We create the future of the past.
MEMORY BOX THEATRE is an indie arts company based in Edmonton, Alberta on Treaty 6 Territory. We recover forgotten, repressed, and undocumented stories from Canadian history, sharing them with the public through live performance art.
The practice of making memory boxes—vessels for preserving keepsakes and mementoes—dates to the Victorian period. Like a society's archives, an individual’s memory box reveals what they value, because it reveals what they believe should be remembered.
At MBT, we value reparative and counter-histories, the neglected stories hidden behind or adjacent to mainstream and official accounts. Live theatre, as an ephemeral, communal experience, provides an ideal laboratory in which to rediscover these stories. By reconnecting communities with the social, political, and aesthetic patterns of their past, we are better able to imagine possible futures. Our memories are also our reminders.
Our debut project, The Light of Other Skies, illuminates the love story of architect Arthur Erickson and interior designer Francisco Kripacz. The play will be workshopped in 2026 at RISER Festival (Edmonton, Alberta) and will premiere in 2027.
(Picture of Erickson, photographed by Liam Monaghan in the Canadian Centre for Architecture Archives.)
Artistic director and company producer.
Memory Box Theatre is led by LIAM MONAGHAN, a theatre artist, indie producer, researcher, and educator.
Liam’s past plays include the independently produced Strange/Familiar , an autofictional exploration of adoption, family, and queer belonging, which won the Sharon Pollock Playwriting Prize. His plays have appeared on stages in Victoria, Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Halifax and his personal essays, literary criticism, and articles on artistic methodologies can be found in publications including Alberta Views Magazine, HowlRound Theatre Commons, and Canadian Theatre Review (forthcoming).
Liam’s work has been funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Edmonton Arts Council, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He holds an M.A. in English and an M.F.A. in Theatre Practice and has taught extensively as a writing centre specialist, sessional instructor, and instructional designer.
(Photographed in Cape Breton.)