About the Play:

Toronto the Good is a full-length drama by Andrew Moodie. Written in response to the rise of gun crime in the streets of Canada's largest city, Toronto the Good focuses on a black Crown attorney defending a white police officer who is accused of racial-profiling a young black male accused of carrying a concealed weapon.

Toronto the Good probes the problems that perpetuate the changing metropolis and explores how they have been allowed to flourish. Accusations of racial profiling are levelled against a Toronto police officer after she arrests a black man for illegal firearm possession. When top Crown attorney Thomas Mathews, a victim of racial profiling himself, is assigned to prosecute the accused against a Left-leaning white attorney, tensions mount and personal politics bubble to the surface. Cutting deep into the lawyers' private lives, their families and foibles are richly portrayed as an integral part of Toronto’s shifting mosaic. From an ostensibly routine traffic stop, each character must come to terms with the city’s racial politics and how they have shaped their own beliefs and prejudices.

Toronto the Good premiered in 2009 to rave reviews at Factory Theatre in Toronto and was nominated for a Dora award for Best New Play. It could easily have been written today and was revived in 2018 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto.

Cast: 3 women, 3 men, with doubling

What people say:

"One of the most relevant works to hit a Toronto stage in years." — EYE Weekly

"Moodie avoids glib answers and predictable side-taking ... and anyone interested in the future of this city should pay a visit to Toronto the Good." — The Toronto Star

"Toronto the GREAT!" — Toronto SUN

"A provocative new play about race relations… Toronto the Good tackles the politically charged issues of racial profiling and gun violence, just a few days after the city was shocked by a shooting in the subway system.." — CBC News

"Moodie provides no concrete answers, but he's given Toronto audiences something to mull over, providing an opening for discussion, learning – and perhaps most importantly – growth." — New Theatre Review

About the Playwright:

Andrew Moodie is an Ottawa-born and raised actor, with extensive stage, film, and television credits. He exploded onto the theatre scene in 1995 with his first play, Riot, which won the Chalmers Canadian Play Award. Since then he has been a mainstay of Canadian television and theatre, both as an actor and a writer.