New play debuts about Toronto’s competitive real estate market
Toronto’s competitive and often unforgiving real estate market takes centre stage in a new comedy, The Bidding War, premiering at Crow’s Theatre.
Canadian playwright Michael Ross Albert used humour to explore the city’s relentless real estate tensions as average home prices continue to climb, hitting an expected $1.19 million in the Greater Toronto Area by year-end, according to a Royal LePage report.
The play, directed by Paolo Santalucia, unfolded over a single frenzied day as buyers scramble for the city’s last affordable home. With a cast that includes Baroness Von Sketch Show’s Aurora Browne and Letterkenny’s Gregory Walters, The Bidding War critiqued Toronto’s overheated market through comedic chaos and exaggerated competition.
Albert, who experienced his own intense real estate journey during the pandemic, drew inspiration from the pressures of buying his first condo.
“I remember walking out of the bank with the money order and thinking that I was holding in my hands probably more money than I might make in my lifetime," he said, reflecting on that stressful time. "I was playing it cool and just pretending like this was totally a normal transaction. I got about four steps before I just puked all over Bay Street.”
That sense of financial strain, Albert said, is familiar to many Torontonians who find homeownership slipping further out of reach.
The play’s cast and crew share their own experiences with Toronto’s real estate climate, noting how the scarcity of affordable housing shapes not only market practices but also personal mindsets.
“It's getting exponentially harder to live in the city and to make a life in it. If it keeps going in that direction, it's just going to bring out some of the worst in people, and that could lead to more exploitation,” Peter Fernandes, who plays the home’s listing agent, told The Canadian Press.
Fernandes added that The Bidding War exposes the market’s harsh realities, pushing audiences to consider alternative ways for the city to grow sustainably.
Director Santalucia, who bought a house during the pandemic, recalled the urgency of the process, saying he felt “manic” as he rushed to secure a home while prices were temporarily down. This frenzied energy translates into the play’s direction, with moments of slapstick humour and even “bloody” physical comedy, highlighting the desperation and competition embedded in Toronto’s housing market.
Read more: Toronto home sales heat up as rate cuts attract buyers
Albert hopes that the laughter The Bidding War elicits will prompt audiences to reflect on the housing crisis and spark discussions about change.
“Our inherent desire to conquer, our inherent desire to put a flag somewhere in the ground and call something ours — that's the crisis. This play does a really amazing job at drawing attention to that fundamental aspect of our humanity,” he said. “We hope that laughing at it might allow us to recognize it. And that's going to be a little piece of the puzzle in how we fix it."
Make sure to get all the latest news to your inbox on Canada’s mortgage and housing markets by signing up for our free daily newsletter here.
