Projects & Research

Performance & Media
Research & Advocacy
Produced Work
You Should Have Stayed Home

You Should Have Stayed Home

Documentary Solo Performance · 2010–2023

A one-person show drawn from my arrest and detention in a makeshift cage during the 2010 G20 summit — the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. Adapted from an 11,000-word Facebook note that went viral across 21 countries. National tour (Whitehorse, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa) produced by Praxis Theatre with CCLA, Council of Canadians, and Amnesty International. Post-show panels in each city with legal and advocacy experts.

“The best political theatre rouses and entertains you while it makes you think. Tommy Taylor’s You Should Have Stayed Home does just that.” Rating: NNNN— Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine
“Taylor tells the story with humour, sensitivity, a keen eye for detail and a quiet manner. There is no ranting, raving or table banging…I found the piece very moving and it made me grit my teeth at the way things were handled. That’s what good theatre does.— The Slotkin Letter, Lynn Slotkin
“I left the theatre furious. That’s a good thing.”— Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight
“Taylor has an everyman quality and lack of pretense that makes his performance immensely relatable.”— Roberta McDonald, The Tyee
“A simple, essential piece of theatre, just as our freedoms are similarly simple and essential.”— Christine Quintana, Canadian Theatre Review
“Taylor is clearly skilled as a storyteller and public speaker… a deeply important show in this day and age.”— Arthur Bullock, Beyond James (Hamilton)
RBC Arts Professional Award SummerWorks 2011 National Tour Gemini-Nominated CBC Doc 7 Languages / 21 Countries
Produced Work
YSHSH VR

You Should Have Stayed Home — VR

Virtual Reality Theatre · 2021–2022

VR adaptation of Tommy’s stage play, You Should Have Stayed Home, directed by Michael Wheeler, dramaturg Laura Levin. Audiences join via VR headsets while the Tommy performs live. Presented at the 2022 Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA), the 2022 PXR Festival, CHI PLAY 22 and the 2023 XR Live! Festival. VR lighting design by Beth Kates, sound by David Mesiha, world design and dev by Seyed Tabatabaei. Supported by Ontario Arts Council and SSHRC. Subject of research through York’s Hemispheric Encounters project.

FOLDA 2022 PXR Festival Paris XR Live! CHI PLAY ’22 CHI ’24 SSHRC
In Development
YSHSH Too

You Should Have Stayed Home Too

Documentary Solo Performance

Documentary multi-arts solo performance examining Toronto’s shelter system during COVID-19, drawn from frontline overnight shifts. Weaves systemic failure and intimate encounter — including recordings of 60’s Yorkville folk catalyst, my Aunt Vikky Taylor (early Joni Mitchell collaborator and girlfriend of Neil Young) from CBC’s Touch the Earth. Dramaturgy by Karen Ancheta and Anand Rajaram. Workshop reading at Theatre Aquarius Brave New Works Festival 2024.

In Development OAC Multi-Arts Theatre Aquarius
In Development
SANDWICH VR

SANDWICH VR

360° VR Film · In Development

360° VR film: two performers in space suits on wire rigs shot against a dark void, entire world built in post-production VFX. Theatre Aquarius as in-kind partner. Team: Christine Buijs (DP/VR Camera), Alvin Campaña (VFX, Gemini Award winner), Christopher Lane (VR Consultant, UK Theatre Award), Beth Kates (VR Design).

360° VR VFX OAC Media Artists
Produced Work
Uncle Tommy

Uncle Tommy’s Campfire Ghost Stories

Solo Performance · 2015–2024

A playful solo romp that premiered at the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival and has resurfaced at Hamilton’s 2022 Supercrawl Festival and the 2024 Hamilton Fringe “Fringe in the Streets” experience.

“The most original beginning you’ll see at a Toronto Fringe show this season… Man, what a night.” — Mooney on Theatre
“Crass, laugh-filled and a lot of fun… Taylor never breaks character and reminds us that we’re all in this together.” — The Mind Reels
“Taylor’s delivery is gruff but authoritative, and he’s quick on his feet… a suitably creepy backdrop for tales that are rude, crude, and often draw on audience participation.” — NOW Magazine
Toronto Fringe 2015 Supercrawl 2022 Hamilton Fringe 2024
Produced Work
Kayak

Kayak

Director · SummerWorks 2010

North American premiere of Vancouver playwright Jordan Hall’s eco-cautionary tale, featuring Rosemary Dunsmore. CBC and NOW Critics Pick at the 2010 SummerWorks Festival. Produced by Original Norwegian.

“My highlight of this year’s SummerWorks… the joy of discovery, the sense of the unknown, and the sense of possibility.” — PLANK Magazine
“Critics Pick — NNNN” — Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine
“A thoughtful play… Rosemary Dunsmore as the mother gives a gripping, heartbreaking performance. Critics Pick.” — Lynn Slotkin, CBC
Critics Pick SummerWorks 2010
Produced Work
Forward Theatre

Forward Theatre

Managing Director & Director · 2001–2009

Nearly a decade directing Shakespeare at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre — Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet: The Horatio Tapes. Also developed original work through the Candy Factory Theatre. Winner, 2003 Mississauga Arts Award (Emerging Performance Group). Winner, 1995 Mississauga Arts Award (Emerging Literary) and Young Authors Award of Ontario.

Shakespeare Mississauga Arts Award
Produced Work

Selected Additional Credits

Theatre, Film & TV

Coroner (CBC, Season 4, Ep. 09 – Tommy plays himself after being written into the show following his rols as script consultant) · Hamlet (9M Theatre, Hamilton 2024) · Dear Everybody (Canadian Stage) · Sandwich (InspiraTO Playwriting Winner) · In Paris You Will Find… (InspiraTO Audience Choice) · The Belle of Winnipeg (Keystone Theatre, Dora Award) · MuchMusic/CTV · Young People’s Theatre

CBC Canadian Stage InspiraTO Winner
Produced Work

SafeTO — Community Safety & Well-Being Plan

Community Consultant & Research Lead · City of Toronto · 2020–2021

Led community consultations and FOCUS/SPIDER data analysis for Toronto’s CSWB Plan — radically changing how crisis intervention, violence, policing, and trauma are approached. 49-page research report submitted to City Council.

Policy Research FOCUS / SPIDER City of Toronto
Produced Work
SHJN March

Shelter & Housing Justice Network

Steering Committee · 2018–2022

Co-founded pandemic advocacy campaigns: COVID-19 Shelter Survey (22 sites), open letters from 300+ health providers, “Stop Encampment Evictions” (330 signatories), FactCheck Toronto (13,780+ people denied shelter in 5 months), Public Health Violation Notices to Mayor and City Manager. Coordinated survival supply drives and deputation support during 2021 encampment evictions.

Housing Justice Coalition Direct Action
Produced Work
Health Providers Against Poverty rally at Queen's Park

Health Providers Against Poverty

Steering Committee · 2020–2022

Bridged health services and shelter systems. Key campaigns: open letter from 300+ doctors demanding action for under-housed people (CBC, Star, Global coverage), City Hall demonstrations for human rights-based approach to encampments.

Health Equity Advocacy
Current
Food Banks Infographic

Food Banks Are the Paramedics, Not the Cure

Honours Research · Sheridan College · 2025

Mixed-methods REB-approved study on food insecurity in Hamilton. 27 respondents from 30+ food security organizations. 96% identified housing costs; 100% identified food prices. Triangulated with HungerCount 2025, PROOF, and City of Hamilton data. Currently extended into a social media campaign.

Academic Research Food Insecurity Hamilton
Produced Work
Global News Interview

COVID-19 Crisis Response

Multi-Agency · 2020–2023

Frontline shelter work, harm reduction, encampment outreach, and policy advocacy. Court affidavit documenting shelter conditions cited in the 2020 Ontario Superior Court case (Sanctuary Ministries, CCLA, et al. v. City of Toronto).

Global News: Vaccine Pilot Project Emergency Response Court Testimony Harm Reduction
Produced Work
G20 5th Anniversary

G20 5th Anniversary Seminar

Organizer · 2015

Critical policy review event connecting state security operations to social equity outcomes. Multi-sector panel of CCLA legal experts and civil liberties advocates with integrated lived-experience testimonies.

Policy Review Civil Liberties
Produced Work
Federal Election Debate

2015 Federal Election — Scarborough Southwest

Green Party Candidate · 2015

Ran as a federal election candidate in Scarborough Southwest, bringing frontline homelessness and community health experience to the electoral arena. Participated in televised debate on Rogers TV alongside incumbent Bill Blair. Covered by NOW Toronto.

Electoral PoliticsGreen PartyScarborough Southwest
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