The Penelopiad
Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood and starring Meg Roe, this play tells the story of Penelope and her maids, the women who were only a footnote in Homer’s The Odyssey.
Sept 21 - Oct 9 • Martha Cohen Theatre
The Last Dog of War
Linda Griffiths’s cuttingly funny, fierce and poignant true-life tale of the trip she took with her father to his final RAF bomber squad reunion in England.
Oct 19 - Nov 6 • Martha Cohen Theatre
Seussical The Musical
This family holiday presentation is a musical based on the works of Dr. Seuss.
Nov 25 - Dec 30 • Martha Cohen Theatre
The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop brings its newly revised, nationally celebrated production about love and desire back to the stage.
March 29 - April 16 • Martha Cohen Theatre
Mump & Smoot Cracked
Michael Kennard and John Turner return as the unruly Clowns from Hell to challenge their god Ummo, with hilarious results.
April 26 - May 15 • Martha Cohen Theatre
Goodness
Alberta première of Michael Redhill’s play. An old man accused of orchestrating genocide, who may or may not have Alzheimer’s, explores the grey shades of good and evil.
Sept 23 - Oct 2 • Big Secret Theatre
In the Wake
Expanding on its original April 2010 run, this darkly humorous look at the complex dilemmas surrounding geo-engineering and eco-terrorism features four actors portraying dozens of characters with the help of a live musical score. Presented as part of the High Performance Rodeo.
Dates TBA • Lunchbox Theatre
And So It Goes
The first play in a decade from acclaimed Canadian playwright George F. Walker, this is a black comedy about a middle-class couple being hit hard by both the current recession and their daughter's schizophrenia.
March 31 - April 9 • Motel
Ruined
Set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ruined follows the lives of women forced to live in a brothel, suffering the consequences of rape as a weapon of war.
August 13 to 28 • Lunchbox Theatre
The Vagina Monologues
It’s familiar to most, but this one’s a benefit in honour of the late Marsha Ellen Meidow.
November 17 • location TBA
WEAVE: A Workshop Production
Time and location TBA
One
An innovative, theatrical free-association on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth follows Philistine, a bibliophile librarian, as she journeys through the underworld in search of her lover George, a budding astronomer who dreams of one day joining the constellations.
Dec 9 - 18 • Joyce Doolittle Theatre
The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst (working title)
In collaboration with Vancouver’s Rumble Productions, a work-in-progress about 1969 British entrepreneur and sailor Donald Crowhurst, who disappeared on the final leg of a sailing competition. A multimedia meditation on ambition and artistry by the creators of The Highest Step in the World.
March 18 - 19 • Venue TBA
Reverie
Last year’s preview offered a taste of this year’s production about the choices we make and their consequences. Half music video, half theatrical event, Reverie focuses on a society lost in its own concerns while a revolution happens outside its doors.
May 19 - 28 • Joyce Doolittle Theatre
GROUND ZERO THEATRE AND HIT & MYTH PRODUCTIONS
A Behanding in Spokane
Life and death are up for grabs, and fate is governed by imbeciles and madmen in this darkly comic new play from the acclaimed playwright Martin McDonagh.
Dates TBA • Vertigo Studio Theatre
Reasons to be Pretty
This play by Neil LaBute looks at four friends whose relationships crumble as they are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that universal question: How much is pretty worth?
Nov 4 - 20 • Vertigo Studio Theatre
Kung Fu Panties
Rebecca Northan’s play, which got its start at the High Performance Rodo’s 10 Minute Play Festival, is a comedic send-up of the action movie genre. The Sisterhood, a group of beautiful but deadly super agents, aim to put a stop to crime at any cost — but things go wrong.
March 18 – April 3 • Vertigo Studio Theatre
Ways and Means
Noel Coward’s play about a couple in an embarrassing financial bind whose search for an escape from social ruin reaps very entertaining results.
Sept 20 - Oct 9
In Flanders Fields
Based on the life of John McCrae, the Canadian doctor who penned the famous poem of the same name, this play tells the story of the Great War events leading to the poem’s creation.
Oct 18 - Nov 13
With Bells On
An uptight, recently divorced accountant and a drag queen dressed as a Christmas tree get stuck in an elevator, and an unlikely friendship is forged.
Nov 22 - Dec 18
Lauchie, Liza and Rory
Written by the renowned Sheldon Currie, the funny and at times heartbreaking tale of twin brothers who fall for the same girl.
Feb 7 - 26
Wanda’s Visit
A hilarious account of what happens when an old flame shows up unexpectedly and turns a happy, if somewhat dull, marriage upside down.
March 7 - 26
Tuesdays and Sundays
Based on the true story of star-crossed young lovers Mary Tuplin and William Millman at the turn of the 20th century, and played by Calgary couple Geoffery Ewert and Adrienne Smook.
April 4 - 23
Shopaholic Husband Hunt
Glenda Stirling’s Shopaholic character, Abby, is back and searching for the perfect husband with the same determination that she previously shopped for the perfect pair of pants. Featuring the original Shopaholic cast.
May 2 - 21
Emerging Director Presentation
After assistant directing during the regular season, the emerging director has a chance to put their learning into action with a showcase production.
June 1 - 4
Based on a Totally True Story
A contemporary comedy about a comic book writer who finds his relationship with his father and his boyfriend strained when a Hollywood producer comes looking to turn one of his unproduced plays into a big budget horror movie.
Nov 18 - 27 • Arrata Opera Centre
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow
In this quirky comedy by Katt Boulett, adoptee Jennifer Marcus builds a robot, names it Jenny Chow and sends it soaring across the globe to China in an effort to find her birth mother.
Feb 3 - 12 • Arrata Opera Centre
Radioheaded 2: A Listening Party to Watch
Directed by Denise Clarke, a group of talented young artists perform a physical exploration of Radiohead's latest album, In Rainbows.
Sept 14 - 18 • Big Secret Theatre
Smash Cut: Freeze
In the latest One Yellow Rabbit creation, three actors blur the line between stage and screen. Directed by Denise Clarke and inspired by the classic films of Stanley Kramer, this is a witty foray into the actor’s psyche.
Jan 12 - 15 • Big Secret Theatre
Some Girls
Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s) is a comedy straight from the trenches of the war between the sexes.
Oct 27 - Nov 6 • Joyce Doolittle Theatre
Den of Thieves
When things don't quite go according to plan, a bickering quartet of hapless thieves finds themselves at the mercy of Louie "The Little Tuna" Pescatore.
Feb 23 - March 5 • Joyce Doolittle Theatre
Blood: A Scientific Romance
World première of a new Canadian work by Meg Braem. When twin sisters orphaned in a crash that leaves them critically injured experience a remarkable recover, the doctor on call adopts them in a quest to study their undeniable bond.
Sept 30 - Oct 9 • Pumphouse Theatre
The Blue Room
A modern adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde, this play depicts a daisy chain of 10 sexual encounters between five women and five men, all portrayed by one actor and one actress.
Nov 25 - Dec 4 • Pumphouse Theatre
Girl in the Goldfish Bowl
Ten-year-old Iris has a bad feeling about things — the Cuban missile crisis is at its height, her parent's marriage is floundering and her goldfish has just died — so when she finds a mysterious man on the beach, she regards him as a godsend.
March 17 - 26 • Pumphouse Theatre
Macbeth
William Shakespeare’s cursed play Macbeth is one of his most revered tragedies, telling the tale of one couple's rise to greatness at any price and the descent into madness that comes as the ultimate cost.
Oct 21 - 30 • Vertigo Studio Theatre
Richard III
Shakespeare's sadistic crookback villain’s lust for power is equalled by the wicked delight he takes in manipulating men and women alike, in order to see himself crowned King.
April 13 - 23 • Vertigo Studio Theatre
The Queens
Normand Chaurette's haunting play explores the "back stage" lives of the Queens in Shakespeare's Richard III and invites us to delve deeply into the psyches of the most powerful women on Earth.
June 8 - 18 • Vertigo Studio Theatre
Tuesdays with Morrie
Jamie Farr (M.A.S.H.) stars in the autobiographical story of Mitch Albom, an accomplished journalist driven solely by his career, and his former college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is battling Lou Gehrig's disease.
Sept 2 - Nov 7
Motown Gold: A Musical Revue
The story of Motown Records, the first African-American owned record label featuring African-American artists, which united cultures and forever influenced the music industry
Nov 11 - Jan 30
Move Over Mrs. Markham
A light-hearted sex farce written by legendary playright Ray Cooney, with John Chapman.
Feb 3 - April 10
All Shook Up
Set in 1955 small-town America, the musical story of a hip-swiveling, guitar-playing, motorcycle-riding roustabout stranger who comes to town to fall in love with a sweet, young local girl, set to the music of Elvis Presley.
April 14 - June 19
Don’t Hug Me
An award-winning musical comedy that takes place in a colorful, rustic north woods bar in tiny Bunyan Bay, Minnesota during the coldest, most bone-chilling day of the year.
June 23 - Aug 28
i-ROBOT Theatre
Zoning and fire regulations put an end to this innovative work earlier in 2010, but the company is hoping to overcome bad luck this fall.
Fall 2010 • Time and location TBA
Freak Show
Every year, as part of the High Performance Rodeo, Swallow-a-Bicycle takes audiences on behind the scenes tours — last year included the Epcor Centre and the Glenbow. Along the way, there are performances ranging from music, to dance, to theatre.
January 2010 • Time and location TBA
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
When Randle P. Murphy cons his way into a mental institution in order to escape prison life, he comes head to head with the tyrannical Nurse Ratched in a battle of wits that puts the lives of other patients at risk.
Sept 14 - Oct 3 • Max Bell Theatre
Lost — A Memoir
Based on the book by Cathy Ostlere about her heartrending journey to discover the truth behind her brother’s disappearance at sea — what she uncovers brings her closer to finding the truth of her own heart.
Oct 19 - Nov 7 • Max Bell Theatre
A Christmas Carol
Annual holiday classic by Charles Dickens and starring Stephen Hair.
Dec 2 - 26 • Max Bell Theatre
Billy Bishop Goes to War
The Soulpepper Theatre Company brings John Gray and Eric Peterson’s timeless story of World War One fighter pilot Billy Bishop to the stage in a critically acclaimed production. Presented as part of the High Performance Rodeo.
Jan 18 - 22 • Max Bell Theatre
The Drowsy Chaperone
This Canadian musical comedy set in the 1920s begins when a diehard musical fan shares his favourite cast album from a smash hit called The Drowsy Chaperone, and the show bursts magically to life in his apartment.
Feb 8 - March 6 • Max Bell Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing
One of Shakespeare’s most playful, accessible and romantic plays. When friends and family gather for a wedding, hidden desires, jealousies and mischievous schemes threaten to keep the bride and groom from the altar.
March 22 - April 10 • Max Bell Theatre
Mom’s the Word: For Crying Out Loud!
From the terrible twos to the terrifying teens, experience the frustrations, embarrassments and dizzying joys of being a mom through funny and poignant vignettes of motherhood.
April 26 - May 21 • Max Bell Theatre
Quest: David Thompson’s Journey 1811
Focusing on the land geographer’s epic journey across the Great Divide in 1811, this is a play about the desire to explore, manifesting as a mythological archetype narrative found throughout all cultures and traditional stories.
Nov 21 - 27 • Dancers’ Studio West
Medea
Widely argued as the first play to deal with pro‐feminist sentiments, this version of the classic Greek play pits revenge against passion through symbolism and the surreal.
March 1 - 5 • Vertigo Studio Theatre
The Cremation of Sam McGee
Using the classic Canadian poem by Robert W. Service as the foreground narrative, this performance piece investigates the questionable elements of honour and necessity against the backdrop of confrontation with struggle.
Dates TBA • Various venues
Architecting
TEAM (Theatre of the Emerging American Movement) of New York brings an exhilarating new American saga that weaves through the country’s past and future in a musical, multimedia time-bending epic.
Sept 22 - 25
The Ballad of Ricky and Ronny: A Pop Opera
Needcompany, a multilingual and multidisciplinary performance group based in Brussels, Belgium, brings a portrait of a middle-class couple that has everything they need but the meaning of life.
Oct 13 - 16
L’Orchestre d’hommes-orchestres performs Tom Waits
Using nearly 100 objects and invented instruments, six frenzied multi-instrumentalists from Quebec City hammer and caress the tunes of Tom Waits in madcap scenes of unbridled energy. Presented as part of the High Performance Rodeo.
Jan 20 - 22
C!rca
From Brisbane, Australia comes a bold new vision of contemporary circus, blending bodies, lights, sounds and skills in a celebration of the expressive possibilities of the human body at its extremes.
Feb 1 - 5
Lucy Lost Her Heart
Theatre Junction’s Resident Company of Artists present the third instalment in their trilogy of new creations exploring themes of death, desire and the Canadian West. This is an investigation on identity, the lost memory, the game of truth and lies.
Feb 25 - March 5
Under the Skin
A new full-length collaboration from Wen Wei Dance and Beijing Modern Dance Company that explores the common ground shared by performers in Canada and China, and examines ideas of cultural and personal identity.
March 23 - 26
L’Effet de Serge
From Vivarium Studio in Paris, this “micro-drama” tells the story of Serge, who presents one- to three-minute performances using homemade special effects to his friends every Sunday at his flat, bringing ordinary objects to life.
April 6 - 9
The Liar
A comedy about Lelio, who doesn’t want to lie, but never seems to get what he wants with the truth.
Oct 26 - Nov 6 • University Theatre
Perfect Pie
Acclaimed Canadian playwright Judith Thompson serves up a slice of life about childhood, friendship and old secrets.
Nov 30 - Dec 11 • Reeve Theatre
King Lear
One of Shakespeare’s greatest works, about an aging ruler who intends to divide England equally between his three daughter, but things go wrong and he loses everything.
Feb 15 - 26 • University Theatre
Taking Flight: A Festival of Student Work
Diverse performances ranging from staged reading by graduate level playwrights, and performance creation and improvisation pieces, to complete productions of one-act plays by some of the world’s most respected playwrights.
March 29 - April 9 • Reeve Theatre
Heroines: A Series of Brave New Work
This event includes two all-new productions and a glimpse into the creative process with a work-in-progress presentation.
Dates TBA • Lunchbox Theatre
It is Solved by Walking
World première by Governor General Award-winning playwright Catherine Banks. The poetic and sensual journey of a woman in mid-life — faced with a lifetime of failure and an imaginary friend, Margaret must find her feet.
April 28 - May 7 • Pumphouse Theatre
Pretty, Witty, And GAY!
A fundraising cabaret of music, theatre, comedy, dance, drag and drinks. A great party.
Oct 2 • Arrata Opera Centre
John and Beatrice
Beatrice is looking for a man to save her from self-imposed isolation in this play by Governor General Award-winner Carole Frechette.
Oct 19 to 30 • Motel
The Opposite of Dismal, a Show and Tell
Oedipus Evolving was Verb’s first collaboration with Calgary’s homeless community. This year The Opposite of Dismal will explore the question “What the best part about…”
Nov 24 to 27 • Motel
Marg Szkaluba (Pissy’s Wife)
Starring Sharon Pollock, this is one woman’s recounting of an abusive relationship and her escape from it. It promises to be funnier than it sounds.
March 3 to 13 • Ironwood Stage and Grill
12 Angry Men
An underprivileged youth accused of murdering his father faces death by the electric chair, leaving his fate in the hands of 12 jurors who must reach one verdict.
Sept 11 - Oct 10
The 39 Steps
Alfred Hitchcock’s film is adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow in an action-packed, humorous story about a beautiful spy who is murdered and the man who is falsely accused of killing her.
Nov 13 - Dec 12
Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
Catalyst Theatre’s production features echoes of Poe’s work fused with music in this fantastical biography revealing the psychology of the man whose darkly comic writings resonate in our tell-tale hearts. Presented as part of the High Performance Rodeo.
Jan 6 - Feb 6
And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie’s story about 10 people, each with something to fear, who are invited to a lonely mansion on Soldier Island by a host who fails to appear. One by one, they begin to die.
March 5 - April 3
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
From Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella about murder on the streets of London, coinciding with the strange behaviour of a respectable doctor.
April 30 – May 29
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