Curator
Alon Nashman
Alon Nashman is a performer, director, creator, and producer of theatre.
World Play: Reading Toronto's Many Languages
Koffler Arts presents World Play, an ongoing series, curated by Alon Nashman, celebrating Toronto’s extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity – a city where over 200 languages are spoken.
World Play invites audiences to experience a rich tapestry of voices through brief readings of poetry, theatre, fiction, philosophy, and song lyrics each read in their original language and accompanied by an English translation. Each evening will be dedicated to a theme around which all the readings will coalesce.
More than a literary showcase, World Play is an immersive journey into phonaesthetics – the beauty and resonance of language as sound.
Upcoming World Play dates and themes
Chapter 3: Light
Monday, December 1, 2025 | 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Chapter 4: Trees
Monday, February 2, 2026 | 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Chapter 5: Dreams
Monday, March 23, 2026 | 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Chapter 6: Freedom
Monday, May 4, 2026 | 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Chapter 7: Food
Monday, July 6, 2026 | 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Call for Readers!
We welcome submissions of proposed texts that you would like to read in their (and your) original language, accompanied by an English translation, related to any of the upcoming themes and dates. Our next reading World Play is December 1, 2025.
Please email worldplay@kofflerarts.org if you have questions or suggestions for future themes and readers.
Previous dates and themes
Readers and Readings
Samuel Akinbo & Yanfei Lu read Kaan bíé, as told by a woman in the Daffiama sub-dialect | Dàgáárè
Latteeshia Davis read Omana thingal kidavo by Iravi Amman Thampi | Malayalam
Matthew Jocelyn read Premier Jour by Jacques Prévert | French and La Marseillaise by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle | French
Chika Maduakola read Nwa m by Chika Maduakola | Igbo
Oya Oran read 128 Dikişli Şiir by Didem Madak | Turkish
Teresa Przybylski read Nic Dwa Razy by Wisława Szymborska | Polish
Birgit Schreyer-Duarte read Lügen über meine Mutter by Daniela Dröscher | German
Maria Andrea Segura read Nací viejo by Gustavo Gac-Artigas | Spanish
Kimberly-Ann Truong read Vội Vàng by Xuân Diệu | Vietnamese
Yizhou Zhang read Birth by Yizhou Zhang | Mandarin
Readers and Readings
Šárka Vamberová read Vlastní životopis (Autobiography) by Jaroslav Seifert | Czech
Levon Ichkhanian read Dzaghigner (Flowers) by Adiss Harmandian | Armenian
Masha Khomutova read Excerpts from Україна та сенс дому (Ukraine and the meaning of home) by Victoria Amelina | Ukranian
Mishy & Iza Szabado read Apokrif által (Apocryph) by Pilinszky János | Hungarian
Yizhou Zhang read Borders by Yizhou Zhang | Mandarin
Baraka Rahmani read On Houses by Didem Madak | Arabic
Ariana Chris read T’ Asteri Tou Voria (The North Star), Einai Megalos O Kaimos (The Sorrow is Great), Tora Pou Pas Stin Ksenitia (Now That You Go To Foreign Lands). Music by Manos Hadjidakis & Lyrics Nikos Gatsos | Greek
David Wall read Fun Beyde Ekn Velt (From Both Ends of the Earth) by Avrom Sutzkever, Goles Hymen (Diaspora Hymn) by Isabel Frey, Got-Bruder (Godbrother) by Daniel Khan, and Zoymen (Seeds) by Adah Hetko | Yiddish
Goce Todoroski read MACEDONIAN by Goce Todoroski | Macedonian
Yusuke Tanaka read The Legend of Sakura: The Feast of Life or The Burlesque of Death by Yusuke Tanaka | Japanese
About the curator
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