Jillian French – Arts and Culture Editor

On Sept. 25, 2025, Bishop’s welcomed playwright Michaela Di Cesare to Guest Lecture on her play “Successions.” In the lobby of Centennial Theatre, Di Cesare performed selected scenes from the play in front of an audience of Bishop’s students, many of whom are enrolled in the Feminist Literary Theory and English-Canadian Literature courses offered this semester by Dr. Linda Morra, who organized the event. Di Cesare also took audience questions between readings, yielding insights about character motivation and her own personal journey as a playwright.

Graphic courtesy of Gabby Lalonde

Michaela’s playwriting accolades are extensive: she wrote and performed her debut one-woman show “8 Ways my Mother was Conceived” in multiple Canadian cities. Through Centaur Theatre Company, she wrote and performed “In Search of Mrs. Pirandello” in 2016, and later “Successions” in 2017 and 2018, for which she was awarded the Montreal English Theatre Award for Outstanding New Text in 2018. Other works include “FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)” in 2019, “Extra/Beautiful/U” in 2023 and “Mickey and Joe” (her personal favourite) in 2025.

Set in Montreal, “Successions” is a dramedy that follows two Italian Canadian brothers who must decide whether to keep their family home after the death of their parents. As the brothers and their partners work through the house, the play unearths themes of cultural identity versus assimilation, inherited familial trauma and struggles of feminism within relationships. The play hits close to home for Di Cesare, a Montreal-based artist, who drew creative inspiration from her own experiences. 

Di Cesare spoke a lot about entwining “pain with joy” in “Successions” — “it’s my M.O for playwriting!” In scenes of conflict, she said there was something special about  “. . . feeding uncomfortable truths. . . I’m speaking to the community I grew up in.” She recalled pushing back when the theatre wanted to market the play as a farce: “I’m very comfortable with comedy and tragedy existing side-by-side,” she said. “It’s something I like to do, to have people laugh the whole play, then sob at the end.” 

When asked about her journey to achieving her success as a playwright, Di Cesare offered insights to aspiring playwrights in the crowd. As a double major in theatre and creative writing at Concordia, she noted that her “journey as a playwright started in [her] journey as an actor. . . [she] had a dissatisfaction with the roles that were being offered.” Her debut in playwriting came in the form of a one-woman show that she wrote and performed herself.  “It was all about writing work for myself to perform”. Later, she started to move into commissioned work, but “Successions” was still the first ever show she wrote where she did not perform a role, which she said was a major adjustment. Speaking honestly about the difficulties of finding work as an anglo-playwright in Quebec, she shared some practical advice for finding funding, but noted that the most important thing was to “invite, invite, invite” artists to your own shows.

After the lecture, Di Cesare sat down to sign copies of the play and chatted with students, mingling in the foyer with snacks and conversation. As Di Cesare’s work continues to reach new audiences, her lecture was inspiring to up-and-coming playwrights and actors in the theatre community here at Bishop’s.