Last week the Anansi team went to see Ins Choi’s one-man, spoken-word performance Subway Stations of the Cross in Toronto’s Soulpepper theatre. In Subway Stations, Ins plays a homeless man speaking (and singing) a message from the divine.

The performance is based on Ins’ real-life encounter with a homeless man. Using only a single light, small guitar, loaf of bread, and bottle of wine as props to help him convey the homeless man’s message, Ins’ invites his audience to slow down and pay more attention to the world around them in his captivating one-man show.

Ins’ solo show spawned a book of the same name — a perfect and quick read for National Poetry Month. In the book, internationally renowned artist Guno Park captures Ins’ performance with his subway station illustrations, which accompany the fourteen spoken-word poems and songs.

Check out some pictures of the show below, all taken by Nathan Kelly, as well as a selection of Guno Park’s incredible illustrations:

Based on the solo show by critically acclaimed playwright and actor Ins Choi, Subway Stations of the Cross is a journey of an ancient faith in today’s restless world.

Inspired by a real-life encounter with a homeless man, award-winning playwright Ins Choi (Kim’s Convenience) has originated an astounding work of artistry and imagination in these fourteen spoken-word poems and songs that make up Subway Stations of the Cross. Part public disturbance, part performance artist, and part modern-day prophet, Ins Choi embodies the form of a nameless vagabond who is both beggar and seer. He creates a rich tapestry of the profane and the sacred, the humorous and the banal, the contemptuous and the poignant in both poetry and lyric. It is a holy communion for the urban soul. This relevant and challenging show is captured here in book form with illustrations of subway drawings by Guno Park, whose work has been featured internationally.