Jake and Sameer have spent years preparing for this moment—the birth of their first child.
But when Marya, their surrogate, is admitted to the hospital with complications, the couple is forced to confront questions they never expected: Who gets to decide what makes a family? And at what cost?
Set over the course of a single sleepless night, The Surrogate is a 21st-century exploration of privilege, and the complexities of modern family-making in a world where the rules are still being written.
From award-winning author, Mohsin Zaidi (A Dutiful Boy), comes a gripping debut drama that explodes the notions of contemporary parenthood.
WORLD PREMIERE | DRAMA
The Surrogate
Spring Show
April 16th - 26th 2026
Opening April 17th
CAST
Sameer - Fuad Ahmed*
Jake - Thom Nyhuus*
Marya - Sarena Parmar*
Christina Bedford - Antonette Rudder*
Qasim - Siddarth Sharma*
CREATIVE TEAM
Written by Mohsin Zaidi
Directed by Christopher Manousos*
Sound Designer - Maddie Bautista**
Costume Designer - Andrew Broderick
Stage Manager -Nazerah Carlisle*
Lighting Designer - Chris Malkowski**
Set Designer - Scott Penner**
Intimacy Director – Cara Rebecca*
*The participation of these Artists is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance-Opera-Theatre Policy (DOT).
**Indicated designers on this production are represented by the Associated Designers of Canada, Local ADC659
The Surrogate is supported by these wonderful people:
Show Sponsor: DJ Anderson
Accommodation Partner: Perth County Inn
Meet the Cast
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A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Actors Conservatory and a recipient of REEL Canada’s RBC Emerging Artist Award, Fuad is best known for his breakout role as Dr. Ned Patel in the World War II drama Bomb Girls (Global). Recent on-screen credits include: Late Bloomer (Crave), Allegiance (CBC), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC) and the films Christmas Casanova (Netflix) and Stealing Vows. You can see him next as a new series regular on the hit TV show Sullivan’s Crossing (CTV/Netflix).
Theatre credits include: Liars at a Funeral (Drayton Entertainment), New (CanStage/RMTC), Anahita’s Republic (Factory Theatre), Small Mouth Sounds (Segal Centre), After Wrestling (Factory Theatre), Shakespeare in Love (RMTC/Citadel) and Disgraced (Citadel).
Instagram @syed_fuad_ahmed
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Thom Nyhuus is an actor and writer from Ottawa. Theatre credits include: Aztrov in The Stone Woman (Let Me In Theatre), Andy in Early August (Lighthouse Festival), and Pastor Joshua in The Christians (Scrap Paper Theatre). In film and television, he can be seen in Devil in Disguise (Peacock), and Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix). His first play, Cannibal, was presented during the 2019 Next Stage Festival, and his follow up, Boy Friends, is in development with the Vault Creation Lab.
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Sarena Parmar is an actor and playwright. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School and the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre.
Sarena has been fortunate to work on stages across Canada, including the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Bard on the Beach, Tarragon Theatre, and Canadian Stage. Favourite productions include: Dancing at Lughnasa (Shaw Festival), The Winter’s Tale (Groundling Theatre), and All’s Well That Ends Well (Bard on the Beach). Her play, The Orchard (After Chekhov), premiered at the Shaw Festival, making her the first South Asian playwright produced in the company’s history.
In film and television, recent credits include Code 8 (Netflix), Pretty Hard Cases (CBC) and Skymed (Paramount +). As a young actor she appeared on How To Be Indie (YTV), Degrassi (CTV) and Radio Rebel (Disney).
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Antonette Rudder is a Toronto-born, Toronto-based actor with an extensive career in classical and contemporary theatre. A longtime Stratford Festival performer, she has appeared in a wide range of productions, including leading the acclaimed production of Wedding Band, as well as performances in Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, and Les Belles Sœurs.
Alongside her stage work, Antonette works across film and television and currently recurs on NBC’s Brilliant Minds. Her screen credits include Boston Blue, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent Toronto. The Surrogate marks her debut with both Crow’s Theatre and Here For Now Theatre, milestones she is deeply grateful for.
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Siddharth Sharma is a Toronto-based actor, director, and producer working across television and independent film. His screen credits include recurring and guest roles on series such as Late Bloomer, Gen V, Motorheads, The Way Home, and Children Ruin Everything.
Alongside his acting work, Siddharth has directed and produced over five short films. His most recent project, Unfamily, a grant-funded short, screened at CSA-qualifying festivals across Canada.
He is the co-founder of Hold the Sauce Films, where he develops story-driven independent work, and Toronto Film Plug, an initiative focused on connecting filmmakers, resources, and audiences. Through performance, production, and community-building, Siddharth is committed to strengthening Toronto’s independent film ecosystem.
Meet the Creative Team
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Mohsin Zaidi is a New York based, award-winning author and playwright. His critically acclaimed memoir, A Dutiful Boy (Penguin, 2020) won the American Lambda Literary Award and the British Polari First Book Prize. It was also named a Guardian, GQ, New Statesman and Attitude Book of the Year. The Guardian describes it as 'a profound meditation on the power of the human heart'. The Times says it is a book that will save lives.
The first person from his school to go to Oxford University, Mohsin qualified as a lawyer at international firm Linklaters, and then became a criminal barrister at one of the top chambers in England. He previously worked at a UN War Crimes tribunal in The Hague and clerked at the UK Supreme Court. An advocate for LGBTQ rights, racial justice and social mobility, Mohsin sat on the board of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall and before that was on the board of London Pride. ‘The Surrogate' is his first play.
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Christopher Manousos is a theatre director, the Artistic Director of House + Body, and the Associate Artistic Director of Crow’s Theatre. Through House + Body, Christopher directs contemporary reimagining’s of classical works, develops new plays, and provides training and mentorship to emerging artists, playwrights, and performers.
He is an alumnus of the Stratford Festival’s Michael Langham Director’s Workshop and the Shaw Festival’s Neil Munro Intern Directors Program. Christopher has trained extensively in the Suzuki Method of Actor Training and Viewpoints with Anne Bogart, SITI Company, and Tadashi Suzuki in both New York and Japan.
As an educator, Christopher has taught and directed productions at the University of Windsor, Randolph College, Sheridan College, and the Stratford Festival’s Shakespeare Intensive.
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Andrew is a multidisciplinary artist and creative consultant. He is also an Associate Artist with House+Body. Previous Costume: Measure for Measure (House+Body/Crow’s Theatre); EXHUME ME, EMPTY/Immediacy (House+Body). Previous Performance: Octet, Great Comet (Crow’s Theatre) Primary Trust (Arts Club), Choir Boy (Canadian Stage/Arts Club) The Color Purple (Neptune/Citadel/MTC), Hadestown (Citadel), The Amen Corner, Sweeney Todd, Peter and the Starcatcher, Everybody (Shaw Festival), You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Pirates of Penzance (Stratford Festival), Hairspray (Charlottetown Festival/Rainbow Stage), Dreamgirls (The Grand Theatre). Big thanks to the talented group (on and off stage) who contributed to The Surrogate, and to all the loved ones who act as reminders of beautiful the world can be.
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Maddie Bautista (she/her) is a Bi, Saudi Arabia-born Filipina sound designer and composer. You can catch Maddie creating and shaping sound in iconic theatres across the country – from composing original music in the earliest stages of new work development, to tuning systems with live musicians and large casts. She has created music and sound design for over 80 productions and counting across Canada, for theatres such as the Stratford Festival, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Grand Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Soulpepper, the Tarragon, and more.
She moonlights as half of xLq with Jordan Campbell – a queer pop performance duo who tours across the country with their daring, interactive theatre and bizarre, grungy drag.Maddie received 2 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Love You Wrong Time (Outstanding Sound design and composition, and Outstanding Ensemble) and 2 nominations.
Upcoming: Cyrano (The Citadel, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, & The Grand Theatre), Botticelli in the Fire (Downstage), and Arsenic & Old Lace (The Globe Theatre) www.maddiebautista.com
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Nazerah Carlisle is a Toronto-based stage manager and graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University. She has had the privilege of working for companies such as Soulpepper, Tarragon, Musical Stage Co, Toronto Dance Theatre, Opera Atelier, Shakespeare in the Ruff, Toes for Dance, Fujiwara Dance Inventions and Dusk Dances. When Naz isn’t stage managing, she’s djing events around Toronto and helping at her family business, Courage My Love.
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Chris Malkowski is a professional lighting designer based in Toronto, Canada and has designed lights for over 100 productions in dance, drama, opera, musical theatre, art installations and live events. His work has been staged at many theatres in Canada including the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Vancouver Opera, Soulpepper Theatre, and Canadian Stage. His work has also taken him globally gracing international festival stages in Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland) and North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco) .
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For Here For Now Theatre: Debut
Other Theatre: Job (Broadway); Indecent, Elf (RMTC), Cymbeline (Stratford); Fireflies, Intimate Apparel, (Northlight, Chicago; Dion, Waiting for Godot (Coalmine) Guys & Dolls, Frozen (Arts Club); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Flint Rep); Rasheeda Speaking (Jeff Nomination, Shattered Globe Chicago) ; Shirley Valentine, The Extinction Therapist (Aquarius); The DaVinci Code (Drury Lane Chicago); Shakespeare’s Will (Indiana Rep); Love’s Labour’s Lost, Constellations, Fallen Angels (American Players Theatre); Body Politic, A Few Brittle Leaves (Buddies); Billy Bishop Goes To War, The Drowning Girls (Globe)
Upcoming Projects: Death of a Salesman (Stratford), Spare Parts (Off-Broadway) Come From Away (Grand), It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken (Aquarius), Casey & Diana (American Players Theatre)
Social Media: @scottpennerdesign
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Cara is an artist and administrator whose creative practice spans acting, directing, fight, intimacy, movement, and teaching. She is driven to create work that witnesses the aspects of life that most people are compelled to look away from. Select Fight and Intimacy: Frozen (Aquarius), Trident Moon (Crows/NAC), Keffiyeh/ Made in China (Teesri), Mickey & Joe (TOE), Sakura (Centaur), Max & Aaron Write a Musical, POTUS (Segal), Bed & Breakfast (Hudson) and The Flood (Imago). Directing: Snow White (County Stage), QUEERasure: Sex Garage (Ragtag). Assistant Directing: Funny Girl, Amadeus (Upcoming, Shaw), Sakura (Centaur). Select Acting: Still Life, Antioch (Talisman); Indecent, Clue (Segal); The Importance of Being Earnest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (St Lawrence); Fall On Your Knees (CanStage/Neptune/NAC/Grand). Let's be kind and creative out there!
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Originally commissioned, developed and world premiere by Crow's Theatre, Chris Abraham, Artistic Director; Sherrie Johnson, Executive Producer