Plutonium Playhouse

Last updated
Plutonium Playhouse
Address Halifax
Canada
Opened2010

The Plutonium Playhouse is a theatre company in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada that began as a non-profit society in 2010. Plutonium Playhouse Society initially mounted shows in a recording studio on Hunter Street in Halifax.

Contents

Plutonium is known for its development and encouragement of new work by Nova Scotia playwrights like Thom Fitzgerald, Lee-Anne Poole, Ryan Doucette, and Stewart Legere. A number of works originally presented by Plutonium Playhouse have gone on to tours and remounts across Canada, including Short Skirt Butch, [1] The Debacle, El Camino or the Field of Stars, [2] and Cloudburst, which was made into a popular movie starring Academy Award winners Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker and Ryan Doucette, [3] and won over thirty film festival best picture awards. [4]

The company is also known for its popular program The Sex Festival, which presents plays, readings and events on the subjects of sex and sexuality. [5]

Artistic directors

Production history

Plutonium Playhouse Society was involved in producing or presenting the following productions:

PRODUCTIONS

PUBLIC READINGS

Critical response

Critical response to the works of Plutonium Playhouse Society has been generally positive. Ron Foley MacDonald called the original production of Cloudburst "a knockout" and the company "the most exciting thing to happen on the Halifax Theatre scene in a decade" [24] Kate Watson wrote of the Plutonium production of Fat Pig, "The performances in this production are outstanding... Fat Pig is funny, touching, sexy and thought-provoking." [25] while The Dalhousie Gazette proclaimed the show "pushed the audience’s comfort level." [26] Independent critic Amanda Campbell praised Plutonium Playhouse's production of Rob Salerno's Balls as "tender, insightful and intelligent" [27] and Plutonium's production of A Barnacle's Tale "literate, oddly insightful, strange, ridiculous, very unique and fun." [28]

Works in The Sex Festival have been particularly well received. Kate Watson of The Coast Weekly called The Asshole Monologues "hilarious and charming" [29] and named Plutonium's production of Whale Riding Weather one of the Ten Best productions of 2012. [30]

Awards and nominations

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