Buddies in Bad Times

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Buddies in Bad Times in 2024
Address	12 Alexander Street Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1B4
Opened	1979
Website
https://buddiesinbadtimes.com/

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, Buddies in Bad Times is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical expression". It's the largest and longest-running queer theatre company in the world.^[1]

Although the company eventually achieved notoriety and success in the 1980s as a queer theatre company, it wasn't founded with that intent. Buddies' original focus was on staged adaptations of poetry. However, during the 1980s, under the sole leadership of Sky Gilbert, Buddies developed a distinctly queer aesthetic and practice. The company is known for its work that was unapologetically political, fiercely pro-sexual, and fundamentally anti-establishment. In 1983, Sue Golding joined the company as its founding Board President, a post which she held until 1995. Playing an instrumental role in shaping the direction of the organization, Some of the company's earliest commercial and critical successes included productions of Gilbert's Lana Turner has Collapsed! (1980), The Dressing Gown (1984), Drag Queens on Trial (1985), and The Postman Rings Once (1987), Don Druik's Where is Kabuki? (1989), as well as the Sex Tours of the Church-Wellesley community hosted by Gilbert's drag persona Jane.