Mustard shouldn’t still be here, but he is. Imaginary friends don’t normally stay with their Person until that Person is a troubled teenager, exhibiting strangely violent behaviour. Imaginary friends don’t suddenly become visible to their Person’s mom and then go on a date with them, either. But Mustard is special. At least that’s what he thinks. And he’s not ready to leave his best friend, Thai, even though he’s in deep trouble with some unsavoury characters who are ready to enforce some serious rules. And, oh yeah, he’s falling in love with Sadie, Thai’s recently separated, wine-guzzling mom, who doesn’t believe he’s real.

A twisted fairy tale about friendship, love, growing up, moving on and finding magic where you least expect it, this darkly comedic bedtime story by Canadian theatre’s indie darling blurs imagination with reality in order to save a family from its own destruction.

Kat Sandler is a writer, screenwriter, director, and the artistic director of Theatre Brouhaha. She has directed fourteen of her original plays, including the Dora Mavor Moore Award–nominated Bang Bang, the Toronto Best of Fringe hits Bright Lights, Punch Up, Help Yourself, and Delicacy, and Liver, Cockfight, and Retreat. Her play Mustard won the 2016 Dora Award for Outstanding New Play. She was the 2015 recipient of NOW Magazine’s Audience Choice Award for Best Director and Best Playwright. She is the Canada Council Playwright-in-Residence at Tarragon Theatre and is currently working on two television productions with Shaftsbury and eOne. Kat is a graduate of Queen’s University. She lives in Toronto.

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• Winner, Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play

[Mustard] strikes a brilliant balance of whimsy and trauma-informed comedy . . . doesn’t provide any tidy resolutions or easy answers about love, family, and the lies we tell ourselves about loneliness, feeling needed, and the reality of growing up. Mustard is wonderful and weird, and it signals a powerful and welcome new voice in contemporary theatre.

The Georgia Straight

(5 out of 5 stars) Emotionally complex, witty and well-paced magic—literally and figuratively.

Examiner

Kat Sandler writes such incongruous, funny dialogue.

The Slotkin Letter

The delight of Sandler’s work comes from both her fanciful scenarios and her playfulness with language, and both of these are present in abundance.

Mooney on Theatre

Wholly embracing and unique . . . a witty and touching “our town” turn like none you’ve ever had the pleasure to witness before.

BrokenLegReviews