An audio play by Patti Flather

Pieces of Paradise is an inspiring audio play about people reaching beyond adversity to find hope and community, from award-winning Canadian playwright Patti Flather.

Follow two dogs, a snake and a Yellow-rumped Warbler as they watch over and guide their humans in connecting with each other.

This audio play is an adaptation of Patti Flather’s original stage play Paradise. Here’s what the playwright says about this journey.

“I began this adaptation during the dark times of the pandemic, the horrific murder by police of George Floyd—and others who are not visibly white or who are struggling. Our ongoing climate emergency, the toxic drug crisis, frightening levels of public intolerance and hatred.

I explored shifting beyond rage and despair to find hope, personal agency, and positive actions the characters can take in their lives. Like we all can.

With compassionate dramaturg Jasmine Chen, co-producer extraordinaire Wren Brian, sound designer and audio producer Jordy Walker, composer Calla Paleczny and an incredible creative team from the Yukon and across Canada, I searched for lightness and joy. I delighted in bringing the animals to life, connecting with earth, sky and all living things. And trying out kinder paths for all of us.

Pieces of Paradise is dedicated to the late Majdi Bou-Matar, a brilliant theatre artist, founder of MT Space theatre, collaborator on my original stage play Paradise, and a beloved friend. Support the Majdi Bou-Matar Bursary Program for racialized, newcomer, immigrant, and emerging artists here.”

– Patti Flather, Playwright

About Paradise

A stage play by Patti Flather

A haunting, poetic play about four characters struggling to find grace and humanity, Paradise explores trauma, mental illness, substance use, and the lengths we’ll go to for personal freedom. Paradise is about an unemployed logger and his beloved dog, a young Canadian accused of terrorism, a family doctor and a spirited young woman questioning her place in the world. Each yearns to connect—like all of us—in this visceral and moving exploration of the human spirit.

Paradise is a tragedy, loosely inspired by the playwright’s life—including her father’s murder by a man struggling with mental health challenges—and the post-911 world.

The play’s premiere production (Gwaandak Theatre/MT Space), directed by Majdi Bou-Matar, toured nationally including to IMPACT 15, PlaySmelter 2018 and Expanse Festival. Paradise is published with Playwrights Canada Press. Order it here.

“Paradise is as beautiful as it is unsettling, linking stories of peaches, snakes, dogs, limericks, and ordinary people under stress.”

– Ric Knowles, Professor Emeritus of Theatre Studies, University of Guelph