Fifteen_dogs_Hero-image_1920x1080 (3)
By: Meghan Yuri Young
Video by: Thomas Obewu
Photography by: Samuel Engelking
Words by: Izabela Shubair
June 2023 Update: While Fifteen Dogs has moved on to other cities, our video interview offers insight into how the stage production reflects Toronto and local director Marie Farsi’s role in bringing it to life. After you check out the video, browse our event listings of upcoming stage productions to discover Toronto’s diverse theatre scene. You can also learn more about Crow’s Theatre in our Intimate and Independent Live Theatre in Toronto blog.
At the corner of King Street West and Bathurst Street in downtown Toronto, you’ll find the historic Wheat Sheaf Tavern. Open since 1849, it’s one of the city’s oldest pubs. The watering hole also sets the stage for a new theatrical adventure across Toronto — and into human consciousness.
Fifteen Dogs, a Crow’s Theatre production that was staged at the Streetcar Crowsnest complex, opens with two Greek gods having a drink at the Wheat Sheaf Tavern. It’s here that Apollo and Hermes, in an effort to settle the question, “is it possible to die happy?”, grant human intelligence to 15 dogs that are spending the night at a nearby veterinary clinic.
Director Marie Farsi has adapted André Alexis’s acclaimed 2015 novel of the same name to the stage. Fifteen Dogs follows the pack of canines, which, to their surprise, are suddenly capable of complex thoughts and emotions. Their newfound intelligence splits the group into those who resist the new ways of thinking and those who embrace the change. Along the way, the production that stars an all-Canadian cast —including Dora Award winner Tom Rooney as Majnoun the poodle — offers hilarious and heartbreaking insight on love, power, and the nature of consciousness.
Heading to Streetcar Crowsnest? Here’s what you need to know.
Secure your seats to Crow’s Theatre productions online or by calling the Crow’s Theatre Box Office at 647-341-7390, ext. 1010.
345 Carlaw Ave. (at Carlaw Avenue and Dundas Street East)
Paid parking is available at P1 level of the complex, with elevator access to street level on Dundas Street East.
From Pape subway station, take the 72A or 72B Pape bus. You can also catch the 72B from Union Station. Get off at the Dundas Street stop. Alternatively, hop on the Gerrard or Queen streetcar to Carlaw Avenue. Then walk along Carlaw to find Crow’s Theatre.
Crow’s Theatre provides fully accessible spaces. Learn about its wheelchair seating, hearing assistance devices, and more.
Grab a drink at the theatre’s Lobby Bar. Each of Crow’s shows features a signature cocktail inspired by the production’s theme. Want to skip the line? Pre-order your intermission refreshments from a bartender when you arrive at the theatre. When intermission starts, they’ll be ready for pick-up at a designated counter.
Crow’s Theatre patrons aged 30 and under can access $20 tickets to any live show. Sign up to receive unique promo codes to purchase discounted tickets.
Crow’s Theatre has eliminated its vaccine and mask mandates. Wearing a mask is highly recommended during performances. Please note, during Tuesday evening and Sunday matinee performances masks must be worn unless eating or drinking at the bar.
In 2015, André Alexis’ book Fifteen Dogs was awarded the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. In 2017, it won the annual Canada Reads competition and the Windham-Campbell Prize for fiction, which recognizes an author’s body of work and is one of the world’s richest literary awards.
Fifteen Dogs was the first work developed through the new Crow’s Theatre Canadian Literature Adaptation Fund, supported by The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation. The fund brings the work of Canadian fiction and non-fiction authors to the stage by optioning, commissioning, developing, and producing dramatic adaptations.
Almost all Fifteen Dogs’ Toronto cast members were dog owners, too! Laura Condlln has a rescue dog named Quigley while Tyrone Savage and his partner, director Marie Farsi’s, rescue is called Pantlufa; Peter Fernandes’s puppy is named Pico; and Stephen Jackman-Torkoff’s pooch is Benny.