About Us
Roseneath Theatre is a not-for-profit charitable organization that has been producing work of the highest quality for children and their families, teachers and communities since 1983.
Our Mandate
To educate and promote the public’s appreciation of the aesthetic arts by providing theatrical performances in educational institutions, community centres, and public places.
Our Productions
Notable productions from over the years include Dib and Dob and the Journey Home, Danny King of the Basement (winner of the Canada Council for the Arts ‘Best Theatre for Young Audiences Prize’), Outside, Ladies and Gentlemen Boys and Girls, and Spirit Horse. Our work has been presented all over North America and to parts of Europe and the Pacific Rim, reaching an annual audience of over 100,000 people. We are seen as one of the foremost producing companies of our kind in Canada.
Our commitment to excellence has earned us many accolades, including 54 Dora nominations and a total of 14 Awards*. Roseneath was also a recent finalist for the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.
Roseneath Theatre was founded by David S. Craig and Robert Morgan in 1983. The current Artistic Director is Andrew Lamb.
Our Mission Statement
Roseneath Theatre’s mission is to create and produce small cast, high quality theatre for youth and family audiences. We produce popular theatre that has artistic, personal, and social integrity using all the resources at our disposal for the largest possible audience.
Collective Vision Statement
Roseneath is a professional theatre company delivering artistically excellent original Canadian productions that engage and inspire young audiences. Our plays address provocative issues relevant to today’s youth encouraging them to reflect on themselves and their place within the community. The impact of our collaborative work is immediate and inclusive.
Why We Create Theatre for Young Audiences
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We believe that young people have as rich an emotional life as adults.
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We believe that children are as deserving, if not more, as adult audiences of high quality, professional theatre that speaks to their life experience and enriches their imaginations.
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We encourage playwrights to explore themes and situations that express as much of that complex life as possible and then distill it into an accessible theatrical form.
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We support our performances with detailed educational materials that are designed to outline the play as well as provide activities to incorporate the play into classwork to ensure that the impact of the play lasts far beyond the performance date.
How We Differ
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We are the only professional company to have performed in every school district in the province.
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We are the only professional theatre to annually produce or present a play for high schools.
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We are the only professional theatre company based in Ontario who tours to the United States annually.
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We are regarded as industry examples for our best practices in small theatre administration, international tour management, and educational liaisons.
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We work with and encourage senior theatre artists to re-examine this field and to bring their best work to it.
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We constantly review our work and systems to ensure that they are the best they can be and are willing to take a successful work and rework it if we think it can be better.
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We seek to be a reflection of the audience we serve by reaching out to artists from different cultural backgrounds.
Delivering a High Quality Arts Experience
By producing original dramatic literature that compares with the best of adult theatre, Roseneath Theatre challenges the way that the public and theatre professionals in North America view Theatre for Young Audiences. The plays we develop are produced by theatres across Canada (in French and English), as well as the United States, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey and Israel. Some of the theatres and festivals where we have performed include the National Arts Centre, Young Peoples Theatre, The Belfry Theatre, The Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP), The Charlottetown Festival, Persephone Theatre, the Unicorn Theatre (UK), The Kennedy Centre (DC), the Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY), The New York International Arts Festival (NY), The New Jersey Performing Arts Centre (NJ), all major festivals for children in Canada and at theatres and festivals in the United States, Scotland, England, Ireland and Singapore.
Our charitable, not-for-profit organization registration number:
137757589 RR0001
*Awards accurate as of the 2020 Dora Mavor Moore Awards
Land Acknowledgement
Roseneath Theatre's office is located on sacred land that has been a site of human activity for over 15,000 years. This land is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat. We acknowledge these Nations (and any other recorded or unrecorded Nations who cared for the land) as the past, present and future caretakers of this land named Tkaronto, “Where the Trees Meet the Water,” “The Gathering Place.”
Today, the meeting place of Toronto is home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.