Ryan G. Hinds is a Toronto theatre icon — and now he's taking on Shakespeare for the first time

Queeries is a column by CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt that queries LGBTQ art, culture and/or identity through a personal lens. 

Ryan G. Hinds has an extraordinarily impressive resumé as a theatre artist. A queer icon of the Toronto scene, he's been Buddies in Bad Times' Artist-In-Residence, was the first Black actor to play Hedwig in a production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (he was also in the 2001 movie as a "hed-head"), and has starred in countless other shows, from the cabaret #Kanderandebb to the dance-theatre hybrid MSM: Men Seeking Men. He's even performed with the likes of Liza Minnelli, Todrick Hall, Debbie Reynolds, Billy Stritch and Lady Bunny.

But there's one collaborator Hinds has somehow resisted until now: William Shakespeare.

"It's my very first time," Hinds says. "A lot of my career has been musical theatre, cabaret and contemporary work, so I'm jumping in with both feet to Bard's world."

Specifically, Hinds is jumping into the joint roles of Peter Quince and Oberon's Fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is being staged this summer as part of Canadian Stage's Dream in High Park, the outdoor theatre series that celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The show is being directed by Jamie Robinson — someone Hinds actually first met at Dream In High Park, though under very different circumstances. 

"Over 20 years ago, I ran the concessions booth at Dream in High Park," Hinds says. "And when I did, Jamie was one of the actors in the show. And so I knew him from that — just seeing him around the park and watching him be such a great artist. So when I saw he was directing this, I thought, 'This is somebody that I would feel safe jumping into Shakespeare with. This is somebody that I know will be supportive and I know would have interesting things to say with this production.'"

Robinson isn't just the director of the production — he also adapted Shakespeare's text, editing the original three-hour play down to 90 minutes.

"What he has to say with it is really, really beautiful," Hinds says. "I mean, the world is on fire. But that doesn't mean we have to stop falling in love and making art."

"Now, all of that is in the original text that Shakespeare's words. We see the damage that humans have inflicted on nature, but we also hear a joyful call to heal it. And Jamie, pulling that out, I knew I was going to be in good hands. I knew I was going to be part of a relevant production that was fun and had something to say."

The production is also relevant simply for marking the ruby anniversary of a beloved tradition.

"I mean, it's the 40th anniversary of the most magical summer night that Toronto has to offer," Hinds says. "So within the cast, we feel that pressure for sure. But from the first preview — from the very first moment that we walk on stage and made eye contact with the audience — we could see how much they loved the story and love these characters."

"Midsummer is such a beloved piece. Everybody's seen it a lot, but people still love it. People are still into it. And so the love for the piece and the love for the tradition of going to High Park and watching Shakespeare under the stars really, really makes it a wonderful model for us."

Hinds says that he feels like he's in the midst of a new era as a theatre artist. 

"For me, during the pandemic, I never disconnected from it," he says of his work. "I did all the Zoom shows that I could. I did all the online workshops that I could. I read theatre history books and I read theatre biographies. And so coming back into it, it really feels like a new chapter in my life."

"Since lockdown ended, I've had a show at Stratford with #Kanderandebb. I was at the Shaw Festival all of last year as the interim director, and now with this, I'm working at Canadian Stage. So I'm able to to be onstage or sit in the house and watch how much people need theatre."

Hinds says we don't have to look much further than the "Barbenheimer" explosion to see what he means. 

"I think Barbenheimer is just another example of how wonderful things can be when we come together in person and we're all doing the same thing at the same time," he says. "And with theatre, it's the added bonus, the added treat of being in the room with the artists who you're watching. So if they screw up a line, if they break character and start laughing — or if a bat flies across the stage and a moth lands on your face, like happened to me at the first preview — we all have to find ways to deal with that. And it's the dealing with it and the idea of the-show-must-go-on that makes theatre such an addictive thing for audiences."

Hinds says this is particularly true if you're a fan of Shakespeare. 

"Shakespeare is at its most alive when you're sitting in a theatre with other people," Hinds says. "In this case, it's at its most alive when you're sitting under the stars with people and everybody has a snack and everybody's enjoying a beverage and everybody's laughing at the same joke. It's about communities coming together; It's about creating communal magic."

"That, for me, has always been the primary draw of theatre. That's what pulled me in and that's what keeps me there. And that's what is going to keep me engaged for the rest of my life: the opportunity to create magic together." 

A Midsummer Night's Dream is running at Canadian Stage's Dream in High Park through September 3rd. More information and tickets are available here.