theatre

Three girls in show lighting hold beakers with green liquid staring into the camera.

‘An important social statement’: Radium Girls set to take Fergus Grand Theatre by storm

February 7, 2024 by Riley Gillespie-Wilson

A century-old tale regarding the “radium girls” is coming to Fergus.

“In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage – until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease,” the play’s information page writes.

Director Catherine Johnston says this play, tracking the at-the-time “mysterious” illnesses of the girls and their ultimate demise, is unlike anything Elora Community Theatre has ever done before.

Johnston says the story, and the push for a day in court for dial painter Grace Fryer, is a unique one that uses elements like projections on the playhouse walls and masks to portray angst.

CICW spoke with Johnston days before the play’s opening on Feb. 9. It runs until Feb. 18.

The front window of a performance space with the wording "Espace Diffusion" and "Soif de Musique."

Espace Diffusion launches project to make culture more accessible

February 7, 2024 by Taylor McClure

Espace Diffusion has launched a new project entitled Connexion Culture with the goal of making cultural experiences more accessible to citizens in Brome-Missisquoi.

Espace Diffusion is a concert venue space in Cowansville that produces concerts, stand-up comedy shows, and more.

Recognizing that not everyone has the ability to attend live shows, the Espace Diffusion team wants citizens to “have an opportunity to thrive through different cultural experiences, not taking into account their age, gender, social or economic status,” noted Candice De Souza, the person responsible for communications at Espace Diffusion.

Providing more details on Connexion Culture, De Souza said that $1 of every ticket purchased through Espace Diffusion or Soif de Musique (an annual music festival), will go towards Connexion Culture. Those funds will then used to provide free tickets to shows at Espace Diffusion or to bring smaller entertainment to schools, retirement homes, and community organizations.

Six actors, in various positions, facing different directions, stand on the set of a play. The set is made up of boxes, with the floor painted yellow, brown and blue.

Play mixes languages and eras to create a timeless tale

February 1, 2024 by Tori Weldon

An old play with a new twist is coming to Mount Allison University. The original play was called Ubu Roi, and was written by Alfred Jarry in the late 1890s.

But now, professor emeritus, Alex Fancy is giving it a modern update by turning it into a play within a play and sprinkling in a mix of French and English. This new version of Ubu Roi is called UBU 2024.

Fancy has been presenting bilingual plays for more than fifty years. It started as a way to help his students to use their language skills outside of the classroom. All these decades later, it’s still working.

Actor and student Emily Crowley said she’s drawn to the material because it’s a mix, of languages, of old and new eras, and because the actors get a chance to break down gender binaries through the changing of characters.

The play opens on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at Mount Allison University’s Motyer-Fancy Theatre.

A group of people arranged in four lines stand on a blue-lit stage with their arms outstretched over their heads.

Cast, crew ramp up rehearsals for Follies debut at Astor Theatre

January 26, 2024 by Rick Conrad

Liverpool will soon get a chance to see the first adult musical at the Astor Theatre since Rock of Ages in 2018.

The Astor and the Winds of Change Dramatic Society are co-producing the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies. The Tony-award-winning show features elaborate costumes and big musical and dance numbers.

Set in 1971 in a decaying and haunted Broadway theatre, Follies tells the story of a reunion of former showgirls.

It features more than two dozen cast members from around Queens and Lunenburg counties, ranging in age from 14 to 77. That’s in addition to the many other people behind the scenes.

Director Ashley-Rose Goodwin estimates she’s spent about 50 hours a week with individuals and the full cast in preparing the show.

QCCR News talked to some of the people behind the show as they rehearse for opening night on Feb. 22.

A man in suit and tie stands at a podium with the words Canada and Quebec. The flags of both are behind him. There is a brick wall with lights.

Centaur Theatre gets $6.2 million in government funding to modernize

January 22, 2024 by Jules Bugiel

The Centaur Theatre is getting major support from the governments of Canada and Quebec. They’re giving $2.2 million and $4 million, respectively, to the modernization of the long-running anglophone theatre in Montreal’s Old Port.

Eric Girard, Quebec Minister of Finance and Relations with English-Speaking Quebecers, and Randy Boissonnault, Canadian Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, gave the announcement at the theatre on Thursday.

Woman in red sweater wearing large rimmed glasses sits holding book titled-"Blood Sport". There is a microphone and desk in the foreground.

Indigenous play uses game show format to raise questions about “Pretend Indians” (Pt. 1 of 2)

December 19, 2023 by David Moses

Blood Sport, a play written by Six Nations member January Rogers, was recently released in book form a month ago by Turtle’s Back, a publishing company based on Six Nations. It also had a reading as part of the 2023 Weesageechak Begins to Dance Festival in Toronto.

The play takes a humorous but thought provoking look at true indigenous identity using a game show format with contestants, who claim to be native. It’s a topic that has reached national if not international attention with recent questions raised about the identity of singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie.

CKRZ had a lengthy conversation with January Rogers to discuss the play, identity and Buffy Sainte-Marie. In part one of two, Rogers says there are many people struggling with and trying to claim their “real” identity.

(Disclosure: January Rogers is a board member at CKRZ.)

A dark theatre with a single bright green light illuminating the audience. In the back a single large screen is set with the phrase "so please go on, this is a short commission" is written.

UFV takes part in action theatre for change global movement

November 24, 2023 by Teryn Midzain

UFV’s School of Creative Arts (SOCA) is part of many institutions across the globe taking part in the bi-annual Climate Change Theatre Action festival, where 50 playwrights write a five minute play written to foster dialogue and conversation concerning a global crisis.

Brooke Tremblay was one of three students taking part and chose to perform Now written by Wren Brian.

“The play spoke about the generations that are coming next, the changes for them,” Tremblay says. “Even if you don’t see it, they will, and it’s worth it in the end.”

Guiseppe Condello, production manager of theatre, says that the festival combines the impact the messages touch on with theatre’s live performances.

“Theater as a form of expression has for decades been used to bring politics and environment to the forefront,” says Condello. “Each play sort of did that in their own way, that was very powerful.”