Sometimes surviving in dark times involves becoming part of the darkness… gas and dust, two plays about war, introduce a powerful new voice in Canadian theatre.
A highly theatrical, violent, and ultimately moving examination of the young men and women currently fighting in Iraq, gas follows two American soldiers who kill two Iraqis and dump their bodies in a bombed-out building. This story is inter-cut with that of Rocky, a young soldier who goes AWOL after refusing to escort a tanker full of contaminated diesel to another military base. The play examines the collision of these two stories, the tragic aftermath. gas is a vibrant and important play that seeks to challenge and provoke its audience.
dust is set in Abu Ghraib prison. Jenny works in the office. Jonathan is a prison guard. They meet. They fall in love. dust is a chilling, examination of torture, decency and the limits of hope.
News & Reviews
“The standout show is Jason Maghanoy’s Gas. The script, full of language both heightened and coarse, is gruesome and gripping. Maghanoy directs it himself with violent precision.” —Globe & Mail
“Anchored by a remarkably assured, powerful script, Gas tells the story of five U.S. soldiers fighting the war in Iraq and the war raging within each of them… Highly recommended.” —Toronto Star
“Filled with dread, this is riveting, troubling theatre where hope is as grim as despair. (Four stars)” —EYE Weekly
“Dust is deftly written, ably performed. The writing is subtle, focused on character, allowing only brief talk of horrific details, as the two peek into the bank of images on her camera … The banality of evil creeping into young souls in the military is an unsettling thing to witness.” —Montreal Gazette
About the Author
is a graduate of McGill University and the National Theatre School of Canada. His plays include Throat, Hangman, Heart, Gas, Dust, The Corner, and The Nails. Jason has been the playwright-in-residence at Theatre Passe Muraille and Young People’s Theatre, a member of the Banff Playwrights Retreat, a former member of the Tarragon Playwrights Unit, a finalist for the Soulpepper Academy, a member of the Playwrights Retreat at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, a finalist for the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwriting Fellowship at Juilliard, and a finalist for the 2017 K.M. Hunter Artist Awards. Currently, he is the playwright-in-residence at theatrefront. He also works in corporate partnership development and community engagement.
