King Gilgamesh

An epic, music-charged bromance.

Two years after making its Canadian Premiere at Soulpepper, King Gilgamesh return to the stage. This Dora-winning hybrid theatre-music production set between present-day Toronto and ancient Iraq, created and performed by Ahmed Moneka and Jesse LaVercombe (alongside Ahmed's Juno-nominated Arabic jazz band), has sold out runs in Minneapolis, Halifax, Chicago and New York City.

This present-day story of friendship interweaves with the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, and along the way traces Ahmed’s real-life journey from exiled Iraqi actor to acclaimed musician in Canada. Featuring themes of art, ambition, sex, and mortality, this two-man epic spans centuries, cultures, and continents in a moving, funny, tragic, and ultimately celebratory performance.

Photo of Jesse LaVercombe & Ahmed Moneka. Photo by Dahlia Katz

✭✭✭✭✭...a raucous, glorious celebration of what it means to be alive
- Glenn Sumi

...it blazes like a campfire piercing a sea of darkness
- NEXT Magazine

3.5/4
- Toronto Star

...one of Soulpepper’s best pieces of programming of the past year... You’ll be grooving in your seats the whole time
- Intermission Magazine

Moneka and LaVercombe are flat-out superb
- Talkin' Broadway

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