Event

Gruesome Playground Injuries

Rajiv Josephs Gruesome Playground Injuries offers its audience fleeting glimpses into the calamitous lives of Doug and Kayleen, childhood friends whose connection is both sparked and kept alive by the physical ailments they continuously suffer. Upon meeting at the age of eight, each finds familiarity and comfort in the others pathology. Doug is a daredevil with a penchant for self-destruction, while Kayleen is a healer whose body and mind continually reject her. They end up forming a life-long bond that, for better or worse, etches itself into their hearts. Told through a series of poignant, funny and sardonic sketches, separated by vast jumps in time, GPI follows Doug and Kayleen as they traverse their lives, always one beat out of step with the other. A tale of loose endings and near beginnings, the consolations of self-destruction and the fear of intimacy, this show asks of its audience members to reflect on why we so often hurt ourselves as well as those we love the most.

At commonplacetheatre we look to push beyond the boundaries of what might be thought to be ordinary/mainstream theatre productions. Because we believe theatre to be a useful medium for provoking critical and creative thought on contemporary issues, we aim to look for hard-hitting plays that challenge the status quo or shed light on issues that tend to be overlooked. Our goal is to challenge normative ideas or views held in mainstream societyby creating theatre that is intellectually and emotionally stimulating for theatre artists and audience members alike.