#yeg theatre

[yegdreon]

I just got Disney plus so I can finally watch the live recording of Hamilton. It's my first time ever watching Hamilton and it's just SO good. Tho, WHY TF DID YOU CHEAT MAN!?

[intothestacks]

The hardest part about live theatre isn't remembering the lines -- it's dealing with audience reactions xD

Remembering the time in jr high where my class went to watch Pride & Prejudice at the local theatre and during the big moment where Darcy and Elizabeth kiss and everyone is quiet this little kid voice shouts out "EEEEEEW!!!".

Since schools going to the theatre get seated near the front, I got to watch front and centre the leads shaking slightly while trying not to laugh as they held their kiss in place like they were supposed to.

[queerbauten]

Quick thoughts on the Edmonton Queens (I am still reeling):

Jaz Robinson: very classic Aragon. Strong vocals, tight acting, and all-around powerful performance. (She can really hold a note!!)

Julia Pulo: comedic Queen—she isn't a full-on "chaos gremlin", but she knows when to get hammy. Also, I love that she portrays her Boleyn as (not-so-)secretly reluctant during the events of "Don't Lose Ur Head". She plays to how the real Anne likely felt about Henry's pursuit, which was, well, "What was I meant to do?"

Maggie Lacasse: I didn't realize I needed a Quebecoise Seymour, but there you go. I fully, fully started crying before she even started singing "Heart of Stone". She plays Jane's sweetness and cruelty wonderfully.

Krystal Hernández: MY BELOVED! Super performance, fully embodies everything Anna is meant to be in the musical: cocky, fun-loving, and a voice of reason. (She was super sweet to me re: "Get Down", too. >W<)

Elysia Cruz: sooo good. I love how she seemed to play Katherine's feelings toward Culpepper less as genuine friendship and more her trying to convince herself that at least one man in Henry's court was okay. You really, really feel for her Katherine. (Also, her "I mean, we don't knooow"? Excellent example of her comedic delivery.)

Lauren Mariasoosay: excellent Parr. Her "I'm out" is one of a woman who genuinely can't bear the thought of what she's been doing—she's not angry; she simply cannot do it anymore.

In conclusion: fantastic cast. If I'm able to see Six again during this run, I will, and I recommend strongly that you see it, too.

[paddysnuffles]

I co-wrote and performed a play when I was 16 (which was shown at a major theatre in Canada)

When I was 16 I took part in a program by my local theatre where a bunch of teens worked with adult theatre workers. In my case, I was part of a group who got to write a wholeass play about the rising violence in our city (Edmonton). The play was called "Are We Safe Yet?" and was named after a graffiti our light/sound tech had recently seen (we were going to pose in front of it for our poster but they'd cleaned it out already).

^ Our Jets vs Sharks opening number

We opted to make it a play without an overarching story, but rather snapshots of various approaches and styles that were tied together by the theme of rising violence.

Some highlights from that play include:

A play opening that was a Sharks vs Jets-style fight complete with the finger snaps and choreography by a fight choreographer our playwright mentor (Mieko Ouchi, 10/10 recommend her work) brought in to help us

A monologue where I, a Brazilian immigrant, talked about how funny it was to me that Edmontonians thought the city's violence was getting out of control when compared to what I had left behind

A Love Actually-style scene where one of my co-stars/authors and I held up signs that we'd throw on the ground

Another co-star dressed in a fuzzy pink elephant costume "sneaking" across the stage while we picked up the signs at the end of the previous scene

A scene about two parents coping with the fact their kid got behind the wheel of a car while drunk and was now in the ICU

A scene that started with a girl and a boy getting out of bed in their undies and monologuing about how they're really not okay as they put on their clothes like they're putting on armour

A scene contrasting what elder abuse looks like vs a loving relationship where two people are sitting at a cafe and their phone convos are opposites of each other

[yegphotographer]

Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival 2023 by Paula Kirman

[yegarts]

I Am YEG Arts: Andrew Ritchie

Photo by Mat Simpson

Andrew Ritchie is seemingly everywhere all at once in Edmonton's theatre scene. His versatility as a theatre artist, whether he is directing or performing onstage, has taken Andrew across the country, but it is his ability to “build it yourself” here in Edmonton that has always brought him back. As Artistic Director of Thou Art Here Theatre and co-founder of the Found Festival (under Common Ground Arts), that DIY mentality has allowed Andrew to tell relevant and exciting stories in unexpected places while focusing on how space and the role of the audience can be explored in any theatre show. Director, theatre maker, improviser, program coordinator, teacher, producer – this week’s I Am YEG Arts feature focuses on Andrew Ritchie. 

Tell us about your connection to Edmonton and what keeps you living and working here. 

I was born and raised in Edmonton or amiskwacîwâskahikan on Treaty 6, and I am a third-generation settler of Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Polish heritage. My family originally immigrated to Winnipeg and rural Alberta, but we've kind of been in Edmonton since the 1980s or the 1950s, depending on what side of the family. And I've had the privilege to work across the whole country, including spending many years in Toronto, ON, but also in Regina, SK. But I've always been pulled back to Edmonton because this is where my community is. A lot of my personal family actually doesn't live here anymore, so it definitely is a place where my chosen family is. It's where my closest friends are, it’s where I've just found community among the people that practice theatre here, and I think -- especially after living in Toronto, which is a much larger city than Edmonton, then also in Regina, which is a much smaller city than Edmonton -- Edmonton feels kind of like the perfect size in between, and I feel like I can have a large impact in the city with my art. And there's also an ability to be DIY and to build it yourself here, which is kind of why I want to keep living and working here. Currently I work as the Program Coordinator with Theatre Alberta, I am the Artistic Director of Thou Art Here Theatre, I'm an ensemble member with Rapid Fire Theatre, and I'm also a freelance theatre artist. 

How did you get started in theatre? Was it always plan A? 

No, it was definitely not plan A, or B, or C, or D. My parents loved attending theatre. They were always patrons of the arts, so I think I was very lucky as someone growing up in Edmonton that I got the opportunity to see shows at the Citadel or at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre, or at the University of Alberta. And we'd go to the Fringe sometimes, or to the Street Performers Festival. But I was never really an artsy kid. It wasn't really until high school where I came across a lunchtime improv club, and through that I heard about improv that happened at 11:00 o'clock at night off Whyte Ave, which was Rapid Fire Theatre. I'd never heard of something like that before, and it was the coolest thing. This was in 2003 and I just fell in love with theatre. From that I did the Bachelor of Arts in Drama at the U of A, which eventually led me to graduate with my degree in theatre, kind of focusing on directing but kind of getting a handle on a little bit of everything from the BA program. And right after graduating, in 2011 I was part of a group that founded Thou Art Here Theatre, and also, I was part of a group of individuals that created the Found Festival under Common Ground Arts, and those two things happened roughly around the same time. And I think those kind of solidified my ongoing career in theatre. 

What was one of the biggest professional risks that you've taken and how did it influence where you are today? 

This was a tough one to think about. I think the biggest show risk I've ever taken was that in 2019 I directed and produced a production of Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play by Anne Washburn, who's an American playwright. And at the time, I wasn't living in Edmonton and that show was just so large in scale. I think the artistic risks we took to transform the Westbury Theatre into three different theatre spaces for that three-act play, and the design elements, and the original music we wrote for the show, and just all those different parts that came together for the piece were just such a huge risk and I think paid off in the art. It was definitely a very challenging process, and I can look back on that and it makes me think of the grandiose vision of that and the aesthetic of that show that is something that I'm interested in continuing to try to find. And I think for me as a director, I think scale or spectacle with people, just having a lot of artists involved, is kind of something that I'm always interested in working on large scale shows, even when I have small scale budget. So that was a very big risk that I think I took that continues to influence me. 

Top: Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn. 2019. Directed by Andrew Ritchie, photography by BB Collective. Bottom: MINE by Ash Hicks. 2023. Directed by Andrew Ritchie, photography by Mat Simpson.

Tell us a bit about your role with Thou Art Here Theatre and what makes it special to you and the city. 

Thou Art Here Theatre was co-founded in 2011 by myself and Neil Kuefler, who is a dear friend and a fellow graduate from the U of A. We both were emerging artists in the city and we, like many emerging artists, were very eager to work and we just weren't getting as many opportunities as we wanted. So, we decided to create our own opportunities and to produce shows in the spaces that we could get, which were free spaces, and I would say maybe sometimes “guerilla spaces” -- spaces that maybe you could ask for permission for, but we chose not to at that time. At that time, we were very interested in Shakespeare, being inspired by our professor David Barnett at the U of A. We were producing site specific, or “site sympathetic” Shakespeare shows that were engaging with the space.  

That theatre company is so special to me. I still work with them today. I've come and gone from the company a little bit over the years, but really it represents friendship to me, like camaraderie. It's really hard to run a theatre company, but I think one of the reasons that Thou Art Here continues to exist, and a lot of the people that originally started it are still involved, is because we've always centered friendship at the forefront of it, and through that we’ve been able to take huge risks with our shows. We were able to tour a show to Calgary. We were able to collaborate with Freewill for the past eight years. And since 2011, the company has changed a lot. We are now a non-profit, and we just became a charity, and we also dropped the Shakespeare mandate so we are now less focused on the work of Shakespeare and more focused on how space and the role of the audience can be explored in any theatre show. 

I think all theatre wants its audience to be engaged, of course, and I think when you break the rules that we understand about theatre, with how an audience may be is sitting, or they respond, or if they participate, I think it makes it much harder for the audience to disengage with the show. And I think it's more likely for it to be very memorable and hopefully an emotionally impactful experience. 

Of all of your “site sympathetic” productions that you have created over the years, are there any particular standouts? 

With Thou Art Here I think the one that we talked about the most in a certain nostalgic way is our production of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, which we did three times. It had such a success to it, so three years in a row, and each year we kind of built upon it with the design of the show. We did it in 2014 and 2015 at the Rutherford Provincial Historic Site on the U of A campus, and then in 2016 we toured it down to the Lougheed National Historic Site in Calgary. And though many of the artists that were involved in the shows became close friends and it was a group of 10 actors, I found all three productions of those had ensemble. We found a beautiful sense of ensemble and I'm always trying to find that again. 

Photo by BB Collective

As a long-standing member of Rapid Fire Theatre, how does improv inform your creative process as a theatre creator? 

I think it informs every part of it. I am constantly reminded of the rules of improv, or the tenants of improv. I am often working as a director or a leader in a space, and I think how I choose to have warmups in the space, how I approach rehearsal or teaching or directing, I want to embrace active listening, taking risks and that sense of play, which are all so important in improv. And I think continuing to act onstage and be in front of an audience can be super important for a director and makes them much more empathetic to the role of the actor and how an actor goes about the work that they do. So, I think it's all very tied together and I'm so very lucky to have performed as long as I have with Rapid Fire Theatre. 

Who's someone inspiring you right now and why? 

I recently had the fortune to travel to London, England and I saw a production of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, directed by Jamie Lloyd who wouldn't be a household name, but this production starred famous Emilia Clarke. It wasn't Emilia Clarke that made this production inspire me -- she was great still -- but the overall design of the show and how it was they staged it, it really embraced simplicity. It took away any props or costumes. It was so contemporary to London and to the context there. It really just used people and theatricality. It was not naturalistic; it was using just chairs and bodies in space to create all the different environments. And I thought that was so refreshing and it was clearly not possible to do in film and I think that's such an inspiring thing to see in theatre.  

And the other thing I just have to mention, are all my friends that are doing work in this city that inspire me. There's so many in the theatre community, but if I could rattle off a few, I am so inspired by my dear friends and their work: Geoffrey Simon Brown, Elena Eli Belyea, Gianna Vacirca, Oscar Derkx, Ainsley Hillyard, Lianna Makuch... there's so many. I'm inspired by my friends and community. 

Tell us a little bit about what you're currently working on and what you're hoping to explore next. 

So, I am currently developing a new solo show, my second show that I've ever created. It's called Cycle and it is all about urban biking and bike culture in Edmonton and in Canada. It's going to be exploring everyone's favourite two words: bike lanes. And I'd say it's hyper local, hyper political. It's also inspired by my time working as a bike food courier in Toronto and kind of talking about gig work culture and how biking can intersect with climate change and how we all have a right to move around our cities. So that's the show I’m currently working on.  

The other thing I'm working on is that I'm about to have a second baby with my amazing, inspiring partner and wife Marlee in August. So that's kind of the next big life project. 

If people are interested in learning more about any of the things I've talked about, you can go to  https://thouartheretheatre.com/ or on all the socials, or I have a website andrewritchie.net and sometimes I post on Instagram, but not often. 

Promo for Cycle by Andrew Ritchie. Graphic Design by Tynan Boyd.

About Andrew Ritchie

Andrew Ritchie is a director, theatre maker, improviser, teacher, and producer born and raised on Treaty 6 territory in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton). He has performed and directed across Turtle Island (North America) and his work has ranged from new work, contemporary, classical, improvisational, movement, mask, clown, bouffon, and immersive theatre.

He has a Master of Fine Arts in Directing & Creation from York University, a Bachelor of Arts in Drama & English with Distinction from the University of Alberta, and is a graduate of the Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program. 

Andrew is a co-founder and artistic director of Thou Art Here Theatre. He has performed improv across North America including being an ensemble member with Rapid Fire Theatre. Currently he is Program Coordinator with Theatre Alberta, an arts-service organization dedicated to the growth and development of the Albertan theatre community.

Previously he was the Sandbox Series Coordinator & Theatre School Director at Globe Theatre in Regina, SK from 2018-20. He is a co-founder of the Common Ground Arts Society's Found Festival, Edmonton's multi-disciplinary found space arts festival and was festival director from 2014-2015. He has ran two other indie theatre companies: Rock Steady Productions (2010-2012) & You Are Here Theatre (2016-2020).

[gaycalgary]

THEATRE - “We Will Rock You” Arrives Home: A Look At Alberta Produced Touring Production of Queen Musical http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5794

[spoiledsplendid]

@citadeltheatreyeg season launch. Can never get enough @elvis #spoiledsplendid #elvis #theatre #musical #music #yeg #elvis #worldpremiere (at Citadel Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/B72FCsZlFx6/?igshid=d0jku2zwcnp6

[eversleepingriv]

• History’s About to Get Overthrown • • • • Okay... I cannot even begin to describe how amazing this experience was!! After seeing the cosplays and audios circulating around Tiktok, I soon became absolutely obsessed with the musical and the amazing portrayals of the SIX Queens. So I threw together a really quick closet cosplay based on Anne Boleyn and actually got to see it live, and I genuinely haven’t stopped smiling since it ended. I was literally vibrating with excitement before and after, and also in the talk down where they answered my question and I metaphorically launched myself into the sun!! Also thank you to whoever asked about vocal tension because I will be using the techniques that were recommended. I am really glad I got to experience this with my aunt. Not only is my aunt incredibly knowledgeable about the monarchy’s history, but she knew just how empowering these women were thanks to a PBS show, so when I mentioned it was a modern tale on the story and it’s about women solidarity, she got us tickets and bought me the hoodie as an early Christmas gift. (It’s SO soft you don’t even know) I was a little worried she’d hate it, but she enjoyed herself almost as much as I did. These ladies killed it for 80 minutes non-stop, full energy and in fricken HEELS! I loved it so much. thank you for coming to lil old Edmonton in the Narnia of Canada. It was phenomenal @sixthemusicalus • Comment 1 thing that made you smile today! I think you can guess my (many) smile moment(s). • ~Tags~ #aroundtheriverssbend #theriverssbend #pebblesquad #sixthemusical #sixthemusicalus #six #sixyeg #yeg #citadeltheatreyeg #nonbinary #nb #enby #theythem #theatre #muscialtheatre (at Citadel Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5HnmwPHNen/?igshid=onw8m6jjb8kh

[wickedjack81]

I want to write a modern Christmas classic after seeing Xmas carol at the citadel in Edmonton but think I have too many anger issues!!

[officialvirago]

The @edmontonfringe is back in @oldstrathcona - Together We Fringe: A Fringe Theatre Event takes place August 12 – 22, 2021 in the heart of Old Strathcona in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and online on FringeTV.  Event headquarters can be found ATB Financial Arts Barns (10330 84 Avenue) and ATB (McIntyre) Park. From their website: “Together we Fringe: A Fringe Theatre Event celebrates 40 years of fringing as we look forward to 40 more. Fringe will look and feel very different this year. In fact, this year’s Event will more closely resembled the very first Fringe Theatre Event in 1982 than the Festival we knew and loved in 2019. This year’s hyper-local hybrid Event has been reimagined to deliver as safe an Event as possible and presents both live and digital programming, including ticketed live theatre performances for reduced capacity audiences; ticketed outdoor entertainment in ATB Park; on-demand and livestream content streamed on Fringe TV; and more. “ source: https://www.fringetheatre.ca/festival/ #yegfringe #fringe #edmontonfringe #yegarts #exploreedmonton #oldstrathcona #whyteavenue #yeg #edmonton #fringefestival #thedevilisinthedetails #creative #theatre #streetphotography #colour #color #streetarteverywhere #godisinthedetails #wandering #details #Alberta #Canada (at Edmonton Fringe Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSzELmNnmIR/?utm_medium=tumblr

[intothestacks]

Pics from a play about the rising violence in my hometown that I co-wrote and co-performed in for a major theatre in my province when I was 16

I'm the one holding the sign that says "esponsibility".

The play was called Are We Safe Yet? (a reference to some graffiti our sound and light tech saw one day near the theatre) and was part of a program for teens where we worked with professionals in our fields of interest to put on performances.

Instead of being one single story, the play was a bunch of wildly varied sketches talking about different aspects of violence, how it can affect a community, and how we can work to solve those issues.

^ My favourite sketch from the play: a dance-y fight sequence inspired by the fight between the Sharks and the Jets in West Side Story (complete with finger snaps!). Our amazing director even managed to snag a professional fight choreographer to volunteer to design the fight and direct us through it.

^ The whole team together! Our director was the incredibly talented Mieko Ouchi. If you're Canadian and have a chance to see something written or directed by her, take that chance!

[inkfable]

The Edmonton Fringe Festival brings back a lot of memories. So when I was asked if I would create a t-shirt design for their 40th anniversary, I jumped at the opportunity to show what the fringe festival is like based on my experiences. Preorders for the shirt start July 30th (check their website for details). I am excited to see it. . . #yeg #yegart #digitalart #edmontonfringe #art #artlife #illustration #artistoninstagram #originalcontent #tshirtdesign #grinding #drawingwhileblack #blackartist #buskers #family #PerformanceArt #theatre #yegfringefestival #localartist #freelance #procreate (at Edmonton, Alberta) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRcmdZthlY7/?utm_medium=tumblr

[kevinpennyfeather]

‘The Gooseberry’ headlines my NextFest theatre and dance reviews for Vue Weekly Vue Weekly gave me free reign of NextFest last weekend. Here are excerpts from my reviews of…

[yegphotographer]

Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival 2023 by Paula Kirman

[crypitick]

Orpheus Was A Poor Boy

Anais Liked This On IG? Im deceased.

Reeve Carney | Hadestown