Tyson's Song

Best friends Bryan and Tyson are out for a night in Toronto before Bryan leaves for Vancouver in the morning. But when they miss the late-night bus with a six-pack in tow, everything the two men have bottled up about their friendship starts pouring out—like Bryan’s struggles as a husband and father or Tyson’s volatile outbursts since he got out of prison. As their moonlit vigil unfolds and an ominous police cruiser circles nearby, the ramifications of Bryan’s departure become heartbreakingly clear. Can they save their relationship—and maybe even their lives—before the next bus arrives?

Peter N. Bailey’s powerful debut illuminates the complex dynamics of Black masculinity and brotherhood in a world that too often denies Black men love, compassion, and care. A catalyst for vital conversations about men’s mental health, Tyson’s Song is a tender portrait of two souls in limbo and a rallying cry for a new kind of conversation—one born of trust and the courage to lay bare our humanity.

• An accomplished actor, Tyson’s Song is Peter N. Bailey’s playwriting debut.
• Commissioned and first produced by Pleiades Theatre at Factory Theatre, Toronto, from April 28 to May 15, 2024.