I'm Doing This for You
select press & awards
★★★★ "McGee delivers a spellbinding performance” - Broadway Baby
★★★★ “funny, quirky and ultimately heartbreaking” - Edinburgh Spotlight
★★★★ “A sad and funny delight… This show isn't just good, it's great!" - NOW Magazine
★★★★ "this brilliant piece of tragicomedy will make you feel everything" - Voice Magazine
"invigorating... sharp beyond belief... a hilarious, haunting show"
- Top 10 plays of 2015, The Coast
“Behind the pandemonium is a tragicomedy narrative of unrequited love that uses colloquial language and simple storytelling, all easily recognisable to an international audience. … Her comic timing, her interaction with the audience and space, and the way she creates tension are all equally impressive.” - Simon Joseph, Mindshakes
Summerhall Lustrum Award for Artistic Excellence, Edinburgh, Scotland
Drayton Arms' Brompton Prize for Best International Show, Edinburgh, Scotland
Shortlist Brighton Fringe Comedy Award, Edinburgh, Scotland
show description
“You get comedy and cake. I get to correct a mistake.”
A woman travels halfway around the world to give the man she loves the thing (she thinks) he wants most. He's an aspiring stand-up comedian. Today is his birthday. The audience is her gift to him. And it's a surprise!
Blending storytelling, live-art and improvisation, Haley McGee delivers a spellbinding performance in I'm Doing This for You. Filled with startling turns from the hilarious to the humiliating, this award-winning show delves deep into just how far a person will go to not be alone.
Funny, uncomfortable and a little bit sad, I'm Doing This for You takes on the double standards women face in romance and comedy. It's a show for anyone whose tried to win back an ex in all the wrong ways.
★★★★ “layered, intelligent & unique ... challenges and excites in equal measure” - Three Weeks
performance history
DaPoPo Theatre/Live-In Festival, Halifax, Canada, 2015
Theaterdiscounter, Berlin, Germany, 2015
The Basement, Brighton, England, 2015
Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, Canada, 2015
Storefront Theatre, Toronto, Canada, 2016
Videofag, Toronto, Canada, 2016
The Palace Festival, Piotrowicz Nieske, Poland, 2016
Battersea Arts Centre, London, England, 2016
The Bike Shed, Exeter, England, 2016
Tampere International Theatre Festival, Finland, 2016
Summerhall/Edinburgh Fringe, Scotland, 2016
Comedy Cafe/Amsterdam Fringe, The Netherlands, 2016
Drayton Arms, London, England, 2016
World Peace Theatre/TPAM, Kawasaki, Japan, 2017
The Albany, London, England, 2017
Soulpepper Theatre, Toronto, 2017
Intrepid Theatre/UNO Festival, Victoria, Canada, 2017
The Cultch/rEvolver Festival, Vancouver, Canada, 2017
development history
I'm Doing This for You was developed in residence at the Battersea Arts Centre (London, UK) and the National Theatre School of Canada (Montreal, Canada), workshopped at Theatre Passe Muraille's BUZZ Festival and a creation grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Tours were supported in part by the Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council.
creative team
Haley McGee - writer & performer
Mitchell Cushman - director
Deborah Pearson - dramaturg
Shannon Lea Doyle - lighting, set & props design
Derrick Chua - co-producer for international tours
Never Mind the Noise - co-producer for international tours
