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Theatre on the Ridge is thrilled to start its season with a bang—or a punch, rather: Punch-Up, a tragicomedy by award-winning Canadian playwright Kat Sandler.  Known for her raw, honest, and utterly hilarious dialogue and quirky storylines, Kat Sandler is a force of nature, having staged seventeen of her original plays in the last eight years. That hard work has paid off, with strong, positive audience responses, as well as Sandler winning the prestigious Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play in 2016 for Mustard and a nomination for the same award in 2020 for Yaga.

Punch-Up is the story of three misfits—Duncan, Brenda, and Pat—who become entwined in each other’s lives. Duncan is an average, boring guy leading a simple life working at a bread factory. He stumbles upon Brenda, a sad young woman who is about to end her life. Duncan instantly falls in love with Brenda. Not wanting her to kill herself, Duncan makes a deal with Brenda that if he can make her laugh just once, she must give life another shot—but if he fails, he will help her see her plan through. The only problem is that Duncan isn’t funny. So, when he attempts to write a comedy routine to make Brenda laugh, he asks Pat—his second-favourite comedian—for help. Pat, however, is coming off a bad breakup, and his sense of humour isn’t exactly thriving. Will Duncan’s plan be successful?

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