Laura Anne Harris Brings Solo Show HAVE FUN KIDS to Toronto’s Next Stage Festival

Convection Productions will present the world premiere of Have Fun Kids, a new solo work written and performed by Laura Anne Harris, as part of the 2025 Next Stage Festival. The piece will run July 3–14 at the Tank House Theatre in Toronto’s Distillery District.

Following the suicide of her friend and fellow theatre artist Jordan Mechano, Harris found herself sifting through more than 700 pages of his writing. What emerged from that process is Have Fun Kids—a solo performance that weaves Jordan’s words with Harris’s own reflections on grief, memory, and the quiet, often complicated work of remembrance.

Directed by Jessie Fraser, the piece is part scripted, part chosen in the moment. Each performance is shaped in real time, with audience members selecting which material will be included at the top of the show. Using a mix of low-tech storytelling tools—objects, sound, and live audience interaction—Have Fun Kids asks: how do we hold space for the ones we’ve lost, and what does it mean to tell someone else’s story after they’re gone?

The show was developed in collaboration with Christopher Lewis, Merle Harley, Alex Eddington, and Mandy MacLean, and features staging created with accessibility in mind. The production includes sensory-conscious design and an environment supportive of the disability and Mad Arts communities.

“So while the things I talk about might be painful, they are necessary,” Harris writes in the show’s opening lines. “Like tearing off a bandaid. Like giving birth. Like a memory.”

Content Advisory: The production includes themes of suicide and grief and is recommended for mature audiences. Permission for the use of Jordan Mechano’s writing has been granted by his estate.

Performance Schedule – Tank House Theatre, 50 Tank House Lane, Toronto

• Thursday, July 3 at 2:15 PM

• Friday, July 4 at 6:00 PM

• Sunday, July 6 at 12:15 PM

• Tuesday, July 8 at 7:30 PM

• Wednesday, July 9 at 9:45 PM

• Friday, July 11 at 8:15 PM

• Saturday, July 12 at 2:45 PM