From the author of trace comes two adaptations that transport mythological stories from Ancient Greece to modern-day civilizations. Led by people of colour, these darkly comedic plays depict recognizable plights for justice.

Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) highlights the repetition of hate and colonialism that occur in ancient myths through a mischievous lens. Since Iphigenia was rescued from the sacrificial altar, she has served as a high priestess to the goddess Artemis on Tauros, where she in turn is to sacrifice any foreigners who try to enter. When she discovers that an exiled prisoner is her brother, they together plot their escape, but are soon confronted by a force beyond their control.

Antigone: 方is set against the backdrop of the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement and Tiananmen Square Massacre protests. When citizens challenge a state’s traditional doctrine, the ruling family is divided between their own interests and those of its citizens. After brothers Neikes and Teo kill each other in the protests, their sister Antigone defies her father’s orders to retrieve Neikes’s body, causing the government—and what’s left of their family—to reach a reckoning.

Jeff Ho is a theatre artist, originally from Hong Kong. As an actor, he has toured as Ophelia in Why Not Theatre’s Prince Hamlet across Canada and the US for over five years. As a playwright, his works include Cockroach, Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land), Antigone: 方, and trace. Jeff is a recipient of the LAMBDA Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Drama, Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award for Best New Canadian Play, the Jon Kaplan Legacy Fund Award, has been a finalist for the Playwright’s Guild of Canada Drama Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award, and has been nominated for four Dora Mavor Moore Awards. He is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and currently lives in Toronto.

Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho)'s profile page

Jonathan Seinen is a founding member of Saga Collectif and Boys in Chairs Collective, co-artistic producer of Architect Theatre, and former artistic associate with lemonTree creations. In addition to directing Black Boys, he directed Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land), which was nominated for nine Dora Mavor Moore Awards including Outstanding Direction, co-created and performed in Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show and Like There’s No Tomorrow, and was Assistant Director for Timon of Athens at the Stratford Festival. He co-created Charisma Furs with Mx. Sly, which was published by Playwrights Canada Press in Q2Q: Queer Canadian Performance Texts. A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, he recently completed his MFA in Theatre Directing at Columbia University in New York City, where he directed Cabaret, Our Town, and The Seagull, and was Assistant Director to Anne Bogart on Tristan Und Isolde at the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka. He is a current winner of the Canada Council for the Arts John Hirsch Prize, and is now an Assistant Professor at SUNY Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York.

Jonathan Seinen's profile page

• Winner, Lambda Literary Award for Drama
• Nominated, Governor General's Literary Award
• Winner, Toronto Theatre Critics' Award for Best New Canadian Play

“His adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone both relocates this Greek story to reflect Ho’s Chinese heritage and directly challenges the narratives that its audience of 12- to 18-year-olds may be hearing in their classrooms right now, while empowering them to do something to change it.” (Praise for Antigone: 方)

Carly Maga, Toronto Star

“The comic timing is flawless; some of the contemporary one-liners could feel glib in less skilled hands, but here they zing. The characters are all emotionally credible, while still bemused by the way the gods have screwed up their lives.” (Praise for Iphigenia and the Furies (on Taurian Land))

Martha Schabas, The Globe and Mail