Award-winning musical People Suck: a musical airing of grievances will return to The Toronto Fringe with new songs, new laughs, and the same terrible people…
Get ready to air your grievances through musical therapy! The irreverent, insightful, and painfully relatable People Suck is bigger and better than ever, returning to the Toronto Fringe as part of the specially curated Alliance for Canadian Musicals showcase at Theatre Passe Muraille, with performances July 2-13, 2025.
The breakout hit of the 2015 Toronto Fringe, People Suck has won multiple awards, with successful runs in Canada and Australia, and stole audiences’ hearts (and sanity). Expanded and developed over the last ten years, People Suck now offers even more laughs, cringe-worthy truths, and musical catharsis.
Written by the dynamic writing duo Cavell & Phillips (veteran Second City musical director Peter Cavell and Fringe stalwart Megan Phillips) People Suck features 18 original songs including: Where the Hell is Darwin When You Need Him?, a beautiful lament on the imminent breakdown of society; the tender, heartfelt ballad When I See You Smile (I Want To Kill You); and the definitely not-safe-for-kindergarten-class singalong Some People Are A**holes!.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing the show back to Toronto! When we originally wrote People Suck back in 2015, we didn’t realize just how sucky the world would soon become,” says composer Cavell. “It seems people agree since the show has been picked up and produced twice by theatre companies in Australia, and we’ll soon be announcing a new production in Saskatoon this fall.”
With regards to its popularity Phillips explains “There is an inherent catharsis in making art when surrounded by the dumpster fire that is humanity in 2025. We may not be able to change the actual people, but at least we can use punch-up humour to commiserate. And when we laugh together, we feel less alone.”
“Since people somehow haven’t stopped sucking yet, it’s clear that People Suck has a long future ahead.” adds Cavell.
In a rollercoaster of memorable songs that moves from light-and-pithy to dark-and-unflinching with startling ease, People Suck dares to point the finger at the most annoying people in our lives, including ourselves. Audiences can expect to laugh, and squirm, as we are reminded with pointed accuracy that “stopping sucking starts with you.”
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