intense

Vancouver’s Kevin Kraussler and Ming Hudson wrote and perform the show. It alternates between two separate stories and time periods: the first recorded case of schizophrenia, James Matthews, hospitalized in London’s ‘Bedlam’ asylum in the late 18th century and a current story of a delusional woman and her daughter that was drawn from the real-life exposure of the cast.

The play opens with a male physician speaking to our audience as if we were a professional jury. He presents a patient suffering from delusions who has been hospitalized for many years. They are reviewing his mental status in order to...

This one woman performance  features Diane Barnes, an African-American from California who was practising as a doctor when, at 38, she suffered a stroke while riding her precious horse.

Barnes is a single mother with two adopted boys. This story takes us through her stroke in 2005 and her journey of recovery and discovery since – as a professional and as mother. She recounts in a personal, emotional and sensitive way how she gets to know and accept her changes. This story is from Barnes' point of view -  taking the audience member through a painful and confusing trip on the...

Aenigma Theatre tackles the challenging and gut-wrenching Blackbird by David Harrower with some success.

The award-winning play is based in part on the true story of a US Marine who had a sexual relationship with a minor. Una (played by Stephanie Izsak) a 27 year old woman comes face to face with Ray (played by Francis Boyle) 15 years after their relationship had come to an end. While they were together, he had been 41 and she had been 12. The play is about their story, their perspectives, their feelings, their questions, their fears and the open wound of never...

After watching “Brain” a one-man show - written and performed by Brendan McCleod, I felt like I’d gotten a tangible glimpse into the mind of someone with OCD. It’s an intense play that is touching, funny, and deeply vulnerable.

Author of the one person show “The Big Oops”, the novel "The Convictions of Leonard McKinley” and the monologue “The Fruit Machine”, McCleod is known as a writer and spoken word artist.  His play "Brain" is a well constructed and compelling story that  takes remarkable emotional risks and goes deep.