306. The Cup | Interview with Keith Barker (The Veil; Raised by Women)

Welcome back to the 306th episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 306th episode we have a new artist interview. This particular conversation is between our Co-Artistic Producer and Keith Barker, award-winning playwright, director, dramaturg, and performer, the former artistic director of Native Earth Performing Arts, and currently Director of the Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program at the Stratford Festival. Together these two discuss all about live horror performance, matriarchal inheritance, and planting seeds in the Studio Theatre.

The Veil (co-authored by Keith Barker and Thomas Morgan Jones) is running as part of the Stratford Festival’s Meighen Forum, at the Tom Patterson Theatre’s Lazaridis Hall (111 Lakeside Dr, Stratford, ON) from October 23 to 31, 2026. Tickets can be purchased from the following link: https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/TheForum/The-Veil Raised By Women (written and performed by Keith Barker) is running at Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley St, Toronto, ON) from March 27 to April 11, 2027. Tickets can be purchased from the following link: https://www.canadianstage.com/shows-events/season/raised-by-women This interview contains SPOILERS for The Veil, enclosed between 21:10 and 49:00. If you intend to see the production, we recommend skipping over that section, or at least proceeding at your own risk.Follow Keith – Instagram: @keeferbarkerRead Ryan’s coverage of The Veil in NEXT Magazine:https://nextmag.ca/theatre-scenes-dance-divisive-receptions-and-a-query-from-beyond-the-veil/ https://nextmag.ca/theatre-scenes-tis-the-season-to-be-spooky-with-these-spine-tingling-shows/ https://nextmag.ca/theatre-scenes-our-top-10-favourite-plays-of-2025/ https://nextmag.ca/theatre-scenes-yet-another-12-shows-to-see-a-second-time-before-the-end-of-2026/ Follow Cup of Hemlock Theatre on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @cohtheatreIf you’d like us to review your upcoming show in Toronto, please send press invites/inquiries to coh.theatre.MM@gmail.com