Toronto’s winter theatre calendar gets a deeply personal and urgent addition this February with the world premiere of Through the Eyes of God at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Backspace (February 1–21, 2026). Acclaimed playwright Anusree Roy — whose work has been central to Canadian stages for nearly two decades — returns to the company that helped launch her career with a story both grounded in visceral emotion and sharply attuned to systemic pressures many families face.
Two decades after Roy’s breakthrough Pyaasa, where audiences first met Chaya as a child, Through the Eyes of God finds her now a young mother in Kolkata, navigating a world even less forgiving than before. When Chaya is arrested for stealing rice to feed her daughter Krishna, she is plunged deeper into crisis upon discovering her child has been trafficked to Delhi. What follows is a harrowing, unflinching search through a fractured system — driven by love, desperation, and the fundamental question of how far a parent will go to protect their child.
Performed by Gabriella Sundar Singh, the production is a one-person play staged in the intimate Backspace — a setting that amplifies every breath, every break in Chaya’s journey. The creative team includes director Thomas Morgan Jones, lighting designer David DeGrow, and sound designer Romeo Candido, all contributing to a concentrated theatrical experience that blends emotional intensity with sparse, powerful storytelling.
For Toronto audiences, this is more than the continuation of a beloved character’s narrative — it’s a chance to engage with theatre that refuses easy comfort. Roy’s work has consistently explored inequity, identity, and resilience; in this new play, she pushes those themes into urgent, lived territory.
Performances run most evenings through February 21, with accessibility options including audio description and mask-mandatory shows. Tickets are offered on a Pay-What-You-Can-Afford tier — $15, $40, or $65 — and can be purchased online at the Theatre Passe Muraille website 👉 https://www.passemuraille.ca/through-the-eyes-of-god/.
In a Backspace theatre that feels more like a room than a stage, Through the Eyes of God promises to be an intimate, heart-rending experience — one that asks audiences not just to watch Chaya’s search, but to feel its stakes.
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