This Must Be The Place: The CN Tower Show

Cast of This Must Be The Place: The CN Tower Show. Photo by Aviva Armour Ostroff.

The Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace has been transformed into a busy Toronto intersection, complete with street lights, sidewalk plants, and the sounds of streetcar bells. In this authentic setting, aided by music and audience participation, Architect Theatre’s This Must Be The Place: The CN Tower Show opens a door into the city’s past and tells its story from the perspective of those who know it best—its residents.

The production’s title, The CN Tower Show, prepares the audience for a story about the Toronto landmark’s construction in the 1970s. Although the production begins with several cast members having dinner in the tower’s rotating restaurant, it quickly moves down to the busy city streets. The Toronto subway is recreated brilliantly in one scene, with a man (Greg Gale) and woman (Georgina Beaty) having a conversation in one of the cars while the “whoosh” sound of the subway is made by Thomas Olajide and the sound of the doors opening by Ingrid Hansen.

The audience is also incorporated into the production right away, in a poll asking how long they have lived in Toronto, with those living longer than 50 years in the city sharing their insights. This Must Be The Place is centered around interviews conducted with 75 to 90 Torontonians, over 18 months. The interviews are presented by the show’s actors in short vignettes that provide a window into Toronto’s past, present and future, while also illustrating the many different cultures and personalities that make up our dynamic city.

Former mayors of Toronto provide their experiences with the city, a homeless man describes his typical morning on Bloor Street, and a young man describes Toronto as a
parent he doesn’t appreciate, but calls it home because it is where he fell in love. The stories told as part of the interviews are at once touching, hilarious and relatable, and had the entire audience responding with various emotions throughout the production.

A combination of interviews, audience participation and music, This Must Be the Place is a beautiful love letter to the city of Toronto, stringing together the raw experiences of its residents and connecting them seamlessly. The performers, Hansen, Beaty, Gale and Olajide, are all excellent in their roles, telling their own personal stories of Toronto directly to the audience as well as acting out the interviews. The audience leaves with a fresh outlook on a city they thought they knew, as well as humming a song about finding their way in this town.

This Must Be the Place: The CN Tower Show runs until October 27 at the Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace. Visit passemuraille.on.ca for more information and to buy tickets.

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