Guardians of the Gods

Sometimes adults seem like gods—powerful, protective, and kind. But they can also be unpredictable and dangerous.

What adults often overlook is children’s unique power: their ability to see right through them. Guardians of the Gods is a play about what unites children across the globe: living in a world ruled by adults. Written by Erik Uddenberg and directed by Gustav Deinoff, the play has been developed based on interviews with children and adults from 11 different countries across five continents.

Over the next year, the play will be performed in all 11 countries in their respective languages. The play is part of The Childhood Project – a major international collaboration between all participating theatres, from Bangladesh to Finland. The project aims to enhance culture for children and young people all over the world.

Theatre Direct has received numerous Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations and awards, 10 Chalmers Canadian Play Awards as well as the Canada Council Theatre for Young Audiences Prize.

October 3, 2026 at 12:00 PM
October 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM

Saturday, October 3rd @ 12pm- ENGLISH performance
Sunday, October 4th @ 12pm- ENGLISH performance

About the artist

The Team

Deanna Jones

Deanna Jones is an award-winning Niagara-born artist, writer, actor, director, and producer with a love for honest, comedic storytelling. She’s co-founder and Artistic Director of Suitcase in Point, has created and toured handfuls of shows around Canada (and the world) including her Dora-nominated Keith Richards One Woman Show and biting comedy, A Brief History of Smoking Cigarettes. Born in Welland, Deanna draws humour and heart from the mundanity and wonder of working-class life. She’s gratefully received multiple awards for her work as an artist and producer, including the City of St. Catharines 2024 Making a Difference Award. Deanna thrives on collaboration, curiosity, and bringing creative sparks to life in unexpected places. She is honoured to be a part of the ensemble of the profound play Guardians of the Gods and thrilled to perform in it for Aluna’s RUTAS International Festival of Performance.

Lisa Marie DiLiberto

Lisa Marie is the Artistic Director at Theatre Direct – one of the country’s leading companies for young audiences; the Founder of Balancing Act – a national initiative supporting parents and caregivers in the performing arts; and in 2022 she was co-curator of JUNIOR at Harbourfront Centre – Canada’s largest international children’s Festival. Lisa Marie’s most ambitious artistic adventure to date is The Tale of a Town – Canada, an oral history, media and theatre project which toured to every province and territory collecting more than 3,000 stories transformed into a suite of site-specific performances. The Tale of a Town was developed in collaboration with the National Arts Centre and produced by FIXT POINT, where Lisa Marie is the founding Artistic Director. The Tale of a Town was awarded Touring Artist of the Year by the Canadian Association for the Performing Arts (CAPACOA) and has since been adapted into an animated series for TVO called Main Street Ontario. Other artistic endeavors include Wishes in the Wind – a Theatre Direct production commissioned by the National Arts Centre for Grand Acts of Great Hope, the development of a binaural audio piece for World Stage at Harbourfront Centre and the site-specific production of The Four Corners as playwright in residence at Theatre Passe Muraille. Lisa Marie is a graduate of George Brown Theatre School and Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, France and currently a PhD candidate at York University pursuing research in site-specific performance ethnography with children. When she’s not working, Lisa Marie can be found coaching little league and Momaging her kids’ rock band LEGO MONEY.