The Drawer Boy, one of Canada's most popular and acclaimed theatrical creations, returns to Toronto for a third engagement, April 11-May 26, at the Winter Garden Theatre.

Ed and David Mirvish present the all new production, which features the original cast — Tom Barnett as Miles, David Fox as Angus and Jerry Franken as Morgan — and original director, Miles Potter. The physical production is new.

The "new Canadian classic" by Michael Healey premiered at Theatre Passe Muraille in 1999.

The Drawer Boy concerns a young Toronto actor named Miles, who lands on a farm run by two aging bachelors, Morgan and Angus. Miles finds that the farmers have the potential to be amusing and complex characters in a script, and discovers they are human beings with complicated, sad pasts. Morgan has a gift for farming and Angus has a talent for drawing. When Miles tries to incorporate their tragedy into a play he's working on, he sees the depth of their suffering.

The play won the 1999 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Play and the Governor-General's Literary Award for Drama. Concurrent with the new Canadian staging, Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago is presenting the American premiere, with John Mahoney and Frank Galati. The work was inspired by a theatre piece called The Farm Show, from the 1970s, in which actors visited and worked with rural folk and collectively wrote a script about those they encountered. The Farm Show toured throughout Canada to great acclaim. The Canadian staging has a new design by John Ferguson (set and costume), Kevin Fraser (lighting) and Marc Desormeaux (music and sound).

Tickets range $36-$60. The Winter Garden is at 189 Yonge Street, Toronto. For information, call (416) 872-1212 or (800) 461-3333 or visit www.mirvish.com.

— By Kenneth Jones