Michael Kras

Five young professionals spend most of their waking hours in the office at Blast-Off: a boutique start-up advertising firm in Hamilton, Ontario run by an enigmatic wunderkind CEO who’s never really around. As the lines between work and life blur, can these ambitious ‘rise-and-grinders’ get ahead in a capitalist hellscape on a dying planet without losing grip on themselves? Oh, and why does the office keep quaking like it’s going to explode?

The Start-Up is a frenetic, funny new play for a new generation of audiences tackling toxic hustle culture, internalized capitalism, and millennial/Gen-Z loneliness at world’s end.

Drew has stopped speaking to Quinn at school. When Quinn finally corners him to ask what’s up, Drew says he discovered Quinn’s finsta: a second, private Instagram account where they share more personal content with a small, curated group of trusted followers. When Drew sent a follow request, it was denied; even though they’ve been close friends since childhood. Hurt and confused, Drew confronts Quinn about the finsta, prompting a complicated discussion on consent, privacy, boundaries, and what a ‘safe space’ looks like in the social media era.

Book and Lyrics by Michael Kras
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Ingram

High school senior Hannah is desperate to go viral on the most popular social media app in human history. Enlisting the help of her filmmaker friend Margot, she uploads video after video hoping one of them will eventually catch fire. When a video finally does pop off - while featuring a friend who didn't consent to the video being posted - Hannah is forced to reckon with the complicated realities of sudden internet fame while her life begins spiralling rapidly out of control.

An original electro-pop chamber musical written with composer Stephen Ingram, 'a how-to guide for the not-yet-viral' is a potent and timely look at addiction, consent, the fear of being forgotten, and what it means to come of age in one of the most troublingly public times in human history.

Mona, Bradley, Hunter, and Peyton - the four misfit members of White Oak Secondary's competitive vocal quartet - are gearing up for the most important provincial competition of their young lives. With arts budget cuts looming at their school, this may be the quartet's final year if they can't prove their worth and preserve the choir for future generations by taking home the big trophy. Through it all, the quartet comes face-to-face with climate anxiety, impossible ambitions, loneliness, untimely vocal injuries, viral videos of botched national anthems, Juilliard auditions, and the sudden death of their choir director.

'rip it out of my THROAT' is an anxious, lyrical howl about the value of art in crisis, and what it means to be young and have hope for a future that may never be.

Longtime friends Ariel and Grayson are working at a horrible theme park for the summer to save up for college following their high school graduation. Their plan is to be roommates and take their first steps into adulthood together. But tensions created by their increasingly different ideas of growing into manhood - and a complicated incident involving fellow employee Lucy - might be enough to threaten the stability of their friendship. Tackling timely themes of contemporary masculinity, bro culture, mental health, and consent, No Big Deal is a complex, funny, and humane new play for high school audiences that's sure to provoke urgent discussion.

No Big Deal was written in residence at Roseneath Theatre under the dramaturgy of Andrew Lamb for the 2019/20 season, funded by the Ontario Arts Council. The play saw its world premiere with Roseneath in the 2022/23 season, directed by athena kaitlin trinh with set & costume design by Jackie Chau, sound design by Verne Good, production management by Cassidy Sadler, and stage management by Joanna Rumstein-Ellis.

Zoe and Nora were in a really good place.
Then the entire world shut down.
Now, out of school, away from each other, and stuck at home adjusting to their current realities, Zoe and Nora are trying to hold on to what they have while the world around them tries to hold on to itself.

James and Dillon, two high school students, are in their school’s choir room at lunch hour. Dillon is helping to write a song James plans to sing in front of the entire school to profess his love for his girlfriend, Lydia. But things don’t add up; Dillon has never heard of a Lydia, and James has never been seen with a girlfriend before. Who is Lydia? And why is James afraid to talk about her? A short play about desperation, youth, loneliness, consent, and crossing the line.

"It has a fragile soul and a fierce edge." - Amanda Cosby Nesbitt, Steel City Girl Reviews

Rain and Isaac work at a terrible hat store in downtown Hamilton that no one ever comes in. Both at their own desperate yearning standstills, they struggle to overcome themselves and find connection while struggling to sell overpriced headwear. A love letter to loneliness, longing, and losing.

Winner - Herman Voaden National Playwriting Prize
Nominee - Tom Hendry TYA Award
Finalist - Safe Words New Canadian Play Award
Semi-Finalist - Sanguine Theatre’s Project Playwright

Bobbie Brantwood has just returned to school following the suicide of her brother Ben, a former high school basketball superstar. To process her grief, she’s joining the White Oak senior girls’ basketball team as they prepare for a live-or-die battle to championships. The crushing weights of expectation, grief, and identity loom as each member of the team reaches the end of high school and stands on the precipice of their uncertain futures.

“As relevant and human as it is entertaining, The Team is a significant addition to the Canadian theatre ecosystem.” - Colin B. Anthes (Artistic Director, Essential Collective Theatre)

“Playwright Michael Kras has created a phenomenal piece that has audiences whispering in shock, stifling laughter, and crying in silence.” - DARTcritics

During her best friend Bridget’s birthday party, Kiera discovers a photo she sent to her boyfriend James has ended up on Twitter with a scandalous claim that she’s sleeping with a teacher in her school. The night turns into a fight against the world, each other, and themselves. Did James post the photo? Or is something far more sinister going on? #dirtygirl is a techno-horror story about the monsters that lurk behind our screens.