'a profound meditation on the power of the human heart'. The Times says it is a book that will save lives.

The first person from his school to go to Oxford University, Mohsin qualified as a lawyer at international firm Linklaters, and then became a criminal barrister at one of the top chambers in England. He previously worked at a UN War Crimes tribunal in The Hague and clerked at the UK Supreme Court. An advocate for LGBTQ rights, racial justice and social mobility, Mohsin sat on the board of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall and before that was on the board of London Pride. ‘The Surrogate' is his first play.

HOUSE + BODY STAFF Artistic Director Artistic Associate Christopher Manousos Andrew Broderick BCurrent STAFF Executive Director Kira Allen

Executive Assistant Carina Morris

Associate Producer Oprah Lemorin

Bookkeeper Natasha Qureshi

Creative Marketing Lead Aashana Dhingra

Digital Marketing Lead Abdullah Jamal

BCurrent Board of Directors Hawa Mire, Chair & Treasurer Bev Neblett, Vice-Chair Sofia Harriot, Secretary Adey Farah Iteashia Ollivierre www.bcurrent.ca

HERE FOR NOW THEATRE Founded in 2012 by Artistic Director Fiona Mongillo, Here For Now Theatre began as a pop-up company in Stratford dedicated to bold contemporary plays and underrepresented voices. With a focus on intimate, actor-driven productions, the company quickly established a reputation for fearless storytelling and powerful performances.

In 2020, while theatres across the country were closed, Here For Now launched a groundbreaking outdoor repertory season on the lawns of The Bruce Hotel. The innovative season drew national attention and critical acclaim, creating a unique gathering place for artists and audiences at a time when live theatre felt especially vital.

In the years that followed, the company continued to grow its national profile, commissioning and developing new plays while building a loyal and expanding audience.

In 2025, Here For Now opened its permanent 60-seat home in the beautifully restored Perth County Registry Office and unveiled the Rose McQueen Performance Space.

Today, Here For Now produces year-round programming that champions daring new work and the immediacy of live performance, bringing audiences together for powerful, intimate theatre in the heart of Stratford.

HERE FOR NOW TEAM Fiona Mongillo | Artistic Director Crystal L. Spicer | Executive Director Marie Farsi | Interim Associate Artistic Director Siobhan O’Malley | Artistic Associate & Marketing Coordinator Adam Steinbach | Technical Coordinator Jocelyn Nicholson | Social Media & Audience Experience Coordinator Mark Uhre | 2026 Season Artwork Sara-Jeanne Hosie | Show Images Ann Baggley | Production Photography Siobhan O’Malley | Promotional Photography Jocelyn Nicholson | Trailers Tabworks | Bookkeeping & Payroll

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Susan Moffat | Chair Frances O’Malley | Past Chair Jessica B. Hill | Artist Representative Laura Dinner | Treasurer Jo-Dee Burbach | Secretary

CROWS THEATE CORE STAFF Artistic Director Chris Abraham

House Technicians Kim Schaedlich, Zach White

Executive Director Sherrie Johnson

Director of Philanthropy Laura Langlois

Associate Artistic Director Christopher Manousos

Philanthropy Manager Natalie Sandassie

Artistic Associate Peter Fernandes

Philanthropy Services Associate Kasia Swintak

General Manager Katie Pounder

Finance Manager Walter Ho

Senior Producer Heather Landon

Accountant Claudia Padilha

Producer Beth Wong Director of Production & Facilities LJ Savage Director of Production Zach Fedora Consulting Technical Director Michael Wanless Assistant Technical Director Jay Hines

Director of Sales & Marketing Andrew McDowell Senior Marketing Manager Ryan Hildebrandt Graphic Designer Jacob Whibley Media Relations Suzanne Cheriton. Red Eye Media Manager of Ticketing & Venue Services Jordaan Mason

Manager of Sales & Front of House Peter Kelly Box Office & Front of House Supervisor Rebecca Bauer, Natalie Scagnetto Box Office & Front of House Swing Supervisors Bonnie Duff. Gabbi Kosmidis Box Office /FOH Representatives Samantha Barker.

Stephen Barber, Taija Chung, Nikki Clements, Tushar Dalvi, Tianna Dang, Bonnie Duff, Lara Hamburg, Elyssa Hsu, Anthony Jhade, Yoojin Kim, Gabbi Kosmidis, Gloria Mampuya, Shelby Mwambu, Nia Osei Bar Manager Ted Hallett Bartenders Tushar Dalvi, Andrew Hodwitz, Gloria Mampuya

Crow’s Theatre Board of Directors Prakash Amarasooriya John Brodhead Gordon Currie, Board Chair Gabe Gonda Heather Jessiman Alicia Johnston Nancy Lockhart, Chair Emerita Anne Maggisano Gurbani Marwah

R.B. (Biff) Matthews Seaton McLean Jonathan Nehmetallah Margaret Nelligan Michael Paris Wendy Pitblado Greg Reed, Treasurer Nancy Tremblay, Secretary

www.crowstheatre.com

Thank you to our Sponsors HERE FOR NOW SPONSORS

CROWS THEATRE SPONSORS

Foundation Sponsor The William and Nona Heaslip Foundation Season Sponsors Larry Beare Sylvia Chrominska Bill and Janet L’Heureux Kelly and Scott Morrison Beverly and Douglas Valentine Technical Equipment Sponsor Robert Lott and Dr. Anne Robinson Workshop and Development Sponsor Bob and Martie Sachs Limited Engagement Series Sponsor Laura Dinner and Richard Rooney The Surrogate Show Sponsor DJ Anderson The Surrogate Accomodation Sponsor

Government Support

House + Body gratefully acknowleges the support of

And thank you to all our anonymous sponsors and generous donors!

Coming up next in 2026....

2026 CONTACT US 24 St Andrew St. Stratford, ON www.herefornowtheatre.com 519.272.HFNT (4368)

@herefornowtheatreco

www.facebook.com/ herefornowtheatreco