ÉTRANGERS ENNEMIS –

L’internement au Canada, 1914–1920

11 février au 23 avril 2023

City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 867A Archives de la ville de Toronto, fonds 1244, article 867A

A travelling exhibition produced by the Canadian War Museum in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation. Une exposition itinérante produite par le Musée canadien de la guerre en partenariat avec la Fondation ukrainienne canadienne pour les libertés civiles.

It was coincidentally as Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago that Annie Valentina’s new play, Ballad of the Motherland, was having a workshop week, culminating in a reading. Knowing what was brewing in Ukraine and knowing Annie’s work, I invited myself to the zoom playreading.

We were still in a reduced contact situation (thanks, Covid) so I texted Annie immediately after the reading and declared my hope of seeing her play premiere at Neptune the following year. It was a rare opportunity for a theatre to program a play that is so very relevant and reflective of the current world situation and I did not want to miss that chance.

With this in mind and believing in the pure drama of the piece, we have watched as Annie has set about pulling together a winning team of artists to present this play to the world for the first time.

Thank you for attending this performance and I urge you to spread the word. New plays are an important part of the work we do at Neptune and are one of the ways we work to feed the cultural landscape.

Next up and closing the 2022-2023 Season is Billy Elliot The Musical. Last month we announced our line-up for the 2023-2024 Season and we hope that you will consider joining us again. New work, modern classics, hilarious comedy and fun musicals lie in store. If you know that there are a few plays that appeal, the best prices are to be found by becoming a subscriber.

See you at the theatre!

Jeremy Webb Artistic Director