“The Papa Penguin Play” shines a spotlight on the joy of queer families

by Emma Shular on May 6th, 2024 at 2:21 AM

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The Papa Penguin Play marks the first time that Carousel Theatre for Young People and the Vancouver International Children’s Festival have worked in collaboration on a theatre show.

The play, about a same-sex couple of penguins who raise a chick, premieres on May 15 at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.

Award-winning playwright Dave Deveau says one of his primary influences for creating the show was the story of Roy and Silo: two male penguins that became a mated pair in New York City’s Central Park Zoo. Roy and Silo were given an egg from another penguin pair that had laid two, and successfully hatched baby Tango. This became the inspiration for And Tango Makes Three: a children’s book written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.

Still, The Papa Penguin Play is decidedly more personal, taking cues from Deveau’s experiences with surrogacy and same-sex parenting.

“Do I want to write about Silo and Roy’s story? Not specifically; there are lots of same-sex penguin couples in captivity raising young nowadays,” he reflects. “What I’m more interested in is telling the story of my family.”

A lot of the show was inspired by his family’s dynamic during the pandemic.

“Our son was two when lockdown happened, so it was a huge shift for him and his little world,” says Deveau, who has two kids via surrogacy. “We would just sort of entertain one another, putting on shows every day in our living room just to find the joy and the light.”

Deveau says that he hopes the message of unconditional love comes across to audiences who see the show.

“I think what families, young people, and educators will see on stage is a young person with two parents who see them for who they are, meet them where they are, and love them unconditionally,” he says, “which I think is a beautiful thing for any parent to witness.”

Representation is something he hopes The Papa Penguin Play helps make more common in the theatre industry.

“I’ve worked in theatre for young audiences for 25 years, almost, and I have never seen plays that represent families that look like mine,” he says. “I really wanted to play a small part in changing that, so that families like mine can see themselves reflected on stage—but also so that families that look nothing like mine can relate to how similar our family is: the undercurrent of love that we all share.”