We’re delighted to be giving away tickets to Haley McGee’s solo show Age is a Feeling — a gripping exploration of mortality and the joys and tragedies of getting older. 

After already wowing audiences in London and Edinburgh, the show will have its North American premiere this week, running from May 29-June 16 at Soulpepper Theatre, as part of Luminato Festival.

Following the huge success of McGee’s The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale, which was adapted into a book of the same name, the Dora-award-winning artist returns to Soulpepper with another standout solo show.

Inspired by hospices, mystics, and trips to the cemetery, Age is a Feeling grapples with mortality and the unknowability of human life. The story follows one person’s life from their 25th birthday until the end, their brushes with mortality, and all the chances they have to change course along the way.

The show was built from research and real-life conversations with people in McGee’s life—a former teacher who now works in hospice care, a soldier who served in Afghanistan. McGee aimed to reflect a range of perspectives on mortality and how it can dramatically impact the way we live. 

Photo by Erin Hopkins

Each performance of Age is a Feeling is a unique experience shaped by the audience. At each show, the audience chooses 6 of 12 possible stories that can unfold onstage—meaning there are 180 different potential versions of the show. 

“I love in my shows having some way of nodding to the fact that the audience’s presence is totally essential to shaping what happens before them,” says McGee. “I did it in The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale in a totally different way. But I’ve done it in all my shows. I think it’s just the theatre nerd in me.”

For McGee, the ever-changing, unpredictable nature of the story also mirrors the chaos of life itself.

“This theme around the unknowability of a human life started to emerge…maybe there’s a way that in the structure of the show, we can reflect this idea,” she says. 

Photo by Erin Hopkins

Age is a Feeling has received rave reviews from its premiere at Edinburgh Fringe and two sold-out runs at Soho Theatre in London. Even after performing the show more than 70 times, taking in the audience’s reaction is still exciting for McGee.

“In Age is a Feeling people do laugh, but I also was so shocked when I first started performing it because I was hearing people cry,” says McGee. “I’m very excited for those who it does resonate with to have a cathartic experience.”

You may be moved to tears, but McGee assures us the show is an overall uplifting experience. 

“It’s a show about death, but it is absolutely not a dire, depressing show…it became a show about the preciousness and the ecstasy of being alive.”

Don’t miss your chance to win a pair of tickets to a performance of Age is a Feeling! Here’s how you can enter to win:

1️. Head over to our post on Instagram and give it a LIKE

2. Follow @SoulpepperTheatre & @SheDoesTheCity

3️. Tag two theatre lovin’ friends 

Best of luck! For more information about Age is a Feeling and to purchase tickets, visit Soulpepper’s website.