Collider Festival: Play Readings
Friday, June 5, 2026
7:00pm to 9:00pm
Part of: Collider Festival
5
The first act of two new plays from the Playwrights Lab
The Great Canadian Musical
- Book by Mhairi Berg
- Music & Lyrics by Mhairi Berg & Steven Greenfield
It was $18 million worth of maple syrup. It was the largest heist in Canadian history. And it was, somehow, the most Canadian thing that has ever happened. The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist: The Great Canadian Musical is a new musical inspired by the true story of a meticulously planned theft from the Federation of Québec Maple Syrup Producers. Part true-crime caper, part love letter to this country’s gloriously specific quirks, it follows an unlikely crew of misfits who believed, with considerable justification, that the syrup was theirs to begin with. Fast-paced, funny, and unexpectedly moving, the musical blends Québécois folk, pop, and Broadway-style showstoppers with satire, suspense, and a subtle question at its heart: can you steal something that was already stolen from you? Court is now in session.
Come Hell Or High WaterSeven parents are trapped at a child’s birthday party. (More so than usual.) A storm rages, roads close and holy rollers everywhere cry: the end is near. How will they protect the children? Fill more balloons, put up more streamers. Put on a skit, perhaps. Something explaining impending doom… but with a Disney theme. The earth shakes and the eerily happy couple starts to argue. A touch passes between two parents who profess not to know each other, and someone screams: “What have I done with my life?” The living room turns into a dance floor, circa 2003 and the animals flee the forest. Seven-year-old Zoey dances with glee: “Aren’t they cute, mommy?!” Come Hell or High Water is a wild ride, an apocalyptic comedy about the anxieties of parenting in a world out-of-control. It’s about clinging to each other, our children and hope.
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Edmonton, AB, T5J 3C6