The Frontliners – Vancouver Fringe Festival Presents

Late January 2016, Canada is in the throes of resettling the first wave of 25,000 Syrian refugees. As three frontline workers battle Vancouver’s housing crisis to move families out of an East Van hotel, their lives are brought together in ways that irreversibly shape them.

As the workers pull overtime hours to settle families against an impossible rental market, they must also navigate a frenzy of journalists, overly-keen do-gooder groups, bureaucracy, an impossible amount of donations, angry landlords, internet trolls, and the hopes and wishes of families themselves, all of which chaotically, tragically, and comedically intersect with the frontlines.

The Frontliners is the winner of Playwrights Theatre Centre’s New Play in Development Prize 2022. Also, The Frontliners was the recipient of the national 2021 Playwrights Guild of Canada RBC Emerging Playwright Award, Theatre BC’s 2020 Play of Special Merit Award, and was the runner-up for the prestigious 2021 National Voaden Prize in Playwriting.

“Captures, with economy, humour, and heart, the intense rollercoaster ride of working in a refugee placement agency during a housing crisis.” — Voaden Prize in Playwriting

Written by: Zahida Rahemtulla
Directed by: Tanya Mathivanan