Curator
Alon Nashman
Alon Nashman is a performer, director, creator, and producer of theatre.
Koffler Arts presents WORLD PLAY, an ongoing series, curated by Alon Nashman, celebrating Toronto’s extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity – a city where over 200 languages are spoken.
WORLD PLAY invites audiences to experience a rich tapestry of voices through brief readings of poetry, theatre, fiction, philosophy, and song lyrics each read in their original language and accompanied by an English translation. Each evening will be dedicated to a theme around which all the readings will coalesce.
More than a literary showcase, WORLD PLAY is an immersive journey into phonaesthetics – the beauty and resonance of language as sound.
Upcoming WORLD PLAY dates and themes
Chapter 7: Food
Monday, July 20, 2026 | 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Call for Readers!
We welcome submissions of proposed texts that you would like to read in their (and your) original language, accompanied by an English translation, related to any of the upcoming themes and dates. Our next reading WORLD PLAY is July 20, 2026.
Please email worldplay@kofflerarts.org if you have questions or suggestions for future themes and readers.
Readers and Readings
Samuel Akinbo & Yanfei Lu read Kaan bíé, as told by a woman in the Daffiama sub-dialect | Dàgáárè
Latteeshia Davis read Omana thingal kidavo by Iravi Amman Thampi | Malayalam
Matthew Jocelyn read Premier Jour by Jacques Prévert | French and La Marseillaise by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle | French
Chika Maduakola read Nwa m by Chika Maduakola | Igbo
Oya Oran read 128 Dikişli Şiir by Didem Madak | Turkish
Teresa Przybylski read Nic Dwa Razy by Wisława Szymborska | Polish
Birgit Schreyer-Duarte read Lügen über meine Mutter by Daniela Dröscher | German
Maria Andrea Segura read Nací viejo by Gustavo Gac-Artigas | Spanish
Kimberly-Ann Truong read Vội Vàng by Xuân Diệu | Vietnamese
Yizhou Zhang read Birth by Yizhou Zhang | Mandarin
Readers and Readings
Šárka Vamberová read Vlastní životopis (Autobiography) by Jaroslav Seifert | Czech
Levon Ichkhanian read Dzaghigner (Flowers) by Adiss Harmandian | Armenian
Masha Khomutova read Excerpts from Україна та сенс дому (Ukraine and the meaning of home) by Victoria Amelina | Ukranian
Mishy & Iza Szabado read Apokrif által (Apocryph) by Pilinszky János | Hungarian
Yizhou Zhang read Borders by Yizhou Zhang | Mandarin
Baraka Rahmani read On Houses by Didem Madak | Arabic
Ariana Chris read T’ Asteri Tou Voria (The North Star), Einai Megalos O Kaimos (The Sorrow is Great), Tora Pou Pas Stin Ksenitia (Now That You Go To Foreign Lands). Music by Manos Hadjidakis & Lyrics Nikos Gatsos | Greek
David Wall read Fun Beyde Ekn Velt (From Both Ends of the Earth) by Avrom Sutzkever, Goles Hymen (Diaspora Hymn) by Isabel Frey, Got-Bruder (Godbrother) by Daniel Khan, and Zoymen (Seeds) by Adah Hetko | Yiddish
Goce Todoroski read MACEDONIAN by Goce Todoroski | Macedonian
Yusuke Tanaka read The Legend of Sakura: The Feast of Life or The Burlesque of Death by Yusuke Tanaka | Japanese
Readers and Readings
Barbara de la Fuente read A luz que vem da sombra (The light that comes from shadow) by Ariano Suassuna | Brazilian Portuguese
Yuliya Davydzenak read Bepaнiкa (Veronika) by Maksim Bahdanovich | Belarusian
Lumir Hladik read Před zákonem (Before the Law) by Franz Kafka | Czech
Yvette McKoy read a text by Erika Engel | German
Lucia Alfonso read Meio-Dia (Noon) by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Caminho (Path) by Camilo de Almeida Pessanha, and Da Luz (Of Light) by Eugénio de Andrade | Portuguese
Dominik Loncar read Glorija by Ranko Marinković | Croatian
Sophie Dummett read Mobility of Light by Nicole Brossard, Contemporaine (Contemporary) by Nicole Brossard, and Entre Rive and Shore by Dominique Bernier-Cormier | French
Smadar Peretz read כשאלוהים אמר בפעם הראשונה (When God first spoke) by Nathan Zach, and Something in the Shoulders by Agi Mish’ol | Hebrew
Rubena Sinha read Gitanjali 57 by Rabindranath Tagore, and Gitanjali 59 by Rabindranath Tagore | Bengali
Readers and Readings
Danya Buonastella read L'infinito (The Infinite) by Giacomo Leopardi, Tu non Sai (You don't know) by Alda Merini | Italian
Noa Sarid read ואלס להגנת הצומח (Waltz for the Protection of Vegetation) by Naomi Shemer, שני יסודות (Two Elements) by Zelda | Hebrew
Banuta Rubess read a poem by Vizma Belševica, Folk songs, and a poem by Imants Ziedonis | Latvian
Wena Basco read Kanlungan (Sanctuary) by Rom Dongeto, Noel Cabangon, Buklod | Tagalog
Jim Libiran & Eloisa Toledo Francia read Lilim (Shade) by Rio Alma, Virgilio S. Almario | Tagalog
Rawdna Carita Eira | Sámi
Karine Simionescu read Le cheval d'orgueil (The Pride House) by Pierre-Jakez Helias | French
Sammi Han read 恩泽之根 (Rooted in Grace) by Sammi Han | Mandarin
Readers and Readings
Aayaz Noor read Khwab (The Dual Nature of Dreams in Urdu) by Parveen Shakir, Ahmed Faraz & Salman Ahmed | Urdu
Joanne Yesol Choi read 버드나무 (The Willow Tree) | Korean
Mihaly Szabados read Égő vágyak (Burning Desires) | Hungarian
Adriana Rodriguez read Imaginario y ritualidad de la muerte y el sueño en las poblaciones nahuas (Imagery and rituality of death and sleep among the Nahua populations of Michoacan, Mexico) by David Figueroa Serrano | Spanish
Chika Maduakolam read Onye Lọlu Obele Nlọ (Little Dreamer) | Igbo
Ilara Riyad read This Place is a Dream by Rumi | Arabic
Nimanthie Ariyasinghe read සිහිනකයකි ඔබ by Nimanthie Ariyasinghe, සිහින ලොවක් (A World of Dreams) composition and lyrics by Clarence Wijewardena | Sinhala
Lianna Makuch read Nasha Emigratsia by Kateryna Hnat Makuch | Ukrainian
Ariana Chris read Ὀνείρου (Orphic Hymn No. 86 to the Oneiroi “Dreams” 86), Νανούρισμα (Nanourisma), by Manos Loizos, Lyrics by Lefteris Papadopolous, Odos Oneiron (The Street of Dreams, 1962), Music and Lyrics by Manos Hadjidakis | Greek
Moyo Arewa read Ikú Àwọn Ọmọdé by Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún | Yoruba
Rhiannon McCluskey read Aube (Dawn) by Arthur Rimbaud | French
Readers and Readings
Aayaz Noor read Khwab (The Dual Nature of Dreams in Urdu) by Parveen Shakir, Ahmed Faraz & Salman Ahmed | Urdu
Augusta Russo read 8 volte in cui ti ho visto (Eight times I saw you) by Augusta Russo | Italian
Ayaz Noor read Freedom: A Continuum (Azadi: Ek Silsila) by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Habib Jalib & Allama Iqbal | Urdu
Yizhou Zhang read 动物性自由(摘选)(Animalistic Freedom) by 徐坦Xu Tan | Mandarin
Yvette McKoy read Die Gedanken sind frei (Thoughts are free) by Konstantin Wecker | German
Amin Azimi read دو شعر در باب آزادی : "ترانهی بزرگترین آرزو" " در این بنبست"
(Two Poems of Freedom: The Song of the Greatest Wish & In This Dead-End) by Ahmad Shamlu | Farsi
Azba Shaikh read सपनों से स्वतंत्रता (Dreams to freedom) by Azba Shaikh, नहीं कोई नाम मेरा (I do not have a name) by Kausar Munir | Hindi
Krystyna Romaniuk Ross read Partisanka by Stefania Chemerynska Romaniuk | Ukrainian
llara Riyad read Mohal (impossible), Rihal (departure), Wisal (reunion) by Illara Riyad | Arabic
Sofía González read Verso XXIII (Verse XXIII) by José Martí | Spanish
Punreet Kaur read Recognize the Whole Human Race as One by Punreet Kaur (with opening verse from Guru Gobind Singh Ji) | Punjabi
Flint Tecumseh Eagle read Walks with me by Flint Tecumseh Eagle | Mohawk