SPIRITUAL BOB IS TRAPPED IN PARADISE! to Make World Premiere at Toronto Fringe
Claire Rice and drag performer Selena Vyle star in the tragicomedy at Native Earth's Giizis Studio.
SPIRITUAL BOB IS TRAPPED IN PARADISE! is the absurdist window into the lives of Mormon sister missionaries you didn't know you needed! Performances will run 30 June - 11 July.
With The Book of Mormon lighting up Toronto this past April, Spiritual Bob is Trapped in Paradise! at Native Earth Minogitoon Workspace Giizis Studio, flips the script by telling a stranger, frumpier, and oft overlooked story about sister missionaries. Creator Caspian Keys, a trans man who was once a Mormon sister missionary, turns his real experience into an absurdist tragicomedy.
The play begins with a glimpse into the disciplined yet playful morning routine of Sisters Jackson and Lewis, but soon switches gears into the absurd. Our protagonists are visited by important religious figures, causing them to question their faith, identity, and destiny. Despite this heavy Mormon backdrop, Spiritual Bob is Trapped in Paradise! is ultimately about the friendship and connection between these two companions; one that may or may not endure to the end.
Keys has always known his story needed to be told, from his conversion to Mormonism, to serving as a full-time missionary in Arizona for eighteen months, to his later exit from the church. It wasn't until he started writing this show that he realised just how curious folks were about the unique rules and struggles of missionary life, and then saw how fascinated they became when he shared his experiences.
Spiritual Bob stars Claire Rice, making her grand return to the stage since having a baby, and Nicky Nasrallah, otherwise known as Selena Vyle, Toronto's own celebrated Drag Queen. In addition to her weekly drag brunch at Piano Piano Bloor (continuing Glad Day Bookshop's legacy), Selena is a familiar Fringe presence with credits including A Play We Just Wrote Just Now (2025), and her solo show, Broken Hearted Girl (2021).
The play takes place in 2003, coincidentally around the time Rice and Nasrallah met at theatre school in Toronto, back when they were the same age as their Spiritual Bob characters. They've been close friends and frequent collaborators for over 20 years, and their on-stage chemistry is undeniable.
With its mix of absurdist comedy and emotional truth, Spiritual Bob is Trapped in Paradise! is truly captivating, pulling audiences into an unfamiliar world, then leaving them moved by the spirit!
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