COAL MINE THEATRE Kicks-Off 2024-25 Season With Canadian Premiere Of Annie Baker's INFINITE LIFE

COAL MINE THEATRE will get their 10th anniversary season underway with one of the most hotly anticipated shows of the fall season, the Canadian Premiere of Annie Baker’s most recent play, INFINITE LIFE, on stage September 6 – September 29 at the company’s Danforth home.

Arriving on the heels of hugely successful runs at The National Theatre in London and the Atlantic Theater Company in New York, INFINITE LIFE is the third production of Baker’s work at the COAL MINE, following acclaimed productions of The Aliens in 2017 and The Antipodes in 2022.

A surprisingly funny inquiry into the complexities of human suffering through a distinctly female lens, former Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival, Jackie Maxwell, makes her Coal Mine directorial debut with an all-star cast including Brenda Bazinet (Shoot the Messenger), Ari Cohen (The Antipodes), Kyra Harper (Hard Rock Medical), Christine Horne (Angels in America), Nancy Palk (August, Osage County), and Jean Yoon (Kim’s Convenience), returning to the Toronto stage for the first time since appearing in Kim’s Convenience on stage in 2017.

In the play, five women at a  Northern California “fasting/healing retreat” sit outside on chaise lounges and philosophize in a bold, dream-like story exploring what it means to desire in a body that’s failing you.

“Women’s problems” is a phrase that is guaranteed to leave many people, including much of the medical establishment, rolling their eyes and shrugging,” comments Maxwell. “Annie Baker takes them all on in her provocative new play in which we meet five women “of a certain age” who are all attending a desert fasting retreat for chronic illnesses. This is Ms. Baker at her best - antic, often hilarious conversation butts up against loaded pauses and silences as multiple ailments are discussed and compared and secrets are revealed along the way.”

Maxwell continues, “I am thrilled to be a part of this world, working with five of Canada’s most accomplished actresses (and one lucky man!) whose openness and ability to connect is renowned and will be so vital as we plunge into this very female world together and whose sense of bravery, fun and ability to share the stage with energy and generosity will be on glorious display throughout!”

Considered one of the finest contemporary English-language dramatists of her generation, Annie Baker is a leading American playwright whose plays also include: The Antipodes, John, The Flick (Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Obie Award for Playwriting), Circle Mirror Transformation (Obie Award for Best New American Play, Drama Desk nomination for Best New American Play),The Aliens (Obie Award for Best New American Play), Body Awareness (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play/Emerging Playwright), and an adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival).

Her plays have been produced at over 150 theatres throughout the U.S. and have been produced internationally in over a dozen countries. Other honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, Hull-Warriner Award, Steinberg Award, and the Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library.  Her first feature film Janet Planet was released this summer.

“I pursued this play from the moment it opened in New York,” says COAL MINE Artistic Director Ted Dykstra. “I knew I had to get COAL MINE the rights and that it had to have a female director at the helm. Before the rights were even ours, I got an email from Jackie asking if I’d heard of this play. She’d read it, wanted desperately to direct it, and thought it would be a perfect show for us. Well. When the universe lines up like this, you say “YES!” and get out of the way!”

Jackie Maxwell is one of Canada’s most celebrated theatre artists. She has directed for theatres across Canada including The Stratford Festival, The Tarragon, The Citadel, Soulpepper, Mirvish Productions and many more and has also worked for several theatres in the US. Notably, Jackie served as Artistic Director of the prestigious Shaw Festival for 14 seasons, from 2002 – 2016.  Recently Jackie has directed the World Premiere of Withrow Park for Tarragon Theatre, The Importance of Being Earnest for The Citadel, and Playboy of the Western World for the Shaw Festival. Among her many awards and accolades Maxwell is a recipient of The Order of Canada, The Order of Ontario, a Queen’s Jubilee Medal and she holds two honorary Doctorates.

INFINITE LIFE is on stage at the COAL MINE THEATRE September 6 – September 29 (Media night: September 11). Tickets are available now at coalminetheatre.com.

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