Happy Monday! Since I’ll be away next weekend, this week’s Edmonton downstage tries to somehow capture everything that’s happening in our theatre scene in the next two weeks! Hold onto your hats – it’s going to be busy!

Opening & closing

• MacEwan University’s theatre department is presenting The Drowsy Chaperone at the John L. Haar Theatre November 23 – December 3.
• Darrin Hagen’s Witch Hunt at the Strand, presented by Workshop West, runs at the Backstage Theatre November 23 – December 4.
• Trunk Theatre presents Fen by Caryl Churchill November 24 – December 3.
• One of my favourite Shakespeare plays, Twelfth Night is presented by the University of Alberta Studio Theatre at the Timms Centre for the Arts November 24 – December 3.
• Theatre Yes’ cross-Canada collaboration with six other theatre companies, Anxiety, runs November 24 – December 4.
• Mile Zero Dance’s monthly series dedicated to interdisciplinary, improvisational, and experimental work, SubArctic Improv & experimental arts returns to Spazio Performativo (10816 95 Street) on November 24 at 8:00. This month’s performers are:
  • Richelle Thoreson (dance)
  • Katherine Semchuk (dance)
  • BlipVert (music)
  • Maarten Schillemans and Emily Schultz (music)
  • Orange Girls (text)
  • Dara Huminski (visual art)
• Man Up! celebrates the 20th anniversary of The Spice Girls with their show Spice Boys on November 25 and 26 at La Cité Francophone.
• A Christmas Carol returns to the Citadel Theatre! This Edmonton holiday classic runs November 26 – December 23.
• APN’s Script Salon returns to Holy Trinity Anglican Church December 4 at 7:30 with Conni Massing’s Oh! Christmas Tree. Admission is by donation.

Reading & listening

• Workshop West has released some awesome content around their upcoming production of Darrin Hagen’s Witch Hunt at the Strand – I especially love Brenley Charkow’s historical notes on Witch Hunt at the Strand  and their interview with Darrin.
  • Workshop West invites you to sponsor a Gay-Straight Alliance to see their upcoming of Darrin Hagen’s Witch Hunt at the Strand, which portrays a terrifying and important time in the history of Edmonton’s gay community.
• What It Is podcast’s latest episode, Ep: 119: The Anxious Witch Hunt, gives the low-down on Theatre Yes’ Anxiety and Darrin Hagen’s Witch Hunt at the Strand. 
• The CBC has a Q&A interview with 2016 Governor General’s Literary Award winner, Colleen Brown
• Have you seen Catalyst Theatre’s latest newsletter? I love the company trailer that they feature in their newsletter!
• Walterdale Theatre has announced the winners of the 2017 From Cradle to Stage new works festival – congratulations to (local blogger and now playwright) John Richardson and Tessa Simpson!
• As part of Anxiety, Theatre Yes and the other companies are collaborating to present a conversation focusing on the “pivotal role that small-scale experimental companies play in the ecology of Canadian Theatre”. Particle Collisions: The Small Scale Theatre Experiment takes place at The Club at the Citadel, November 25 at 7:00.

Giving

• Grindstone Theatre is launching an IndieGoGo campaign to help fund their Grindstone Comedy Theatre, planned for Whyte Avenue. Check out their fundraising campaign launch video for more information about the project.
• November 29 is Giving Tuesday!

Non-local theatre news

• I really enjoyed J. Kelly Neestruck’s article in the Globe and Mail about the message the cast of Hamilton delivered to Vice President-Elect Mike Pence.