About the Play:

Tyson's Song is a full-length drama by Peter N. Bailey. Two Black men are out on their last boys night out, but when the evening goes awry, the best friends are compelled to examine their pasts, and the true bonds of their friendship. Tyson's Song examines the dominant thoughts surrounding Black masculinity, and mental health.

Tyson's Song is about a reckoning between two young Black men. Best friends Bryan and Tyson are out for a bachelor-night bender in Toronto before Bryan leaves for Vancouver in the morning. But when they miss the late-night bus with a six-pack traveller in tow, everything the two men have bottled up about their friendship starts pouring out – like Bryan's struggles as a husband and father or Tyson's volatile outbursts since he got out of prison. As their moonlit vigil unfolds and an ominous police cruiser circles nearby, the ramifications of Bryan's departure become heartbreakingly clear. Can they save their relationship – and maybe even their lives – before the next bus arrives? A catalyst for vital conversations about men's mental health, Tyson's Song is a tender portrait of two souls in limbo and a rallying cry for a new kind of conversation – one born of trust and the courage to lay bare our humanity.

Tyson's Song premiered in 2024 at Factory Theatre in Toronto and won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play in the Independent Theatre Division.

Cast: 2 male

What people say:

"Peter N. Bailey's tight one-act about Black male friendship ... looks at the intersection between the pressures of masculinity and mental health issues ... [The play] keeps the tension humming toward an ending that dares to be both tragic and hopeful." — Broadway World

About the Playwright:

Peter N. Bailey is a Canadian actor, playwright and voice/dialect coach. Born and raised in Toronto, he graduated from the Humber College Theatre Performance program in 2003. He is also a graduate of the Patsy Rodenburg Associate Programme (PRA).