Theatre Outré winds up their tenth season as well as their tenure at Didi’s Playhaus, June 15-17, with an original auto-fictional play by Lethbridge playwright Liam Monaghan.
The play, Strange/ Familiar is an embellished story about Monaghan’s experience growing up queer and adopted in Alberta.
“This show is about my experiences as a queer and adopted in Southern Alberta. It is about family, both the chosen, like the family at Theatre Outré and biological,” said Monaghan, whose play “How To Leave” was one of the first shows staged by Theatre Outré in 2014.
He has also been part of a variety of Theatre Outré shows particularly singing in their cabaret and tribute nights to queer icons like Dolly Parton, Cher and Judy Garland.
“ There is a lot of cabaret music in the show,” Monaghan said, noting he grew up in Lethbridge , lived in Vancouver and was looking back on his experience while working towards in his MFA at the University of Alberta.
“ I was thinking about what to write about and thinking of adapting my life into this play,” he said.
“ It’s a very personal play about my experience,” he said. He has been involved with Theatre Outré for a long time, so it means a lot for Theatre Outré to feature his play as their last in the downtown space upstairs on Fifth street and 4th avenue south.
“It‘s about Liam, who has just moved in with his new boyfriend, who gets a letter from his birth mom, saying, his father has passed on and has left him something in his will,” Monaghan summarized.
The show, starring some familiar local theatre personalities, Monaghan, Kathy Zaborsky and Graham Mothersill spans several genres including comedy, drama and music including some original compositions by Monaghan.
“ and there will be some theatrical surprises,” said Monaghan, whose favourite Theatre Outer memories are performing in the cabarets.
Opening night, Thursday, June 15 is sold out but there are still tickets available for Friday and the two shows on Saturday.
After the Lethbridge run, the show goes to Edmonton for three nights, June 22-24