{"data":{"id":"cceaffac-e9a3-45ba-b587-682ea26b9bff","originKind":"SYNDICATED","title":"Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams' Crave TV adaptation of Yaga great timing for Shadow Theatre production","summary":"When Lana Michelle Hughes secured the rights for Kat Sandler’s Yaga in 2024, the Shadow artistic director had no idea the play would be picked up by Crave and turned into a mystery thriller series starring one of the hottest stars in television.\n\nThat the eight-part series, featuring Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams, is debuting on television on Oct. 23 during the play’s run at the Varscona is but a serendipitous bonus.\n\nHere’s how it happened.\n\nHughes was set to direct Yaga at Shadow in the spring of 2026. But she got the opportunity to direct Casey and Diana at the Citadel at the same time, so deferred the production of Yaga.\n\nIn the meantime, Crave picked up Yaga’s television rights, with playwright Kat Sandler hired to write and be the showrunner on the series, increasing the playwright’s profile and that of the story.\n\nPrincipal photography began in British Columbia in February of 2026.\n\nIn September, Sandler, who was not available for an interview about the Shadow production, appeared to promote two episodes of her TV show at the Toronto International Film Festival. There, she hobnobbed with celebrities such as Yaga’s executive producer and co-star, Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix franchise).\n\nBased on the myth of Baba Yaga, a Slavic folklore about an old witch who grinds the bones of the wicked, Yaga opens on the disappearance of the heir to a yogurt empire.\n\nA small-town detective is on the case, when who should appear but an enigmatic university professor with a taste for younger men?\n\nHughes says Yaga is a comedic psychological thriller, describing it as probably the most difficult play she’s ever directed.\n\nThree cast members play 14 characters in roughly a dozen different settings. There is sex. There is violence.\n\n“It’s a fun, exciting, fast-paced story with a lot of twists and turns and I think audiences will be really surprised by it,” says Hughes.","url":"https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/hudson-williams-yaga-crave-shadow-theatre","imageUrl":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/0727-yaga-trailer-hudson-williams-and-carrie-anne-moss-_304471599.jpeg","publishedAt":"2026-10-06T11:00:03.000Z","sourceLabel":"Edmonton Journal Music","tags":["Entertainment","Local Arts","Television","Theatre"],"authorName":"Liane Faulder","contentHtml":"\"Hudson

When Lana Michelle Hughes secured the rights for Kat Sandler’s Yaga in 2024, the Shadow artistic director had no idea the play would be picked up by Crave and turned into a mystery thriller series starring one of the hottest stars in television.

That the eight-part series, featuring Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams, is debuting on television on Oct. 23 during the play’s run at the Varscona is but a serendipitous bonus.

Here’s how it happened.

Hughes was set to direct Yaga at Shadow in the spring of 2026. But she got the opportunity to direct Casey and Diana at the Citadel at the same time, so deferred the production of Yaga.

In the meantime, Crave picked up Yaga’s television rights, with playwright Kat Sandler hired to write and be the showrunner on the series, increasing the playwright’s profile and that of the story.

Principal photography began in British Columbia in February of 2026.

\"

In September, Sandler, who was not available for an interview about the Shadow production, appeared to promote two episodes of her TV show at the Toronto International Film Festival. There, she hobnobbed with celebrities such as Yaga’s executive producer and co-star, Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix franchise).

Based on the myth of Baba Yaga, a Slavic folklore about an old witch who grinds the bones of the wicked, Yaga opens on the disappearance of the heir to a yogurt empire.

A small-town detective is on the case, when who should appear but an enigmatic university professor with a taste for younger men?

Hughes says Yaga is a comedic psychological thriller, describing it as probably the most difficult play she’s ever directed.

Three cast members play 14 characters in roughly a dozen different settings. There is sex. There is violence.

“It’s a fun, exciting, fast-paced story with a lot of twists and turns and I think audiences will be really surprised by it,” says Hughes.

\"","slug":"heated-rivalry-star-hudson-williams-crave-tv-adaptation-of-yaga-great-timing-for-shadow-theatre-production","publicPath":"/news/2026-10-06-heated-rivalry-star-hudson-williams-crave-tv-adaptation-of-yaga-great-timing-for-shadow-theatre-production"}}