Creative Team Set For World Premiere of A PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION at Studio 180 Theatre

The creative team has been announced for the world premiere of Jonathan Wilson's personal new solo show, A Public Display of Affection. The show runs from March 25 to April 20 in the Crow's Theatre's Studio Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest (345 Carlaw Ave., Toronto), and preview performances are already sold out. 

Mixing history, comedy, and poignant reflection in equal measure, A Public Display of Affection excavates the lives, loves, and landmarks of Wilson's life as a queer teenager in Toronto.

Deftly inhabiting a cavalcade of characters, Wilson leads us on a wry and intimate exploration of the Village he once knew, the legacy it created, and the future being forged by a new generation.

Jonathan Wilson is the show's playwright and performer, directed by Mark McGrinder (Four Minutes Twelve Seconds). Denyse Karn (Othello, To Kill a Mockingbird, Stratford Festival), is the set and projection designer, with lighting design by André du Toit (Prince Hamlet, Why Not Theatre; Romeo and Juliet, Stratford Festival), and sound design by Lyon Smith (The Waltz, Factory Theatre; Pipeline, Soulpepper). Aaheli Mukherjee is the production manager, and stage management is by Sandi Becker.

In the show, Wilson (The Lion King, The Normal Heart, Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay), a Second City veteran and Dora Award-winning actor has crafted a bracing companion piece to his Dora-nominated, playwriting debut, My Own Private Oshawa.

"In A Public Display of Affection I'm taking the audience on a highlights tour of Toronto, circa 1979 when I first arrived here at age fifteen," shares Wilson. "We'll talk about what has changed, what has been lost, and what has endured. I'll also unpack what it means to be a 'queer elder' - the humour of that, and the idea of being this supposedly wise person in the community when I'm still changing myself. I believe that all theatre is truly a public display of affection, a communal coming together, in a trusting and vulnerable space. I want this experience to be more than just a play - it's a meeting place, and a celebration."

"This is such a pure piece of storytelling," says McGrinder. "Jonathan is a gifted comedic storyteller, and the opportunity to share something so intimate and direct with an audience is really what theatre is all about. I love that the play functions as different things for different audiences. For some, its coming-of-age and coming out narrative is a startling history of a Toronto they know nothing about. For others, it's a potent affirmation of their own lived experience. But whatever your perspective, you can't help but be drawn in by Jonathan and the stories he tells."

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