In October 2013, Scott Jones was leaving a bar in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, when he was attacked, stabbed in the back, and left paralyzed from the waist down. In the months following his attack, Scott Jones’s story garnered international attention, not only for its brutality, but also for his uncommonly early decision to forgive his attacker. Furiously researching restorative justice practices and success stories, Jones sits down to ask himself the hardest question he’s ever had to answer: Does he have it in him to not just forgive his attacker, but to accept his new life as a disabled man?

Based on the incredible true story, I Forgive You explores the complexities of forgiveness, privilege, recovery, and self-love in Scott’s own words backed by a live children’s choir performing the music of legendary Icelandic band Sigur Rós.

Scott Jones (he/him) is a musician, filmmaker, writer, and activist who is passionate about using creative expression as a way to build bridges with people and communities. After surviving a homophobic attack in 2013, Scott was compelled to use music and artistic expression as a vehicle for positive change. With the help of his loved ones, Scott founded the Don’t BE Afraid campaign and facilitated VOX: A Choir for Social Change, advocating for the rights of queer people and raising awareness about the very real and dangerous repercussions of queerphobia. For four years after the attack, Scott worked with the NFB and filmmaker Laura Marie Wayne to create the award-winning documentary Love, Scott (HotDocs, 2018) about his experiences with small-town homophobia and violence. Since that time, Scott has written and directed live action, music, and animated short films that centre queer and disabled perspectives, including Coin Slot (Best Atlantic Short Film, AIFF, 2022), Freedom, and Good Samaritan. Scott has also trained and worked extensively as a music facilitator and choir director, having conducted the Nova Scotia Youth Choir (resident conductor), the Pictou District Honour Choir, and Vox Populi. He has guest conducted the Amadeus Choir, Shallaway Youth Choir, Lady Cove Women’s Choir, Mount Allison Choral Society, and Singing Out LGBTQ Choir. For his artistic and advocacy work and for his community engagement, Scott received a YMCA Peace Medal, a Nova Scotia Human Rights Award, and a Mount Allison Alumni Award (Contemporary Achievement). Scott has a Masters of Arts from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Music (Piano Performance and Choral Conducting) from Mount Allison University.

Scott Jones' profile page

Robert Chafe has worked in theatre, dance, opera, radio, fiction, and film. His stage plays have been seen in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and in the United States, and include Oil and Water, Tempting Providence, Afterimage, Under Wraps, Between Breaths, and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (adapted from the novel by Wayne Johnston). He has been shortlisted twice for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and he won the award for Afterimage in 2010. He has been guest instructor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and the National Theatre School of Canada. He is the playwright and Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland.

Robert Chafe's profile page

Director, dramaturg, and creator Sarah Garton Stanley (SGS) is Vice President of Programming at Arts Commons in Calgary. She is originally from Montreal, and was previously Artistic Producer of the National Creation Fund at Canada’s National Arts Centre, founding Artistic Director of SpiderWebShow, co-founder of FOLDA, Associate Artistic Director for English Theatre (NAC), and Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. She has been the recipient of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas’s Elliott Hayes Award, a Manitoba Theatre Award for best direction, and an Honorary Member Award from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research. SGS holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University and in 2020 she and her partner became co-stewards of the legendary Birchdale in Nova Scotia. SGS is co-author of Manifesto for Now with Owais Lightwalla.

Sarah Garton Stanley's profile page

• Short-listed, Governor General's Literary Awards

“I Forgive You covers the extensive physical and emotional struggle faced by survivors of assault, and young queer folks especially, who must grow into who they are under the threat of possible harm. The play also shows how the healing process from any trauma is not, and will never be, linear . . . The writing of I Forgive You is truly magical, the process by which it was created makes every scripted word feel authentic.”

Stef Curran, The Independent

“I Forgive You [is] a reminder that forgiveness is a multifaceted and complex concept. Jones’ story, and the elegant way in which it was told, was a powerful experience I won’t soon forget.”

Natasha Baldin, The Charlatan