THE WELKIN To Make Canadian Premiere At Soulpepper Theatre This September

This September, three of Toronto’s most celebrated theatre companies—Soulpepper Theatre Company, Crow’s Theatre, and The Howland Company—will come together to present the Canadian premiere of THE WELKIN, a bold and blistering courtroom drama by Tony-nominated playwright Lucy Kirkwood. The production will run from September 4 to October 5 at Soulpepper’s Baillie Theatre, with media night scheduled for September 11.

Directed by outgoing Soulpepper Artistic Director Weyni Mengesha as the final production of her acclaimed tenure, the show features a powerhouse ensemble led by Mayko Nguyen (Hudson and Rex, The Righteous) and Bahia Watson (The Handmaid’s Tale, shaniqua in abstraction). They are joined by Olunike Adeliyi (The Porter, Revenge of the Black Best Friend), Ghazal Azarbad (The Seagull), Nadine Bhabha (Letterkenny, One More Time), Brefny Caribou (1939), Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster (Cyrano de Bergerac), Raquel Duffy (Appropriate), Kyra Harper (Infinite Life), Fiona Highet (Roberto Zucco), Cameron Laurie (Heroes of the Fourth Turning), Craig Lauzon (Detroit), Annie Luján (MONKS), Natasha Mumba (Three Sisters), Liisa Repo-Martell (Uncle Vanya), Hallie Seline (Heroes of the Fourth Turning), and Addison Wagman (Annie).

Set in rural England in 1759, THE WELKIN unfolds as Halley's Comet blazes through the sky and a young woman is sentenced to hang. When she claims to be pregnant, a jury of twelve women is assembled to determine the truth. What begins as a question of life or death soon becomes a deep reckoning with justice, power, and the roles women are forced to play in a world that silences them. At once darkly comic and quietly devastating, the play explores the intersection of gender, duty, and dissent with Kirkwood’s signature sharp wit and emotional depth.

“I was completely floored the first time I read this play,” said Mengesha. “It speaks directly to so many themes I care deeply about—and Lucy Kirkwood’s writing is razor sharp, moving, and hilarious. It’s rare to find a play that’s so bold in its ideas, yet so emotionally textured and theatrically thrilling. To direct this powerful, timely story as my final production at Soulpepper, alongside one of the most extraordinary ensembles I’ve ever worked with, is an incredible honour.”

THE WELKIN premiered at The National Theatre in London in 2020 and made its Broadway debut at the Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater in 2024, in a critically acclaimed production starring Canadian actor Sandra Oh. Kirkwood’s previous work includes The Children, which earned a Tony nomination in 2018, and Chimerica, winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play and multiple other honors. She is also a successful screenwriter and recently served as an Executive Consultant on HBO’s Succession.

Mengesha is joined by set designer Julie Fox, Costume Designer Michelle Tracey, lighting designer Bonnie Beecher, sound designer and arranger Thomas Ryder Payne, fight and intimacy coordinator Anita Nittoly, and dialect coach Jane Gooderham.

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