A gonzo true crime docu-play about homophobia, violence, and incarceration.
In 2013, Luke O’Donovan is arrested after a knife fight at a New Year’s party. The media portrays him as a maniac who went on a stabbing spree. Luke says he’s the victim of a queer-bashing, punished for fighting back. In 2014, theatre artist Johnnie Walker begins writing letters to Luke in prison and working on a new play.
A fierce and freewheeling exploration of a powerful true story, Shove It Down My Throat puts queerness, identity, and complicity through a theatrical kaleidoscope as Johnnie sifts through the different versions of Luke’s story — and the different versions of Luke — in search of the ever-elusive truth.
"Gloriously theatrical.”
Drew Rowsome | My gay Toronto
Creative Team
Written by Johnnie Walker
Directed by Tom Arthur Davis
Dramaturgy by Mel Hague
Performed by Daniel Carter, Willard Gillard, Kwaku Okyere, Craig Pike, Heath V. Salazar, Johnnie Walker, and Anders Yates
Set & Costume Design by Anahita Dehbonehie
Lighting Design by Rebecca Vandevelde
Sound Design by Jivesh Parasram
Fight Consultation by Robin Luckwaldt
Stage Management by Waleed Ansari
Assistant Directed by Rhiannon Collett
Production Management by Oz Weaver
Technical Direction by Adrien Whan
Production Assistant: Chin Palipane
Props Coordination by Vanessa Janiszewski
Head Scenic Painter: Edith Nataprawira
Produced by Jivesh Parasram & Tom Arthur Davis
Development Collaborators: Heather Bellingham, Joshua Browne, Claire Burns, Daniel Ellis, Izad Etemadi, Justin Goodhand, Sabah Haque, Jeff Ho, Julia Howman, Chala Hunter, Indrit Kasapi, Tsholo Khalema, Kat Letwin, François Macdonald, En Lai Mah, Tawiah Ben M'Carthy, Justin Miller, Raymond Miller, Alexander Plouffe, G. Kyle Shields, Brian Solomon, David Benjamin Tomlinson, Andy Trithardt, and Laura Warren.
Production History
April 2019 • Buddies in Bad Times Theatre • Toronto, ON
June 2017 • Queer Pride • Toronto, ON
"Eclectic and powerfully dark. Exquisite."
David Bateman | Bateman Reviews
Supporters
This project has been made possible through the generous support of: the Toronto Arts Council; the Ontario Arts Council; the Canada Council for the Arts; BMO Financial Group (through the Buddies Residency Program); and The Toronto Fringe, Studio 180, Cabaret Company, Canadian Stage, Buddies in Bad Times, and Theatre Passe Muraille (through the OAC Theatre Creators' Reserve).
Partners
The Shove It Down My Throat team has raised $500 in donations for the Prisoner Correspondence Project, a solidarity project for Queer prisoners in Canada and the United States, linking them with people the Queer community outside of prison.