February 10 - March 5, 2023

*Please note this show is divided into TWO parts. You book for two separate performances. You can attend each part whenever you wish during the run - you do not have to see the complete show on two consecutive days or on the same day. The story begins with Part 1 and concludes with Part 2.

Part 1: Family Tree is approximately 3 hours with 1 intermission.
Part 2: The Diary is approximately 3 hours with 2 intermissions.

Please note: this performance contains partial nudity, mature themes, graphic violence, sexual content, sexual violence, strong language, smoke and haze and e-cigarettes.

“Seeing Fall On Your Knees brought to fruition as a piece of theatre is the fulfillment of a process that began long ago when I first started writing what would become the novel.  Fall On Your Knees began, in my mind, as a play.  This makes sense because I was, and am, a playwright. I ended up bringing the story to light as a novel, but I’ve always cherished the vision of it as a three-dimensional experience for a live audience.  I am so grateful to all the incredibly talented artists, especially Hannah Moscovitch and Alisa Palmer, for boldly and beautifully bringing it to life."

– Ann-Marie MacDonald, Author, Fall On Your Knees

Adaptation for the stage by
Hannah Moscovitch and Alisa Palmer

Co-created and Written by
Hannah Moscovitch

Co-created and Directed by
Alisa Palmer

Production Dramaturgy by
Mel Hague

Based on the Novel by
Ann-Marie MacDonald 

Five theatre companies partner to bring production based on Ann-Marie MacDonald’s internationally acclaimed novel to four cities

Written by the internationally acclaimed Canadian writer Ann-Marie MacDonald, and adapted for the stage by award winning Nova Scotian playwright Hannah Moscovitch, Fall on Your Knees is a sweeping novel that chronicles three generations of Cape Breton’s Piper family. The story moves from the battlefields of the First World War to the emerging jazz scene in Harlem, NY, and into the lives of four unforgettable sisters. This adaptation for the stage spans multiple musical genres and generations, unfolding amid the collision and melding of identities – cultural, class, racial, sexual and gender – at the birth of the modern era.

Lead Donors - Margaret Fountain, C.M., D.F.A.(h.c.), D.H.L.(h.c.) and David Fountain, C.M.

Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund. 

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.

THE CAST