Juliana Monk & Dawn Jani Birley in To A Flame | Photo by Elana Emer
To A Flame, produced by 1s1 Theatre and Nightwood Theatre, in association with Modern Times Stage Company and Why Not Theatre, has a palpably eerie atmosphere before it even starts. The pre-show builds intrigue by confronting us with:
A plain wooden table.
A knocked over chair.
The howl of wind.
And three Victorian women (Dawn Jani Birley, Nickeshia Garrick and Juliana Monk) in a state of silent, heightened awareness—of each other, of us, and of some force or circumstance that awaits.
Or has the reckoning already occurred?
A fourth woman (Beth Silver) sits off to the side with her cello. Even before she provides her eerie accompaniment, she too is primed and wary, perhaps even a bit confused, like us, by the tense, expectant vibes.
Erin Shields’ elliptical and poetic text unfolds like a Victorian Gothic fable, as if she’s tapping into the headspace of Edgar Allan Poe’s tragic women instead of lamenting them as a pining spectator. Imagine if Lenore and Annabel Lee had found agency! It is, in fact, the man of this story who is enigmatic. These women are both trapped and emboldened by this luxurious mansion that sprawls out around them ominously. Is it a refuge, as they’ve been told by this obscure man they call “Father,” who claims to be shielding them from some vile outside circumstances, or is it a cage?
Or is it perspective and attitude that ultimately define its purpose?
“Father” has identified their “natural deficiencies.” Madeline (Birley) is deaf and mute. Harriet (Nickeshia Garrick) is Black and must overcome the “brutish nature” of her race. Fanny’s (Juliana Monk) flaw is harder to define, though his demand that she be administered laudanum when pleasuring herself becomes disruptive to the status quo suggests that her female sexuality—or rather, her unguarded acknowledgment of it—is her defect.
It was colonialism and patriarchy all along! That reads so glib, I know. In performance, though, this thematic engine is, hmmm, not especially understated, but certainly teeming with beautiful, wondrous and frightening moments. This luxuriates in its Gothic tropes and social commentary.
Dawn Jani Birley, Juliana Monk & Nickeshia Garrick in To A Flame | Photo by Elana Emer
Josette Bushell-Mingo’s direction and choreography favours a gestural language and expressive embodiment of their inner worlds. Birley, Garrick and Monk are riveting in their depictions of curiosity, fear and youthful exuberance as they scamper, cower, confront and cajole. Surrounding them—on an expanse of grey, angular wall that set designer Jung-Hye Kim has devised as a canvas for Laura Warren’s impressive projections—is the mansion and moors beyond. One of the most persuasive effects here is the integration of these projections and André du Toit’s moody lighting. Of the many trippy and dazzling sequences, my favourite is one glorious, finely wrought visual moment—where projections, juxtaposed angles and lighting all conspire to create a lyrical, deeply persuasive impression of moonlight falling through a massive arched window.
The mansion is a looming presence throughout and seems inexorably entwined with the women’s psyches. The title alludes to the moths imagery, which asserts itself into the story as a precarious balance of the fanciful and grotesque. The integration of American Sign Language into the narrative adds another immersive dimension. Even their conversations—hovering between emphatic gesturing, structured sign language and spoken dialogue—are a wholly visceral experience. The final image, which seems more cartoonish and silly than the rest, is nonetheless cathartic because of our investment in their plight.
Not everyone’s cup of tea, surely, but where artfully moody tone poems are concerned, To A Flame is a fine specimen and feels very robust.
To A Flame
September 22 to October 4, 2026
Nancy and Ed Jackman Performance Center
(877 Yonge St.)
90 minutes (no intermission)
Dawn Jani Birley, Nickeshia Garrick & Juliana Monk in To A Flame | Photo by Elana Emer