Drama Beat

Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance Society bringing Hamlet to Lethbridge venues

Thursday, 23 June 2022 13:15 Richard Amery

The Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance. Society gave a preview of this summer’s production of Hamlet at the Grand opening of Festival Square, next to Telegraph and across from the SAAG.

Jesse Thibert (Hamlet) and Ben McLuskey (Horatio) perform a scene from this summer’s production of hamlet at Festival Square, June 22. Photo by Richard Amery

Producer Kate Connolly is excited to bring Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy to stagers all over the city this summer.

Darryl Croft (Ghost) performs a scene from this summer’s production of hamlet at Festival Square, June 22. Photo by Richard Amery

“This is our eleventh year and we were able to do this throughout Covid,” Connolly said before the show.

While the local thespians usually concentrate on the comedies, they have explored some of Shakespeare’s tragedies including Romeo and Juliet, MacBeth and the Tempest .

Connolly is excited to have a full slate of shows and new venues for this year.

“We have 17 shows this summer, which is the most we’ve ever done,” Connolly said, noting most of the July shows will be outside Casa on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m..as part of Upside Downtown.

They also have three shows at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, Galt Gardens, Legacy Park and road trips to the Historic Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod, Coutts Centre outside Nanton and the Venue in High River.

“We’re very excited to be part of the very popular Upside Downtown concert series ,” Connolly said.

It’s a bug’s life as Cirque du Soleil brings OVO to Lethbridge this weekend

Tuesday, 24 May 2022 15:40 Richard Amery

The Enmax Centre is abuzz— it‘s a virtual hive activity as renown Quebec based circus Cirque Du Soleil gets ready to bring OVO to the Enmax Centre, May 27- 29.

It is a real beehive at the Enmax Centre as the 100 cast (52 performers and 48 crew) and support staff plus an additional 100 local people hired to help get the Enmax Centre ready are bustling around like— well ants in an anthill to get ready for Friday”s premiere— the first date on their Cross-Canada tour and the first since Covid forced a two month break in the tour.

Corentin LeMaitre-Auger takes a quick breather during rehearsals for Cirque Du Soleil’s OVO. Photo by Richard Amery

Montreal aerial artists Maxime Charron and Corentin Lemaitre-Auger are rehearsing on the trapeze. The duo, who just graduated from circus school will be dressed up as colourful fleas for the show.

“Our circus school is right across from Cirque du Soleil, so we dreamed of one day joining them. And when we joined they offered us contracts for a year. We were the only graduates to get contracts,” said Charron, who met his partner Lemaitre-Auger at circus school and developed their act together.

“He’s bigger than I am and I just like to fly,” Charron continued.

“ It’s super fun to be part of Cirque Du Soleil,” LeMaitre Auger said.

“ We had the act before we joined and had to adjust it a little with the artistic director for OVO,” he continued.

Janie Mallet shows off cricket costumes for Cirque Du Soleil’s OVO. Photo by Richard Amery

“ We like to push the boundaries of aerial performance,” he continued.

“Who else get paid to travel and perform and see the world,” Charron enthused.

The duo joined Cirque Du Soleil on Feb. 11, for a month long residency in Los Angeles for a month before shutting down the hive because of Covid.

The cast and crew scurry all over the Enmax getting things ready for opening night.

Everyone knows their role, everything is expertly organized, but backstage there is time for laughs, jokes, hugs and stories about how everybody’s break was and even stories about individual bouts with Covid.

Everybody is excited for OVA take off again with the first shows landing in Lethbridge.

Hatrix revisits the Gazebo for first play since pandemic

Wednesday, 18 May 2022 12:10 Richard Amery

It’s good to be back on stage for Hatrix theatre.

In the local theatre troupes’ case, they are going way back to bring one of their first plays— Alec Coppel’s 1958 dark comedy “ The Gazebo back to the Moose Hall stage, May 25-28.

Kaitlin Goodliffe, Karl Airey and Clive Abbott rehearse for the Gazebo, running May 25-28 at the Moose Hall. Photo by Richard Amery

“It’s defin

itely an anniversary play,” said director Karolyn Harker.

Hatrix first brought the play to the stage in October 2011.

She brought two of the original Gazebo cast members back into the fold, familiar faces from previous Hatrix productions and Shakespeare in the park veterans as well as as well as talented newcomers.

Kaela Lee and Karl Airey rehearse for the Gazebo, running May 25-28 at the Moose Hall. Photo by Richard Amery

Producing a play during a pandemic has been a challenge, but it is a community effort. The all volunteer cast and crew have to work around work, school and family schedules.

“It’s been about 10 or 11 years since Hatrix did the Gazebo. And we‘ve just come out of two years of social darkness, so we wanted to do something light that with make people laugh and have a good time,” Harker said.

The pandemic meant the play had to be cancelled a couple of times and they’ve undergone multiple cast changes, but she is pleased with how everything is turning out as opening night draws near.

“It’s about a playwright who’s wife is being blackmailed for a teenage indiscretion, so he decides the only way to protect her is to bump off the blackmailer and he decides underneath his new gazebo as the perfect location to hide the body of the blackmailer Joe the Black,” Harker summarized.

“But it’s more comedy than murder mystery,” she said.

“It’s really been exciting. I love this talented cast and crew. So don’t miss it,” she said.

The cast is : Elliot Nash,Karl Airey; Nell Nash,Kaela Lee; Harlow Edison,Brent Cutforth; Matilda,Cass Elise; Mrs. Chandler, Emily Frewin; Mr. Thorpe,Richard Amery; The Duchess,Kaitlin Goodliffe; Louie,Clive Abbott; Jenkins,Steven Barfus and Drucker, Lisa Gearing .

One Act Play Festival returns to Sterndale Bennett Theatre this week

Tuesday, 10 May 2022 12:50 Richard Amery

After a two year break due to Covid, the Alberta Drama Festivall Association (ADFA) One Act Play festival returns to the Sterndale Bennett Theatre, Saturday, May 14.

Three plays have been submitted for the festival plus there will be a reading of “the Cremation of Sam McGhee” by Bryson Brown and “The Lion and Albert” by Kate Connolly.

Jocelyn Steinborn is part of this year’s One Act Play Festival. Photo by Richard Amery

Playgoers of Lethbridge artistic director Rita Peterson is just excited the festival is back.

“I'm just excited it’s back. I’m very excited,” Peterson said.

When Covid happened, we had just finished ‘Daisy.’ and were getting ready for the One Act Play Festival. But we had to cancel it because of Covid. It takes some time to build up momentum, which we haven’t been able to do over the past two years,” Peterson said.

The main event is Ed Bayly’s Playgoers of Lethbridge favourite “ Priscilla Pringle‘s Predicament.”

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