A Canadian classic and the first presented of what has come to be known as the Mercer Plays
By David French
French's first play about the Mercers, a Newfoundland family living in Toronto. Jacob and Mary Mercer try to hold the family together as sons Billy and Ben struggle for independence in this realistic drama of the late 1950s.
TESTIMONIALS
David French’s Leaving Home is a Canadian classic. The play has been produced across the country and internationally (including an Off-Broadway run), studied in universities and high schools, and named by the Oxford Dictionary of Theatre as one of the “1,000 Essential Plays in the English Language.” In 1972, when Leaving Home burst onto the scene, it transformed Canadian theatre — and it has lost none of its emotional power in the intervening years.
It was first produced in 1972 by Tarragon Theatre, (Toronto, ON) and was one of the first Canadian plays to be performed at regional theatres coast to coast. It had a notable revival at Soulpepper Theatre Company in 2007 and was recently produced by Matchstick Theatre in 2024 with the same production presented at The Coal Mine Theatre in Toronto in June 2025.
Runner-up, 1972 Chalmers Canadian Play Award. Leaving Home is published by House of Anansi Press.
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