Buddies in Bad Times' 2012/13 season looked to empower the individual as an agent of social change. It began with Tawiah M'carthy's "Obaaberima", which was originally developed as a part of the Young Creators Unit (YCU) in 2009. In the Spring Canadian theatre icon Daniel MacIvor returned to Buddies with his darkly poetic play "Arigato, Tokyo". The season also included Sky Gilbert's "A Few Brittle Leaves", a partnership with performance company Ecce Homo to present "Of a Monstrous Child: a gaga musical" and Studio 180's "The Normal Heart". Laura Nanni returned as the Rhubarb Festival Director and oversaw the return of the wildly successful One-To-One Performance Series and Mobile Works projects. The 34th Rhubarb Festival broke all previous attendance records and engaged almost 200 artists. The season saw 22 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations overall, including three awards for "Obaaberima", music, set design and Outstanding Production. In 2012, Buddies was voted Toronto's Best Small Theatre Company by Now Magazine. The 2012/13 season also saw the completion of two large-scale initiatives: a three-year Audience Development Project and a strategic planning process that helped revise and Buddies' mandate, and articulated a long-term vision for the company. Buddies' 2013/14 season marked the company's 35th Anniversary. Its programming included the world premiere of "PIG", directed by Artistic Director Brendan Healy, the return of the Strange Sisters Festival, and the premiere of "The Gay Heritage Project". The 35th Rhubarb Festival, helmed by Festival Director Laura Nanni, marked the company's historic milestone with a 35 Performances for 35 Year Cabaret. The Festival looked to explore ideas of heritage and archiving while looking forward to possible Queer futures. The 2013/14 season was filled out with multiple guest companies including Theatre Rusticle, Pleiades Theatre, Cahoots Theatre Company, Cabaret Company and inDANCE. Buddies enters its next 35 years as the premier cultural centre for Toronto's LGBT community, as the top destination for all audiences seeking cutting-edge theatre in Toronto, as a leading centre for the creation and presentation of alternative theatre in Canada, and as a preferred employer in the arts in Toronto. Buddies is truly a one-of-a-kind place in the world that is dedicated to the nurturing, protection, and celebration of queer culture.