Literary Essay Writing: The Annotated Bibliography 

The Land Acknowledgement, or As You Like It  (Cliff Cardinal) + "residential schools" or "truth and reconciliation" or "generational trauma" or colonialism

• Are Most Land Acknowledgments Performative? (The Agenda TVO interview)

•  How Cliff Cardinal's play tricked audiences into confronting Canada's relationship with Indigenous people (CBC's Q with Tom Power)

"This production contains strong language and examines mature themes, including: war and its associated violence, colonization, sexual violence, gun violence, mass murder, and suicide" (“Mirvish.com: The Land Acknowledgement, or as You like It”).

Mustard (Kat Sandler) + "mother-daughter relationships" + "substance abuse"+ feminism + dysfunctional families +coming-of-age + reproductive rights + substance abuse  + imaginary friends

• Why do Kids Have Imaginary Friends? (The Atlantic Magazine) 

"Mustard is a comic-tragic play, that can be silly at times, but it is also about a lot of very serious and scary things, including divorce, alcoholism, suicide, mental health, teen pregnancy and growing up, which can be violent, tragic, funny, and magical all at once. At its core Mustard is a play about love: we are watching real people deal with real problems with real stakes, trying to find ways to love and be loved, and some of those people just happen to be magical" ("Theatre and Performance Presents Mustard | Arts") .

Pipeline ( Dominique Morriseau) + "school to prison pipeline" + busing and segregation + public vs private schools + family dynamics + educational inequality + racism or prejudice

•  DOCUMENTARY | The School to Prison Pipeline in Ontario | Black Legal Action Centre

• Providing Enough Space: Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline (30 min.)

• Pipeline Study Guide:Virginia Repetory Theatre PDF

"Ms. Morriseau’s work contained elements that would appeal to those interested in a variety of topics. Pipeline explored contemporary social issues such as educational inequality, prejudice and family problems. For literature fans, the playwright worked in references to poetry and classic prose to construct her story" (“Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau – South Camden Theatre Company”) 

Where the Blood Mixes (Kevin Loring) + impacts + "residential schools" + survivors + colonial or post-colonial + decolonization + racism + Indigenous theatre + Canada

• Where The Blood Mixes Study Guide 

 "Irreverently funny and brutally honest, Where the Blood Mixes is an extremely moving story of loss and redemption. Floyd and Mooch, raised in residential schools, must confront their personal demons when Floyd’s daughter Christine returns to Kumsheen after twenty years, to discover her past and her family. Her arrival is the catalyst that unleashes a flood of memories and secrets about a painful chapter in Canadian History. Where the Blood Mixes takes us beyond the headlines to a deeply personal story about humanity and survival " (“Where the Blood Mixes”).

• Other useful resources

  • https://www.pledgeproject.ca/ Find large cast plays by Canadian women, two-spirit, trans, and non-binary creators.

  •  Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia | Links

  • Toronto Theatre Database | Mustard