12thnight

Edmonton Fringe Theatre, presenter of our biggest, craziest summer festival, bids farewell (and a fond one) to Executive Director Adam Mitchell. And Megan Dart, communications specialist, events planner and playwright, takes on the duties as Interim E.D. https://bit.ly/3aKcpUg.

The letters you wrote and never sent: everyone has a secret hoard. Rebecca Merkley's bright idea becomes a show and Letters To No One opens Friday (online), from Dammitammy Productions: https://bit.ly/3dvOLwB

Taking theatre out of the ivory tower and into the community: meet dramaturge/ playwright/ theatre scholar Mkonzi Wã Msyoki as 12thnight's New Faces In Theatre series continues, https://bit.ly/3jQLWHw

Happy Valentine's Weekend: have some theatre with your champagne! https://bit.ly/2NolQiY. From Citadel Theatre, the The Alberta Queer Calendar Project and Sage Theatre, Grindstone Theatre, High Performance Rodeo, Stratford Festival, Freewill Shakespeare Festival, Mile Zero Dance.

"The real was never an option for him." We all know how that feels, at the moment.... And from the other side of the country, fun with Greeks: "a live online mythic adventure," Orestes from Tarragon Theatre, streaming through Feb. 14. A 12thnight REVIEW: https://bit.ly/3q0esbY.

New Faces in Edmonton theatre: in this 12thnight series, meet bright young up-and-comers whose adaptable creativity is having an impact in this challenging time (and will have more when theatre doors open). First up, designer/ scenographer Elise CM Jason: https://bit.ly/3qzsNfE

A wish for the new year from 12thnight.ca. https://bit.ly/387DKhT. A brighter year for theatre is coming! Thank you, readers, for hanging in with me. I'm hoping... you're up to chipping in a monthly amount to my Patreon campaign to help theatre coverage continue at 12thnight: www.patreon.com/12thnight. To patrons who have already signed on, my deep gratitude for your support, and your encouragement. It makes 12thnight possible. See more

At the shrine of youth: an identity crisis in mascara and blush. The Look is streamed from Northern Light Theatre next week. Meet director Trevor Schmidt and star Linda Grass in this 12thnight PREVIEW: https://bit.ly/39yq6E9

Giving 2020 the kiss-off (and welcoming 2021): how to get festive on New Year's Eve. Some theatrical possibilities from 12thnight at Teatro La Quindicina, the... Citadel Theatre, the Varscona Theatre, the Grindstone Theatre, and others too (including the Queen of Rationalization): https://bit.ly/3pzYJ2P See more

Looking forward to 2021 in Edmonton theatre! (we're so done with 2020): a sampling of possibilities to get excited about, from 12thnight: https://bit.ly/35clKBo

You've heard of Elf on the Shelf, now get ready for ... Edmonton's meme queens! They're on a roll: a carnival of wackiness, a big theatre group hug, and now a calendar you'll have to have. 12thnight gets to talk to Sue Goberdhan and Luc Tellier: https://bit.ly/3mR9pIQ.

Mary's Wedding: inside Mary's dream, in Tai Amy Grauman's new Metis adaptation of the Canadian classic. The Citadel Theatre production is available to stream. A 12thnight REVIEW: https://bit.ly/357ZdoZ

Geez, what a year.... 2020 in Edmonton theatre, What Just Happened Here? part 2, from 12thnight. https://bit.ly/3nJl7pU

2020: a year like no other in Edmonton theatre. Thoughts about What Just Happened Here? and highlights, from 12thnight. Part 1: https://bit.ly/3p6g1V0

'Light during the longest nights': the Citadel Theatre's film adaptation of A Christmas Carol, an homage to a great Edmonton tradition. A 12thnight REVIEW: https://bit.ly/3myblWr

Eager-beaver thespians at the manger: two holiday shows take us backstage. 'They Wanted To Do Chekhov' (a new Rebecca Merkley radio play with music from Dammita...mmy Productions) and The Best Little Newfoundland Christmas Pageant ... Ever! (from Whizgiggling Productions): https://bit.ly/2KqaLwj. See more

You think your family's screwed up? Welcome to the House of Atreus, and meet their "lost daughter." Meg Braem's Chrysothemis, specially commissioned for the Uni...versity of Alberta Department of Drama's graduating actors, gets its online premiere in the Studio Theatre starting tonite. Jan Selman directs. The photos are by Ian Jackson, Epic Photogs. See more

12 nights, 12 different shows, a cast of 80! The 12 Days of Christmas, a 'virtual holiday cabaret' from the St. Albert Children's Theatre. 12thnight talks to unfaze-able artistic director Janice Flower (who never thinks small): https://bit.ly/3qOfadu

We need a little Christmas, right this very minute.... The Varscona Theatre is throwing at festive bash (at your place), their first-ever Virtual Holiday Gala. 12thnight talks to producer Kendra Connor: https://bit.ly/3a0xv0W. Photo by Adam Kidd.

"I want to share love and joy." Mary's Wedding: a new Métis version of the Canadian classic at the Citadel Theatre (online), coming up. 12thnight talks to adaptor Tai Amy Grauman (who co-stars with Todd Houseman): https://bit.ly/370NIRJ. Photos by Arthur Mah.

"I'm so excited to enter a period where I get to dream a little." From Concrete Theatre to the Citadel Theatre ... Meet Mieko Ouchi, the Citadel's new Associate Artistic Director: https://bit.ly/3ghEUK9

"Some day soon we all will be together ..." A Christmas Carol for our time: the Citadel Theatre brings their production home to you, on location, in a streaming... video version. 12thnight talks to director Daryl Cloran and playwright David van Belle about the adaptation: https://bit.ly/37osr3w. Photos by Raoul Bhatt. See more

Three days from opening, Mary's Wedding is on hold (through January at least) at the Citadel Theatre. Theatre goers, wanna give yourselves a big headache? Try d...eciphering the Alberta government's new "enhanced public health measures." Edmonton's leading arts industry doesn't even rate a mention, but, hey, movie theatres, casinos and martial arts studios can operate at 25 per cent capacity: https://bit.ly/3fCNF1m. See more

Congrats to Mieko Ouchi! She's the Citadel Theatre's new 'TD associate artistic director', in charge of new work, commissions, artist development....

Le Moulin Rouge: can-cans can, small-scale and sparkly at the Spotlight Cabaret, a Jeff Halaby/ Aimée Beaudoin venture in Old Strathcona. A 12thnight review: https://bit.ly/35Yp0Rm. Photo by Joe McClinton Photography.

Big news from Teatro La Quindicina: congratulations to Belinda Cornish and Andrew MacDonald-Smith, the company's new co-artistic producers for a two-year "impermanent" and "transitional" term.

"Was I sleeping while the others suffered? Am I sleeping now?" The playwright of choice for this moment: Beckett, of course (and through the eyes of a virtuoso clown). Waiting for ... everything: here's a couple of (online) shows for our time. https://bit.ly/36RmJXu

The complicated world of university theatre: Too Much Zoom Makes All Of Us Go Blind, director Dave Horak's experiment at Concordia University of Edmonton: https://bit.ly/3npUhTp

Listen to the music: Keep Calm and Rock On, in the plexiglass galaxy live at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre. Here's the 12thnight REVIEW: https://bit.ly/3lmTJwJ. Photos by Ryan Parker Photography.

"Terror and festering dread" and a mystery narrator to size up: what fun. We Had A Girl Before You, a new Gothic thriller by Trevor Schmidt, opens the Northern Light Theatre season: https://bit.ly/2JC6Agz. Photos by Ian Jackson, Epic Photogs.

Bringing musical theatre to the stage in 2020, in the middle of a pandemic? It's an intricate no, mind-bending challenge: the making of Keep Calm and Rock O...n at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre. Has artistic director Van Wilmott been keeping calm? 12thnight finds out: https://bit.ly/2GAjz1a See more

Looking for an antidote to a gruesome nail-biter of a week? Thought so. Here are a couple of beautiful theatre "concerts" on film I watched this week. And there...'s uplift to them! https://bit.ly/2TYSrfh. The photo is Hailey Gillis in the film version of Crow's Theatre's Ghost Quartet: In Concert. That's one of them. See more

"You thought you knew, and now you don't." We Had A Girl Before You: what happened to her? A shivery new Gothic thriller by Trevor Schmidt opens the Northern Light Theatre season Friday. 12thnight talks to the playwright/director, who's a huge fan of the genre: https://bit.ly/3kTbnIt

Meanwhile, back at the Varscona Theatre, a homecoming (with tap-dancing) for Teatro La Quindicina. 12thnight has a fun night out at 'Welcome Home' (and there's another one next Friday): https://bit.ly/382nr6u

So, is he "married and settled" yet? Let your mom take care of arranging that. Amusing and good-natured, A Brimful of Ashes, live at the Citadel Theatre. Here's a 12thnight REVIEW: https://bit.ly/34Gqn6z

The experimental spirit lives on in Edmonton theatre, live and in unusual hybrids. 12thnight thinks about that can-do creative zest: https://bit.ly/2Ji1J4a

One on one theatre: Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre's Here There Be Night takes you into an underground COVID-resistance network, on a night walk through Old Strathcona and into exclusive encounters with 8 stories. Here's a 12thnight REVIEW: https://bit.ly/35AAIjV

And the Citadel Theatre is back LIVE starting tonite! A Brimful of Asha: a mother, a son, and a culture gap onstage together. Meet co-creator (and Canadian theatre star) Ravi Jain in this 12thnight conversation: https://bit.ly/3dYgqo7

Curio Shoppe is home care, Catch the Keys Productions style. Give yourself a fright. 12thnight reports back from the dark side of her new computer: https://bit.ly/3jgc9NW. And check out what co-creator Beth Dart says about the home invasion: https://bit.ly/3dMYQDH

'Welcome Home': Teatro La Quindicina is back, live, at the Varscona Theatre for the next three Fridays. Belinda Cornish and Mark Meer host a celebratory (social...ly distanced) variety/ concert/ magazine-type show with its own new Stewart Lemoine playlet. Check out the details: https://bit.ly/3joJiXI See more

Hands across the border (on Zoom tonite through Sat.): Edmonton actors Nicky Saint Martini and Will Brisbin, familiar to Citadel Theatre audiences, are in the c...ast of A Distinct Society, the Kareen Fahmy play that's Canada's contribution to the (virtual) 11th annual International Voices Project in Chicago: See more

A Brimful of Asha: the generation/culture gap live and in living colour opens the Citadel Theatre's Horizon Series LIVE this weekend. 12thnight talks to directo...r Mieko Ouchi about the warm-hearted and comical play that has struck a chord with her own multi-ethnic/ multi-cultural family: https://bit.ly/35hLCuE. The charming photo of Nimet Kanji (as the title character) is by Janice Saxon Photography. See more

Rapid Fire Theatre is back, and improvising LIVE, across the river at the Backstage Theatre in Old Strathcona. Theatresports and The Double Feature Improv Show ...runs Fridays and Saturdays cabaret-style. 12thnight talks to artistic director Matt Schuurman about the move and the programming: https://bit.ly/2TfLxlr See more

It's the season when the veil between the past and present is the thinnest. Curio Shoppe: taking the nightmares home ... to your place. Catch the Keys Productio...ns, creators of Dead Centre of Town, are back to haunt you on location. 12thnight talks to Beth Dart about the theatrical home invasion: https://bit.ly/34bPxdm (Re the photos: Marc J Chalifoux knows everything there is to know about other-worldly lighting). See more

'Theatre as an adventure into the unknown': Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre returns to LIVE action next week with Here There Be Night, a nocturnal walk throu...gh Old Strathcona. 8 locations and 8 original 5-minute plays: 12thnight talks to artistic producer Heather Inglis about the venture and the partnerships that brought it about: https://bit.ly/375ynzT See more

Fun with Lucy. An Exceptional Night In With Lucy Darling: magic, mixology, and comedy. And there's a bonus: Lucy's lovely assistants, actor/escapologist Miranda... Allen and actor/dancer Richard Lee Hsi. A 12thnight REVIEW of the Zoomed show that comes to the Citadel Theatre's online lineup Friday: https://bit.ly/36GwnOp See more

'Cool breath in, warm breath out': Catalyst Theatre's "until the next breath" outdoors, a "happening" on a lovely fall night in E-town. Part of the National Art...s Centre / Centre national des Arts's Grand Acts of Theatre across the country. Some thoughts from 12thnight: https://bit.ly/30C9ace See more

Sharpen your wits, sleuths! The Fox Den Collective brings you an interactive online mystery to solve (if you're on the ball). 12thnight talks to Jessy Ardern about the show, opening tonite! https://bit.ly/36omgO1

"It speaks to the time we're in, the feeling of being in-between...." Catalyst commits a Grand Act of Theatre: 'until the next breath' happens at a secret outd...oor location, once! (Sunday nite), as part of the National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts' cross-country series. And it's BIG. 12thnight had a chance to talk to Catalyst Theatre artistic director Jonathan Christenson Christenson and resident designer Bretta Gerecke: https://bit.ly/3l6arjG. Here's what the NAC's Jillian Keiley, in conversation with 12thnight, had in mind: https://bit.ly/3ingz50. See more

Canada as a work-in-progress: All That Binds Us premieres at Azimuth Theatre, live and livestreamed at Edmonton Fringe Theatre. A 12thnight REVIEW: https://bit.ly/3n2pvAp

Big, memorable, one-off, and LIVE: Grand Acts of Theatre, the National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts's bold initiative for a cross-country series. Edmonton's Catalyst Theatre is one of the 11 companies they chose (coming up Sunday!). 12thnight talked to the NAC's Jillian Keiley about her idea: https://bit.ly/3j9Lh2V

Through the window and out in the world some 12thnight thoughts on Plain Jane Theatre Company's Scenes From The Sidewalk: an inside out cabaret. https://bit.ly/2GenjFh

Clowning around ... online! The 5th annual Play the Fool Festival goes digital to send in the clowns. 12thnight has the fun of talking to festival director Christine Lesiak for this PREVIEW: https://bit.ly/33UJ1pL

So I caught a movie last night. Yup, in Gordon's Big Bald Head Presents: Good Head, at the Grindstone Theatre (live and live streamed), improv stars Mark Meer a...nd Ron Pederson made one up, off the cuff and on the spot, picked at random from Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. How is it possible? https://bit.ly/33NCehu See more

Scenes From The Sidewalk: a new cabaret experiment from Plain Jane Theatre Company that turns theatre inside out. It's at the Varscona Theatre this weekend. And 12thnight talked to the Janes' artistic director Kate Ryan for this PREVIEW: https://bit.ly/36fgdLJ

Gordon's Big Bald Head Presents: Good Head. Mark Meer and Ron Pederson, two of the country's cleverest improvisers, are back, live and live streamed at the Gri...ndstone Theatre this week (for 4 shows). They'll infiltrate cinema history, and improvise an entire movie. Yes, they'll DO a movie. Crazy, isn't it? https://bit.ly/2ZVi1oY See more

All That Binds Us: a new creation from Azimuth Theatre, premiering this week live and live-streamed, ponders connection in a world of fragmentation. 12thnight had the chance to talk to director Reneltta Arluk and assistant director Jenna Rodgers for this PREVIEW: https://bit.ly/35UawlX.

Look up! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's an opera singer on the roof (of the Jube). Drive-in opera and other experiments in staying connected, from Edmonton Opera. 12thnight talks to EO's Tim Yakimec: https://bit.ly/2Fx1hO5

The return to live continues at the Citadel Theatre, with a new series of small-cast productions (for small audiences) starting in October. The Horizon Series LIVE!: https://bit.ly/32Cpife.

The adventurous Good Women Dance Collective, who have never given two hoots about the frontier between theatre and dance, launches a new season. (Ah, and there's a fifth good woman!) You can read about it in this 12thnight PREVIEW: https://bit.ly/32G4x2p

Hockey Night In Edmonton: Playing With Fire re-opens the Mayfield Dinner Theatre with Ron Jenkins's visceral full bodycheck production, starring Shaun Smyth. COVID rules. A 12thnight REVIEW: https://bit.ly/2H0ZZv7.

Tonight on Zoom Mile Zero Dance launches their "Re-Program" season with an experimental cabaret, Iterate, that pairs scenographers and dancers. What if design came first? That's the question MZD's technical director/production manger Trent Crosby volleyed our way, and 12thnight asked him about that: https://bit.ly/2FbLNih. Have a look at these shots by Mat Simpson Photography .

'What if ... design came first?" Mile Zero Dance's season-opener is an experimental cabaret of dance inspired by stage design. 12thnight got a chance to talk to talk to creator/curator Trent Crosby, MZD's technical director/production manager who steps away from the console for the occasion: https://bit.ly/2FbLNih.

Azimuth Theatre has its new artistic producer, a multi-talented pair of them in fact. Morgan Yamada and Sue Goberdhan start work at the adventurous, project-driven theatre company Oct 1, and replace Kristi Hansen and Vanessa Sabourin, who stepped down to make room for young BIPOC talent. A new era begins.

Impossible, you say? A play with a beginning, middle, and ending in 10 minutes? EDMONten is here to prove you wrong: the first annual showcase of original, full-length 10-minute plays, the brainchild of the Short & Suite (Conni Massing, Tracy Carroll and Michele Vance Hehir). At Grindstone Theatre Friday and Saturday. Have a peek at the lineup: https://bit.ly/3bAJFwf

Playing With Fire: the Mayfield Dinner Theatre straps on the blades, and goes live (and socially distanced), to open their season with the Theo Fleury Story. Hey, E-town's only hockey you can see in person!. 12thnight talks to director Ron Jenkins about the much-travelled hit show: https://bit.ly/2Z5xe6m.

And back to live! Horizon Lab, a horizon-expanding experiment at the Citadel Theatre. Hey, I was IN a theatre for the first time since March 13: https://bit.ly/2DfrvmZ

The Queen and Vera Lynn were right: We'll Meet Again. Fringe star Melanie Gall returns to active duty (outdoors, distanced) Sunday with her solo show. 12thnight talks to the much-travelled singer: https://bit.ly/2EFWx7Y

Heart + Soul: EPCOR's good news for E-town's hard-hit performing arts industry is a new $1.25 million fund. Theatres, listen up! https://bit.ly/32AGUqq

Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not: Meet the Free Willies: travelling (masked) troubadours who pop up in parks, on decks, at farmers' markets near you. 12thnight talks to director Dave Horak about the new troupe from Freewill Shakespeare Festival and Thou Art Here Theatre: https://bit.ly/3aMnOS3

Fringe FOMO: House Of Hush Burlesque goes live Friday at Metro Cinema. Gloves off, masks on! 12thnight has fun talking to co-founder Delia Barnett, aka LeTabby Lexington: https://bit.ly/31gr314.

And back at the castle: a radio-play version of the 2010 Guys in Disguise Fringe hit Dragula. Virginia darling, don't go into the dungeon! 12thnight talks to co-creators/co-stars Trevor Schmidt and Darrin Hagen about the revival opening this week: https://bit.ly/3iWssjl. Photos by Ian Peter Jackson.

Signs of life: live theatre is coming back, with cautious first steps. Read about three Edmonton theatre companies Grindstone, the Citadel Theatre, and the Mayfield Dinner Theatre here: https://bit.ly/31076Lz.

The might-have-been hits home: it's Fringe Eve in Edmonton, and we're wistful. But there's this, Edmonton Fringe Theatre's digital fest in year #39: https://bit.ly/33Sv4dJ.

Remembering the enchantment: the wonderful Brent Carver in Edmonton. He had deep roots at the Citadel Theatre: https://bit.ly/3gPTgkD

The loneliness of the long-distance playwright: harbouring a script? stuck on draft #24? Get a free one-on-one consultation with Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre's new dramaturg-in-residence actor/playwright Beth Graham: 12thnight talked to her: https://bit.ly/2DCT8q4

Devastating theatre news today. Brent Carver, one of the greats and a true original, is gone from us, at 68. A huge loss. The Stratford Festival star was the Romeo in the production that opened the "new" Citadel downtown in 1976. A great Cyrano at the Citadel Theatre too, among other stellar performances! And a unique, puckish spirit, too. Here's a photo (by Robert C. Ragsdale) of Brent with Jessica Tandy in Long Day's Journey Into Night at Stratford), and Brent as Jaques in Stratford's 2010 As You Like It (photo by David Hou). Our hearts ache.