A Note from our Chief Engineer 

grow into what it is today. We began by wanting to do great plays, plays that were already proven, but had not ever been done in Toronto, or in many cases, Canada. When our first show, The Motherfucker With The Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis, opened we were in the basement of a pizza place, seating about 70 people and we ran it for 18 performances. 

On the cusp of Season 12, we have been honoured by countless awards, are in a large three story former bank building at Woodbine and Danforth in Toronto's East End, are increasing our season from 4 to 5 shows, seating 100 people, and doing runs that typically have 28 performances, sometimes more. Though we still do primarily World, Toronto, and Canadian Premieres, we have also ventured into presenting the odd "classic" in our singularly intimate space. As well, we proudly house The Vault, a new playwrighting lab on our second floor run by Diana, which will develop world premieres of Canadian works. And ALL of this is being achieved primarily because our audience is simply the best audience in the country. We have been virtually sold out for the entire time we have existed. At present we exist entirely on ticket sales and donations. 

I'm very fond of saying that the best thing I've ever done is whatever I am presently working on. The same holds true for how I feel about the Coal Mine's best season. It's the one we're working on! Our first 5 show season has an incredible range of expression and themes. It has the best actors, designers, stage managers and directors in the country bringing you a Canadian Premiere, a classic that hasn't been seen in Toronto in 20-odd years, the first (of many I hope!) World Premiere of a new work developed in The Vault, the Toronto Premiere of a searingly brilliant recent Broadway hit, and the Toronto Premiere of a Canadian Play that has only been produced once in Canada, but many times in the US."

Ted Dykstra
Co-Founder and Chief Engineer