This is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear

David has written a play for himself and a gathering of friends and strangers to read together out loud. It’s the story of the rise and fall of an imaginary civilization in an imaginary land. A poetic fable about how to live with the slowly unfolding emergencies of our world, it’s also an invitation to join in on the artistic process, and a testament to the power of a roomful of people discovering a story together.

Created by a team of award-winning artists from across Canada, This Is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear invites you back to the theatre after the strangest years of our lives, asking you to help tell a story about worry and wonder, loneliness and community, beauty and despair.

Participate according to your own comfort – read for a character, join the chorus, or sit back and watch – and join this humorous, cathartic exploration of our innermost private fears.

Watch a This is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear trailer here.

Join us for more! Immediately following each performance, Dr. Mariah Horner will host a “Talkback” with the artist, giving you the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the performance. 

Dr. Mariah (Mo) Horner (she/they) is an Adjunct Assistant Professor, DAN School of Drama and Music, Queen’s University. Mariah is a theatre artist, musician, emcee, and educator based in Katarokwi-Kingston. Her research interests include abolition dramaturgies, site-specific performance, participatory performance, care work, and collaborative creation. With Dr. Jenn Stephenson she co-authored PLAY: Dramaturgies of Participation (Playwrights Canada Press, 2024) and co-edited Canadian Theatre Review 197: Participation. Other research and writing has been published by Theatre Research in Canada, Canadian Theatre Review, SpiderWebShow, The Skeleton Press, and Tourism Kingston. 

Co-founding site-specific theatre collective Cellar Door Project in 2013 in Kingston, she’s co-created 16 original site-specific performances and has worked with NAC Canada Scene, the Agnes Etherington Arts Centre, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Kingston Association of Museums, the City of Kingston, SpiderWebShow, the Kick and Push Festival, Theatre Kingston, anARC Theatre, Movement Market Collective, and the Skeleton Park Arts Festival. Interested in catalyzing non-traditional theatre forms in Kingston, she was the Festival Director of CFRC’s Shortwave Radio Theatre Festival from 2020-2022 and she ran the Storefront Fringe Festival from 2016–2018. She is a core member of Kingston superband The Gertrudes, an emcee at the Skeleton Park Arts Festival and in 2022, she won the Mayor’s Arts Award for her work in the Kingston arts community. Mo is a queer, white, cis settler dedicated to anti-colonial and abolitionist ways of moving through institutions.