Fourth-year Brock University Dramatic Arts student Nav Brar (left), the puppeteer for Melifollee, and third-year student Landon Drexler, the puppeteer for Pendamire Dragonius, enter into a scene in Escape to ILKANOR: A Fantasy Play in Nine Chapters.
published Monday, March 02, 2026 | Brock News | by Gillian Minaker
Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) is set to whisk audiences away to a magical land of powerful beings and fantastical creatures.
Cast members Sandra Nampiima and Daisy Ford with puppets during a technical rehearsal.
From dragons and elves to wizards and sorceresses, Escape to ILKANOR: A Fantasy Play in Nine Chapters invites viewers to leave the real world behind and embark on a journey of the imagination. The mainstage production opens Friday, March 6 at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in downtown St. Catharines.
Written and directed by DART Assistant Professor and playwright Mike Griffin, the play explores escapism and fantasy genre tropes through diverse characters and extraordinary creatures.
“Our creative exploration of escapism began by asking why people want to escape through stories and where they want to escape to,” he says.
Featuring bold theatrical components that incorporate puppets, masks and physical theatre, the fantasy unfolds in nine chapters, each featuring a host of characters who travel to different areas in the magical land of Ilkanor.
Many of the characters reflect marginalized perspectives that are not often represented in leading roles, Griffin says. Through their magical transportation to Ilkanor, these characters are able to explore different parts of their identity.
Cast members Curtis Honsberger, Sandra Nampiima and Ryleigh OBrien rehearsing with th puppets Trink and Somp.
Among the play’s chapters, for instance, are tales of a neurodivergent individual who becomes a wizard in Ilkanor and a non-binary drag artist who becomes the leader of a kingdom.
Griffin says the play is not a typical hero’s journey.
“Instead, we are exploring representation in fantasy, touching on neurodiversity and disability, and wrestling with identity and self-care,” he says.
More than 40 DART students in all years of the program will bring Ilkanor to life, advancing their learning by collaborating with both emerging and established theatre makers.
“The show is truly magical, not only in the fantasy elements, but also in the collaborative work and care to build the world of Ilkanor,” fourth-year DART student and mainstage performer Nav Brar says. “I personally don’t know another show that has highlighted so many different people that don’t always get their time, in one production.”
DART student Julia Foley, assistant designer for the play presents her mask and costume designs to the first year students in Scenography and Stagecraft.
Third-year DART student Julia Foley, an assistant designer for the play, says the crew embraced a sustainability mindset while creating the fictional world, with the production incorporating recycled materials in the set, costume and puppet designs.
Working with limited or thrifted materials meant having to explore and be open to new possibilities based on what is available, she says.
Brock University’s Dramatic Arts mainstage performance of Escape to ILKANOR: A Fantasy Play in Nine Chapters opens Friday, March 6 at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre.
“The elements of transformation and rebirth are at the core of the show’s landscape, communicated not just through the set and costumes, but through the stories told by each character as they journey from the real world to Ilkanor, where they unlock their full potential,” Foley says. “We similarly saw the potential in our thrifted fabrics, books and garbage materials and transformed them into something beautiful and new.”
Escape to Ilkanor: A Fantasy Play in Nine Chapters opens Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines. Performances will also take place Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 8 at 2 p.m., Thursday March 12 at 11 a.m., Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m.
General admission tickets are $25 and tickets for students and seniors are $20. Visit Brock University Tickets to reserve seats.
