Robin Taylor Wright’s Laughing Cactus Productions is staging one of the local playwright’s works right here in Fort Frances.
The show was previously the subject of a dramatic reading hosted by Wright in the summer of 2025.
“It’s set in a group home in a fictional southern Ontario town, not unlike one I grew up in, in 1996. It’s about three boys and their balance and their dynamics,” Wright told The Times.
The play explores the somewhat toxic relationship that develops between three young boys living in a group home, Randall, PJ and Casey. When the independent and rebellious Casey arrives, he disrupts the close, and at times controlling, relationship between Randall and the older PJ, setting off tensions that ultimately lead to a crisis.
“So there’s some scheming and manipulation in order to fight for this one kid PJ’s attention and affection,” Wright said. “And even though the one child is carrying it out poorly, he has his reasons, and he has an unfounded sense of protection and security. And the other kid, Casey, he just wants to get by. It’s about forced brotherhood, learning to care about one another in a mandatory environment, and it’s about the road to manhood and how jarring that can be.”
In each of the previous readings of the play and this staging, Wright has chosen to have the boys played by women, or feminine-identifying individuals. Wright said this is for a few reasons.
“The first one is the practical aspect in that it’s sort of like Bart Simpson rules. You know, usually women actors play children, and so there’s more of a physical reason,” he said. “I do believe theatre is the art of the suspension of disbelief. But I feel it has a little more impact if it’s played by someone who doesn’t have a manly, male body type. Also, I didn’t want to hire children because the subject matter is heavy.”
Wright described the production as a commentary on masculinity, made sharper by the fact that most of the cast are women playing adolescent boys. Since the play focuses on a short snapshot of the characters’ lives, the audience never sees them reach adulthood, creating space to explore masculinity as something that is formed rather than assumed.
“It is sort of this unknown thing because in this vacuum that Home for Boys is in, technically because you just see an hour of their life, you will never see that manhood in them. So, it’s sort of this unattainable goal of manhood, and there are interpretations and guesses of it, but you really don’t know what it’s like until you’re there.”
For this staged version of the show, PJ will be portrayed by Cynthia Vanuden, Casey will be played by Kate Stevens, and Brittany Hayes will play Randall. Hayes read the part of Casey in the 2025 reading. The show also features the talents of stage manager Olivia Eldridge and Inno Laur on tech.
Wright has worked on the show for a while and changed things as the play has been read across multiple venues from Winnipeg to Fort Frances to Stratford and Montreal.
“Every reading goes a long way because it’s such a living, breathing thing,” Wright said. “Every time you do it, people are going to laugh at things; you feel the energy dip. You’re like, ‘Oh, I could cut that,’ or, ‘Oh, I’m missing something there.’ You really need the audience’s vibe to carry on something like this, and even in the rehearsal, there were a couple of things where I’ve said, ‘ Let’s cut this; there’s a reason why this line isn’t working, or there’s a reason why the actor can’t memorize the line. It’s because it’s not important.’ So then you cut things, and I love this process, and that I can just keep making it more and more buff, I guess. But every reading I’ve done, like Stratford, Montreal, Winnipeg, Fort Frances, even in England, you know, each one has given me a little more strength with telling the best story I can tell.”
The show will be staged in a unique setting at Knox United; rather than in the hall on the stage, it will be performed on the floor in the multiuse space before the entrance to the church hall.
“We’re using a part of the Knox Church that isn’t technically a stage, but it looks enough like a space that we could do it in. And we have Fat Albert-style props. We build stuff. It’s not about profit, it’s about connection,” Wright said.
“I would say that it’s about community. It’s about connection. People are like, ‘Well, I don’t know. I can’t afford to see art,’ or ‘It’s not for me. I’m not an arts person.’ I’m saying, well, ‘But you’re not a TV person, and you go home at the end of the day and watch Chef Ramsay.’ Or just because you listen to radio every day doesn’t mean you’re a music aficionado.”
Home For Boys will have a student and senior preview on Nov. 4, and Wright is willing to let folks who might not make any of the other dates into that show; the best way to snag an invite is to contact him through the Laughing Cactus Productions Instagram page.
Opening night is Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. The production will also be staged Friday and Saturday evenings, with a running time of approximately 90 minutes.
There are a few cautions Wright gives attendees; the show might not be for everyone. “Ages 14+ or mature children recommended at least. Heavy themes of abuse (implied, not presented), violence, crude language (including LGBT and developmental disability slurs), as well as a scene of anaphylaxis are present. Some scenes could be heavy, so please take care.”
Tickets are available in advance at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/laughing-cactus-productions/home-for-boys for $12 plus fees. Tickets are $15 for general admission or $10 for students and seniors. Cash-only tickets are available at the door.
