Tideline
Scorched
Heavens
Forests
Birds of a Kind
A Bomb in the Heart
The Indian Medicine Shows
Kyotopolis
Coyote City
Brébeuf's Ghost
Almighty Voice and His Wife
Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story
What a Young Wife Ought to Know
This is War
The Russian Play
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Have you ever found the perfect part? Or read a scene that speaks to you? Or seen a play where the actor on stage matched the writing as if made-to-measure? Don’t you wish it happened more often?

Parallel Play is a tool to help smooth the search for material that really fits. Fits actors, directors, teachers, students, writers, readers and theatre enthusiasts in their quest to find parallels between cast and character.

Parallel Play draws from an extensive database of culturally diverse plays and playwrights. Its foundation is a collection curated by theatre people and designed for all. With new plays added regularly, we think you’ll find our collection unparalleled!

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DiscoverPlays and Playwrights

In our database, there are more than 1000+ plays. Search by title or playwright. Click on a playwright's name to see more of their works.

  • Discover plays with d/Deaf, and/or Person(s) with a Disabilities Characters

    Silence: Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell
    How It Ends
  • Discover plays with Middle Eastern + Diasp Characters

    Interrogation
    Graceful Rebellions
  • Discover plays with characters of Unspecified Ethnicity

    Cyrano de Bergerac
    The Bears Sleep at Last
  • Discover plays with S.Asian + Diasp Characters

    Counter Offence
    Sultans of the Street

Discover Styles, like 'Play with Music'

SPIN play banner

Historical

SPIN

One part documentary and another part musical activism, Spin is inspired in part by the incredible true tale of Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride around the world on a bicycle in 1895. Parry spins a fascinating web of stories that travel from 19th-century women’s emancipation to 21st-century consumer culture, peeling back layers of history to reveal a surprising and contemporary heart to her theme of liberation. A vintage bicycle, hooked up to simple electronics and suspended in a mechanic’s stand, is played – from fenders to spokes to vinyl seat, from whirling pedals to bells – by percussionist Brad Hart, providing a captivating sonic accompaniment to parry’s songs and monologues. Staged by award-winning director Ruth Madoc-Jones, with stunning visual projections by acclaimed designer Beth Kates, this unique show has delighted audiences across the continent.

by Evalyn Parry, 2017
Characters: 1
Cultural issues
Discrimination
Reasonable Doubt play banner

Docudrama

Reasonable Doubt

"A significant moment in Canadian history is portrayed in this documentary musical about race relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Weaving hundreds of real interviews conducted with Saskatchewan residents and the court transcripts surrounding the killing of Colten Boushie and trial of Gerald Stanley, a kaleidoscopic picture is formed of the views of the incident, the province, and relationships between all people in Canada. A verbatim play with music created by Joel Bernbaum, Lancelot Knight, and Yvette Nolan, Reasonable Doubt provides a space to honestly talk to each other about what has happened on this land and how we can live together." - from the publisher "In 2015, playwright and journalist Joel Bernbaum was commissioned by Persephone Theatre to gather interviews with local citizens for the purposes of writing a documentary play on race relations in our province. Then, in 2016, Colten Boushie, was fatally shot on Gerald Stanley’s farm near Biggar, SK. and the interviews changed dramatically." - persephonetheatre.org

by Joel Bernbaum, Lancelot Knight, Yvette Nolan, 2022
Characters: 6
Cultural issues
Discrimination
Is My Microphone On? play banner

Play with Music

Is My Microphone On?

"In another life I was a small bubble of foam on a wave coming to shore, and the wave broke, and I burst, and that was it. Before that I was a small stream, for centuries. And in another life I was a mortal girl. Which is this life. After thousands of years, I have a mouth. So if you don’t mind, Mom, Dad, I’m going to speak. I’m going to shout. When I become a human I’m going to use some words. Can you still hear me? Is my microphone on? Young people have inherited a burning world. In this urgent and lyrical play, they reckon with the generations who have come before them, questioning the choices that have been made, and the ones that they will yet be forced to make. Is My Microphone On? is a play in the form of a protest song, in which a chorus of young performers hold the audience to account, and invite them to experience the world together anew." - from the publisher

by Jordan Tannahill, 2022
Characters: 17
Environment
Intergenerational issues
A Soldier's Tale play banner

Stylized

A Soldier’s Tale

A Soldier's Tale is a multi-disciplinary production written by Tara Beagan. The 13-member cast included actors and dancers, mixing spoken word, music and movement.

by Tara Beagan
Characters: 13
Violence
War
Destiny of Desire play banner

Play with Music

Destiny of Desire

On a stormy night in Bellarica, Mexico, two baby girls are born — one into a life of privilege and one into a life of poverty. When the newborns are swapped by a former beauty queen with an insatiable lust for power, the stage is set for two outrageous misfortunes to grow into one remarkable destiny.

by Karen Zacarías, 2023
Characters: 10
Class
Cultural issues
Cambodian Rock Band play banner

Stylized

Cambodian Rock Band

Part comedy, part mystery, part rock concert, this thrilling story toggles back and forth in time, as father and daughter face the music of the past. Neary, a young Cambodian American has found evidence that could finally put away the Khmer Rouge’s chief henchman. But her work is far from done. When Dad shows up unannounced—his first return to Cambodia since fleeing 30 years ago—it’s clear this isn’t just a pleasure trip. The core of the play is the relationship between the father and daughter.

by Lauren Yee, 2019
Characters: 10
Family
Immigrants
The Coloured Museum play banner

Stylized

The Coloured Museum

The Colored Museum has electrified, discomforted, and delighted audiences of all colours, redefining our ideas of what it means to be Black in contemporary America. Its eleven "exhibits" undermine Black stereotypes old and new, and return to the facts of what being Black means.

by George C Wolfe, 2010
Characters: 7
Black Experience
Race
Indecent play banner

Realistic

Indecent

Indecent is inspired by the true events surrounding the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s "God of Vengeance"—a play seen by some as a seminal work of Jewish culture, and by others as an act of traitorous libel. Indecent charts the history of an incendiary drama and the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it.

by Paula Vogel, 2018
Characters: 44
Antisemitism
Homophobia
Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts I, II, III play banner

Realistic

Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts I, II, III

Offered his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy, Hero, a slave, must choose whether to leave the woman and people he loves for what may be yet another empty promise. As his decision brings him face-to-face with a nation at war with itself, the loved ones Hero left behind debate whether to escape or wait for his return…only to discover that for Hero, free will may have come at a great spiritual cost. Father Comes Home From the Wars is an explosively powerful drama about the mess of war, the cost of freedom, and the heartbreak of love, with all three parts seen in one night.

by Suzan-Lori Parks, 2015
Characters: 14
War
Race
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf play banner

Stylized

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf

A "choreopoem" that blends poetry and music to reveal the experiences of black women through a tapestry of stories.

by Ntozake Shange, 1997
Characters: 7
Feminism
Racism
One More River to Cross: a Verbatim Fugue play banner

Stylized

One More River to Cross: a Verbatim Fugue

Verbatim texts taken from interviews with former slaves made between 1936 and 1938 as part of the Federal Writers' Project: true testimonies that chronicle American slavery. A strong selection of story-telling, high stakes monologues

by Lynn Nottage, 2015
Characters: 12
Mlima's Tale play banner

Stylized

Mlima’s Tale

Mlima is a magnificent elephant trapped by the underground international ivory market. As he follows a trail littered by a history of greed, Mlima takes us on a journey through memory, fear, tradition, and the penumbra between want and need.

by Lynn Nottage, 2021
Characters: 20
Vietgone play banner

Stylized

Vietgone

An all-American love story about two very new Americans. It’s 1975. Saigon has fallen. He lost his wife. She lost her fiancé. But now in a new land, they just might find each other. Using his uniquely infectious style – and skipping back and forth from the dramatic evacuation of Saigon to the here and now – playwright Qui Nguyen gets up close and personal to tell the story that led to the creation of… Qui Nguyen.

by Qui Nguyen, 2018
Characters: 19
War
Love
The Brothers Size play banner

Stylized

The Brothers Size

The Brothers Size dramatizes the struggle between brothers who have taken different paths: Ogun, single-mindedly running his auto shop, and Oshoosi, recently returned from prison and fallen back with trouble.

by Tarell Alvin McCraney, 2013
Characters: 3
Siblings
Family
Choir Boy play banner

Realistic

Choir Boy

Pharus wants nothing more than to take his rightful place as leader of the school’s legendary gospel choir. Can he find his way inside the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key? An affecting and honest portrait of a gay youth tentatively beginning to find the courage to let the truth about himself become known.

by Tarell Alvin McCraney, 2016
Characters: 7
2SLGBTQI+
Black Experience

Discover Tags, like 'Love'

Cyrano de Bergerac play banner

Historical

Cyrano de Bergerac

From the acclaimed author of The Last Wife and The Virgin Trial comes a new adaptation of one of the finest love stories ever told. Cyrano de Bergerac is a swashbuckling seventeenth-century swordsman who can do anything . . . except tell Roxane, the woman he loves, how he feels. He’s just too self-conscious about his unusually large nose. Roxane finds romance in words, and Cyrano is full of them, so when he sees the chance to ghostwrite love letters to her from an inarticulate, love-struck cadet, he takes it—but can he ever reveal himself? Could she ever love him for who he is? In turns funny, tender, and self-aware, this classic tale about the exquisite distress of loving from afar will find its way into the hearts of even the most skeptical.

by Kate Hennig, 2019
Characters: 31
Identity
Love
Silence: Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell play banner

Historical

Silence: Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell

It only takes one spark of love to change the world forever. Mabel Hubbard Bell was a strong, self-assured woman—bright, passionate, and a complete original. Despite a near-fatal case of childhood scarlet fever that cost her the ability to hear, she learned to talk and lip-read in multiple languages. At nineteen, she married a young inventor named Alexander Graham Bell and became the most significant influence in his life. This is Mabel's story, offering the unique perspective of a woman whose remarkable life was forever connected to her famous, distracted husband. From inspiring invention to promoting public service, Mabel and Alec challenged each other to become strong forces for good. Silence is a beautiful and true love story about how we communicate.

by Trina Davies, 2020
Characters: 6
Empowerment
Disability
Six Essential Questions/”6 Essential Questions” play banner

Stylized

Six Essential Questions/”6 Essential Questions”

6 Essential Questions tells the story of Renata as she travels to Brazil to reunite with the mother who abandoned her when she was just five years old. In Rio, Renata discovers more than she bargained for in her quest to uncover the truth of who abandoned whom. She is continually tossed about by her undead grandmother and a semi-invisible uncle as they choreograph the ultimate dance of mother and daughter, both of whom must confront their dreams before they can ever attempt to confront each other. Imaginations run wild in this strangely beautiful and funny story loosely based on Uppal’s critically acclaimed memoir, Projection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother, a finalist for both the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction.

by Priscila Uppal, 2015
Characters: 4
Family
Grief
The Crackwalker play banner

Realistic

The Crackwalker

Teresa is sexy, seductive, and mentally challenged. Worshipped by her boyfriend, she turns tricks at $5, is addicted to Tim Hortons' doughnuts, lies without thinking, and overflows with endless kindness, but she continues to hold on to her limitless innocence. The Crackwalker captures the music, the dialect, and the unpretty realities of the inner city. First produced thirty years ago, Thompson's striking portrayal of the discarded class in Canada continues to move audiences today.

by Judith Thompson, 2010
Characters: 5
Class
Cultural issues
The Shoe play banner

Stylized

The Shoe

In The Shoe, a weary mother, her perplexing son, their shy dentist, and his cocktail-sipping receptionist find themselves drawn together to face problems too daunting to deal with alone. From meltdowns to moments of tenderness, each of them are called on to find reserves of strength and empathy they never knew they had.

by David Paquet, 2022
Characters: 4
Empathy
Family
Suzie Goo: Private Secretary play banner

Musical

Suzie Goo: Private Secretary

Suzie Goo works for Corporeal Can Inc. in the early 1960s. As a modern-day career gal, the last thing she has time for is her "hands on" boss, Vincent Bag. When Suzie takes matters into her own hands, we all learn a thing or two about what it takes to climb the corporate ladder.

by Sky Gilbert, 2006
Characters: 5
2SLGBTQI+
Class
True Love Lies play banner

Realistic

True Love Lies

Sparking a series of further revelations, the sudden reappearance of David exposes suppressed emotions and desires in everyone and the family must renegotiate their relationships with each other and, ultimately, redefine their family. In sharp, non-stop dialogue, Brad Fraser brings each of his characters to life with a depth, humour, and emotion that tears open the nuclear family and finds the heart that is often lost and forgotten.

by Brad Fraser, 2010
Characters: 5
2SLGBTQI+
Family
Under Wraps play banner

Stylized

Under Wraps

The moment Mark meets David his world is thrown off balance. Who could have predicted finding love in a furniture store, or finding it with an unemployed lifeguard? But despite their immediate connection, Mark isn’t sure if David is gay. Mark isn’t even sure if Mark is gay. As he falls deeper in love, Mark works desperately to make David nothing more than a friend and to make that enough. Filled with hopeful exhilaration and devastating missed opportunities, Under Wraps nimbly tracks one man’s tumultuous quest to finally love himself and let it all out.

by Robert Chafe, 2014
Characters: 2
2SLGBTQI+
Identity
Trapped! play banner

Realistic

Trapped!

Set in an imaginary 1950s where gay marriage is the norm, Trapped! tells the story of Claire, a bedridden heiress who overhears a murder plot in which she is the intended victim. Claire must solve the mystery of her own murder before it happens.

by Hope Thompson, 2017
Characters: 3
2SLGBTQI+
Crime
Shooting Magda (The Palestinian Girl) play banner

Realistic

Shooting Magda (The Palestinian Girl)

Love between a Palestinian girl and an Israeli man is born and then ruined in a violent reality.

by Joshua Sobol, 2006
Characters: 11
Cultural issues
Grief
YICHUD (Seclusion) play banner

Realistic

YICHUD (Seclusion)

Rachel and Chaim are Orthodox Jews living in Toronto. They have requested an arranged marriage and today is their wedding day. The Yichud Room is the place where the bride and groom go to be alone immediately following the wedding ceremony. In the case of Rachel and Chaim, who have only had a handful of chaperoned dates, this is the first time they have ever been alone together. In another part of the synagogue, tensions rise between the groom's older brothers, Ephraim and Menachem, rival Torah scholars who haven't seen each other in four years. Meanwhile, the bride's parents, Mordechai and Malka, are secretly planning to divorce after the wedding. YICHUD (Seclusion) directly confronts the tensions that exist in the Orthodox Jewish world between tradition and modernity, powerfully dramatizing issues of love, marriage, respect, sex, honour, and duty.

by Julie Tepperman, 2011
Characters: 6
Community
Family
Mother's Daughter play banner

Historical

Mother’s Daughter

"In this stunning third part to Kate Hennig’s powerful Queenmaker series, England’s first queen regnant finds herself fighting xenophobia, religious nationalism, and strained familial bonds in the power struggle that dubs her Bloody Mary. Upon the death of King Edward VI, the thirty-eight-year-old princess Mary—daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon—wrests the throne from Edward’s deemed heir. But Mary’s mother appears from the vaults of memory, and adamantly questions the motives of Mary’s cousin Jane and her half-sister Bess, despite Mary’s affection for them both. As the kingdom splits along Roman Catholic and Protestant lines, Mary walks a gauntlet of squabbling ethics and politics, and is forced to make some tough decisions. Should she execute her opponents before it’s too late, the way her father did? Should she scramble to find a husband who can give her a rightful heir? And can she trust her mother, her sister, or even herself?" - from the publisher

by Kate Hennig, 2019
Characters: 7
Class
Family
And then there was you play banner

Realistic

And then there was you

A mother addresses her child as they both visit milestones that offered them each independence, and in the process explores how the profound connection between mother and child evolves.

by Erin Shields, 2020
Characters: 2
Ageing
Environment
Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes play banner

Realistic

Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes

Jon, a star professor and author, is racked with self-loathing after his third marriage crumbles around him when he finds himself admiring a student—a girl in a red coat. The girl, nineteen-year-old Annie, is a big fan of his work, and also happens to live down the street. From their doorways to his office to hotel rooms, their mutual admiration and sexual tension escalates under Jon’s control to a surprising conclusion that will leave you wanting to go back and question your perceptions of power as soon as you finish.

by Hannah Moscovitch, 2021
Characters: 2
Family
Marriage
Pako-shay-imoohk play banner

Realistic

Pako-shay-imoohk

Pako-shay-imoohk travels in time from 1969 to 1982. Along the way Judith Blaine stands up to her bellicose father, dumps an unsavory baseball player and marries Haladay Newman, an early-day environmentalist. When they’re randomly attacked while hiking, Judith loses her pregnancy and out of fear the couple decide to stay inside - forever. But after seeing a certain photo, Judith breaks their rule about not engaging with the world and reaches out to Marie Lizotte, a Metis social worker. Marie teaches Judith the Michif word for hope: pakoshayimoohk, and encourages her to rejoin the world. Will Judith stay hidden inside with Haladay? Or embrace pakoshayimoohk and step outside the door?

by Marcus Hondro
Characters: 8
Empathy
Grief