What’s in theatres this week? Who knows! I’m so lazy and confused. Well, okay, I know SOME things.

Like over at Arts Court, the current and third season of TACTICS is hitting its third and final week! Which means workshop presentations galore, reading 1984 because it’s depressingly relevant, and of course the last week of their mainstage show GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! from Cart Before the Horse Theatre.

Those of you in the know, know that CbtH is the company spearheaded by human dynamo Megan Carty. She’s appeared with the company a few times now at the Fresh Meat Festival, and is returning to Tactics after stunning last season with PERFECT PIE (pretty easily my outstanding fav’rit of the 2^nd season). This latest show is part 3 in an ambitious long-term theatrical project that started with 2014’s SHAPE OF A GIRL, continued in Judith Thompson’s PERFECT PIE, and now, GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! will potentially complete the saga. It’s more of a triptych than a true trilogy, technically, as these are 3 disparate works from different writers, but thematically linked by the common thread of bullying, a prime target of Carty’s.

This latest is a show that was written by Greg MacArthur in response to a variety of horrific real-world events and continues to look at the blight of bullying, specifically among young women. Directed by Gabbie Lazarovitz and Mariah Horner, who both co-star in the show as well along with Carty, Sam Dietrich and Maryse Fernandez. A couple of new names for me there, but always adore seeing Gabbie Laz and Sam Dietrich do pretty much anything.

Perfect Pie was my fav’rit bit of Tactics last season, and Shape of a Girl was a stunner back at the Avalon, so I have high expectations for this latest Cart production. And, having now had the delightful opportunity to actually work with Megan Carty over the winter, I can tell ya she’s a passionate creator and always a joy to see on stage. And in a show SHE’S passionate about, like this one..? You’re in for a jolt, gang. CBtH shows stay with you, and don’t shy away from tough portrayals of tough issues and bitter truths. And quite frankly, not a lot of creators WANT to tackle things like that (I certainly don’t…brrr!), especially the very personal and toxic subject of systemic female bullying that Carty and gang tackle with relish. You’ll squirm, you’ll cringe, and you’ll be very glad you did.

And joining it at Tactics this week are a host of workshop-version performances of new shows, from thee likes of Evolution Theatre, Amelia Griffin and Tim Ginley. Also food! What more can ya ask? Go go go to GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! Se ya there (if you’re going on Thursday, anyways). Peace, love and soul,

Kevin R

Wow made it for two in a row of these! And barely, as I’m fighting off a bit of a plague just now and can hardly keep my eyes open. To business!

IN THEATRES THIS WEEK:

VIGILANTE from Catalyst Theatre, at the NAC. Based on a Stompin’ Tom song, I believe.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS from Theatre Kraken, at the Gladstone. Little shop, Big show.

1979 at the GCTC. A rare venture into political theatre for Michael Healey. HAHA JK HE DOES IT ALL THE TIME!! But, I mean, see it. He’s probably pretty good at it by now, right? And speaking of ’79…

ON THE STAGES. So, VIGILANTE. Got to check this one out with the Sweetie last week, and we were both pretty psyched about it. It is, as you’ve accurately heard, a rockin’, raucous good time from the cats at Catalyst, featuring a scorching original soundtrack that you WILL be disappointed to find you can’t buy on the way out of the theatre. Good performances and wicked costumes help tell the somewhat amped-up true story of the infamous Donnelly clan from out Lucan-way, and of course it’s especially nice to see good ole Kris Joseph back in town, all Spider-Jerusalemed up as Michael Donnelly (as well as one of the nastier villains of the piece). A violent, occasionally harrowing but always exciting piece of original art based on Canadian history. Check it out!

Just a nice, normal family.

Also, ALSO, got out to the latest installment in the Ottawa fringe Festival’s anniversary #Fringe20 series. Another double-bill this time around, with Black Sheep Theatre’s ROOT OF ALL SQUARES teamed up for AN ADULT EVENING OF SHEL SILVERSTEIN from Third Wall. A good time of an evening indeed, as thee real-life double bill of Ray Besharah and Laura Hall are ALWAYS a treat to watch, and their scout-cosplayed turn in Sterling Lynch’s absurdist look at economic theory was a delight.

Then the 3^rd Wall gang (comprising onstage of Attilla Cleman, Sarah Finn, Katarina Fiallos, Andrew Moore and Norah Paton) jam the stage for a rapid-fire series of mini-plays from legendary children’s (and Playboy) writer Silverstein, ranging from good deals on the street to bag lady genesis. And while some of his material has aged, perhaps, not as gracefully as other bits, it was a solid show with great staging, performances and sound. The World’s Best Dad bit may have been my fav’rit.

Coming up for #Fringe 20 in May is the legendary Pierre Brault in the even more legendary BLOOD ON THE MOON. Ya now you got to get this one in, if only as part one of your Pierre Brault double-bill when PORTRAIT OF AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN returns for a run at the Gladstone that same month!

BOOKAGE. Doing plenty of the old ‘reading’ lately thanks to the sweetie dragging me back into the Public library for the fist time sine they started using those new-fangled computing devices. Recently polished off the amazing and enthralling HARPO SPEAKS, which is of course the autobiography of Adolphe ‘Harpo’ Marx, a natural draw for a silent clown like me. With in-depth tales from the days of Vaudeville to Hollywoood hijinks, to kibbitzing with the fabled members of the Algonquin Club, touring Russia, hanging around San Simeon and finally adopting a loving family with his beloved wife, found in his forties (see? It does happen!). It’s damn terrific, and I highly recommend it (as well as his mouthier brother Groucho’s various books, also must-reading). Now moving onto a more modern tale, this time of the great Steve Martin in his BORN STANDING UP: A COMIC’S LIFE looking back at his stand-up days. Oddly, his book starts in the mid-60’s, precisely where Harpo’s leaves off.

Also have knocked out another post at my sister site THE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE where I talk, mostly to myself, about Valiant comics, the thing I love besides theatre. And the sweetie isn’t a ‘thing’, which is why I didn’t mention her. She’s off tonight doing the Hothouse reading series at Algonquin College, while my sick ass lies in an unceremonious heap in my crumby apartment. Knock ’em dead, babe!

.Oh, and I’m in a Fringe show this June. More on that another day. I is tired. Now let’s all watch the THOR: RAGNAROK trailer and then get some sleeps.  Peace, love and soul,

Kevin R

PS Any theatre peeps in town feel like meeting up for coffee some day and teach me how to make a proper theatrical resume.? My skills in resume making are several decades out of date and I have a sinking feeling that mine currently looks like dogshit. Thanks in advance! 😉

PPS  Looks more like THOR: CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS doesn’t it? Still wicked cool tho. Forget I said it.

This old Visitorium has been a little patchwork/schizoid these last few months. Am i reviewing still? Am I just promoting theatre…or my own work? Why is it still here?

Honestly, every time I try and come up with answers to these questions, I just get tired in my brain. So instead of thinking, I’m just gonna write, which is way easier and probably more productive. Let’s just try it shall we?

And what a day to start writing…international Women’s Day! Where to even begin? I suppose where my instincts usually tell me to start…with comic books.

Fun Fact: If you’ve ever lamented that there is no ‘International Men’s Day’; congratulations! You’re part of the problem.

I don’t buy as many comix as I did in my heyday, but feel free to check out FAITH from Valiant comics, written by Jody Hauser and featuring maybe the only plus-sized female superhero headliner, well, ever. Revived from her original incarnation at Valiant in the 90’s, the new Valiant has left the litany of fat-jokes that dogged this character behind and instead embraced her unfaltering optimism, loyalty and flat-out heroism. It’s an unapologetically positive book that deserves much of the accolades its receiving. And check Faith out in the team book HARBINGER RENEGADE as well, because its awesome too.

And of course there’s LUMBERJANES, an epically amazing fantasy-tinged ongoing from Noelle Stevenson about the adventures of an all-girl scout-style troop at a summer camp. With delightfully cartoony art and instantly engaging and diverse characters, this is one for all ages and all hearts. I’ve been collecting the trades, and you should too. Might I suggest, for my Ottawa readers, picking a few of them up at Comet comix at 1167 Bank Street in Old Ottawa South? Owned and run by the fantastic Heather, and she won’t steer ya wrong!

I could go on and on…DOCTOR MIRAGE, SAGA, BITCH PLANET, MS MARVEL…there’s good stuff out there. But I DO have theatre to get to. And I love me some rambling about theatre. I mean, this blog was primarily founded on my unabashed love for the one-woman show. And having already caught one of the best of these, Margo MacDonald’s THE ELEPHANT GIRLS this year, my theatrical ladybar is set nice and high for 2017.

So what’s coming up? Well, tonight I have the honour of catching INFINITY at the NAC Studio, written by Ottawa’s own wunderkind playwright Hannah Moscovitch (or @moscotweets as her close personal friends like me know her on the Twitter). She’ll be back in the newly announced GCTC 2017/18 season. I’ll dig into many of the new season announcements in another post, but happy to report there seems to be plenty of female representation across the board, at least at first glance.

For my own part, I’ve been blessed to have some simply astonishing and talented ladies helping to prop me and Strange Visitations up during our 3-year existence. Like repeat director Jodi Morden, soon to be seen back at the Ottawa fringe with the fierce Hannah Gibson Fraser in a new project from Pretty Ugly Productions. Or my clown pal Madeleine Hall, also returning to Fringe with a solo project that will quite simply knock your likely mismatched socks off. Also multitalented Rebecca Laviolette and the unstoppable Erin MacDonald, both of whom I would have been lost without.

True Theatre Luv.

And I have so many more women in Theatre who I look up to, admire, and continue to be inspired by…Nancy Kenny, Alix Sideris, Michelle leBlanc, Kristina Watt, Martha Ross, Alexis Scott, Gemma Wilcox, Rachel Eugster, Laura Hall, Brooke Cameron, Morro and Jasp, Kirsten Rasmussen, Mind of a Snail, Ingrid Hansen, Jan Irwin, Megan Carty, Catriona Leger, Mary Ellis, Kate Smith, Bronwyn Steinberg, Lisa Zanyk…I could (and probably should) go on. Instead, I’ll just make a special shoutout to my old classmate and theatrical force of nature Kathryn Paige Reeves. The Mouse has a brand new play of her own creation about to take to the stage this April, and I could not be prouder. Don’t think I’m not considering a road trip, Kathryn!

SO. EFFING. PROUD.

And hey, it would be quite silly to write up a Women’s Day post without mentioning, nay worshipping, the brilliant, sexy, silly and passionate woman who has allowed me to be a part of her life, my sweetie Caitlin. You make me stronger, you help me grow, and even if I am the Giraffey in our relationship, I promise I’m always looking up to you. Thanks for never giving up on me.

Schmoop.

What else? I should mention the incredible book I’m reading right now, found at the library while hunting for the autbiography of Harpo Marx (which I DID find, don’t worry). It’s called I AWAIT THE DEVIL’S COMING by turn of the century flapper-to-be Mary MacLane, and it’s a series of fiery, brilliantly nonconformist diary entries she wrote in Butte, Montana in 1902 at the age of 19. Full of incredible language and razor wit, it’s a thing of terrible dark beauty and I kind of NEED some local young actress to pick it up and adapt it into a 1-woman show. Monica Bradford-Lea, off the top of my head? I’ll help you!

This is an important day, and ever-more important this year with the pussy-grabbing grand wizard down south doing his worst every day (and that’s pretty worst). Keep being positive. Read something a woman wrote, see a play with women, watch a movie directed by a woman, collect a comic starring a woman…and then keep doing that. Because, of course, one day is approximately 364 too few. Peace, love and soul,

Kevin R

PS special shoutout to the bestest ladies of the all, my amazing niecelets Brynn and Clara. Rule the World, gals!!

I don’t know what it is about today, January 20^th 2017, but I have a strong urge to write a blogpost about a world leader with a surname beginning in TRU. Someone charismatic, and known for speaking his mind. A real divisive figure, ya know? And I’m not talking about Justin Trudeau, neither. I’m talking about TRUDEAU. As in Pierre Elliot, the ultimate PM…yeah, no, I wouldn’t waste your precious time talking about that monster down south. You got enough of that on Twitter today (and every day, really).

Fortunate Son that I am, I got a chance to check out the latest at the GCTC, Brooke Johnson’s autobiographical one-woman storytelling epic TRUDEAU STORIES. The stage was sparsely set as I walked in, just a small box set beside a terrifically comfy looking chair. I thought for a moment Jim Jefferies was about to stroll out and do a set

Comedian Jim Jefferies also uses a comfy chair in his stand-up comedy shows. Just to put a point on this completely unnecessary sidebar.

But of course, tonight belonged to the great Brooke Johnson, who took to the stage with a smile and started telling her story through memory, letters, and a very special piece of audio, of her unlikely friendship with the man himself, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Beginning with a chance encounter during her time at the National Theatre School in Montreal back in the 80’s, including an awkward dance in ill-fitting shoes, the show goes on to detail the extraordinary platonic bond that developed between a budding actor and our national enigma, both a playful and sombre figure in this recollection as his legendary head occasionally weighs heavy under the burden of his phantom crown. He may have stopped being PM, after all, but he could never stop being Trudeau.

Not that Brooke Johnson herself isn’t a force in the show…her easy warmth and charm brings the audience in to her story before they even know they’ve been trapped in her storytelling spell. Together with some beautiful direction from Allyson McMackon, the story of not only Brooke and Trudeau, but their odd relationship and his place in the Canadian identity creeps off the stage and into a warm, fuzzy place in the audience’s hearts. The show ends with an appropriate ‘remember where you were’ moment, as the struggle of maintaining so private a friendship with so public a figure comes to its inevitable, emotional conclusion. It’s a satisfying, heartwarming, funny and terribly Canadian piece of work and it made me awful happy to see it. It might even be enough to make you love Justin again. Peace, love and soul,

Kevin R

Back in Ottawa for about a week now…still missing the mountains, wicked sushi and cheaper, more efficient mass transit big time. And definitely missing Fringe, tho the worst of my post-fest ennui has evaporated by now. But this was a particularly special Fringe for me, not only my first visit to Vancouver Fringe, but first time performing in another Fringe Festival to boot. And how did that go down?

lux elle imagery is fine art, editorial, and comercial photography, digital editing work and motion work.

FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF DATING. We (meaning myself, Madeleine Hall and Jodi Morden) opened this weird little silent physical comedy to an unexpected crowd of 60 people on Friday September 9^th and then never looked back. And while we never did crack that 60 opening, our houses were always good and I feel safe in saying our trip to Vancouver Fringe was a resounding success. Much lovely feedback abounded, including some from some familiar and friendly faces (thanks again for the surprise visit, Sarah Finn!) With the assistance of our terrific venue tech Phil, the show went off without a hitch 6 for 6, we had a blast every time, and quite frankly are already itching to come back.

As for the future of Speed of Dating, well, we’re definitely hoping to do an Ottawa remount in the months to come, and we’ll keep you posted on that front. The new bits in the show went over great and we can’t wait to show the hometown what we got! Special thanks to the Fresh Meat festival for helping us premiere this one 2 years back, and good luck on the upcoming 5^th anniversary edition…and more on THAT in my next post, coming soon.

VANCOUVER FRINGE. Can I just say I love this festival? Granville Island is maybe the perfectest setting for a Fringe that exists on planet Earth (although I did make it out to some of the off-Island venues to, like the historic Cultch and Rio), and we lucked out with damn near perfect weather for the entire time. I managed to catch almost 30 shows while I was there, and for the record that includes:

Space Hippo

Peripeteia

I Forgot to Fly Today

Happiness ™

the Ballad of Frank Allen

the Girl who was Raised by Wolverine

Aux.la.more.

Does Not Play Well with Others

the Jupiter Rebellion

In the Trenches

Great Day for Up

Bella Culpa

Curious Contagious

Perpetual Wednesday

Fat Sex

Love is a Battlefield

the Lion the Bitch and the Wardrobe

Frank: to be Frank

Falling Awake

Love, Lust and Lace

Berlin Waltz

Til Death: the Six Wives of Henry VIII

Wild/Society

Nerdfucker

Get Lost Jem Rolls

Cabaret of Bullshit

In the Blue of Evening

Ze: Queer as Fuck

Some AMAZING stuff in there…Vancouver had a seriously stacked deck of talent this Fringe. I count myself lucky anybody found the time to squeeze our little show into their schedule! FALLING AWAKE and BELLA CULPA, a pair of 2-hander physical comedies, were definite highlights and inspirations for me, not to mention the hilarious BALLAD OF FRANK ALLEN that I caught twice. But things were great across the board, even the very setup of the Fringe, setting out from sandwich board village every day to see shows, and meeting back at the open air Fringe bar in the evening (I didn’t realize how MUCH I’d missed an open air Fringe bar, you guys!). Props also to the simple and brilliant Artist Rush Pass system, replacing the occasionally cumbersome password system for this Fringe. And of course, huge thank you to my amazing billet Naomi, who not only kept a roof over my head for the duration, but provided our show with the chairs we needed to go on!  You’re the best!

I guess the view wasn’t so bad, either.

FAV’RIT MOMENTS. Skytrains. Aquabus. Sandwich board village. Lizard-Maaaan. Seagull ate my pizza. If it seems too hard…stop trying. You can’t predict the Heather. Epic dance party. 100 dollar lunch at Queen Elizabeth Park. Tacos at Cats. Sushi Aria. Reunion with Cliff. STU! Crowdsurfing cardtrick. Moths. Dancing with Frank. Popcorn and beer at the Rio. The Berlin Wall comes alive. Closing Night Selfie with Jayson McDonald.

Also, and inappropriately, known as the Giant invisible Selfie.

And maybe my last, fav’rit moment at Vancouver Fringe came on the final night. Sandwich board village had been torn down, last shows were on, we’d closed the day before. A gentle rain was falling across Granville Island, and this dream of a trip was almost done. I took a long, lonely final wander around the place to say goodbye, getting a bit misty-eyed in the misty evening, fully feeling an early post-Fringe depression. Then, as I was passing a small restaurant, a happy couple spilled out not too far from me. They saw me, and one of them immediately shouted “Hey, it’s the Speed Dating guy!” We walked together for a minute, and they told me how much they’d loved the show, and the Fringe, and my frown turned upside down in a flash. To quote one of my fav’rit philosophers in what feels like appropriate timing…the Human Race. Don’t you just love it? Yes I do. It is the only Possible way to cope with it.

Bless ya Vancouver Fringe. I’ll be back. Peace, love and soul,

Kevin Reid

It all started with a flower.

Almost three years ago now I was in my one and only semester at the late, great Ottawa Theatre School, working away on my end of year project, a five minute ‘vocal masque’, in this case a silent and solo 5-minute performance piece. After a few questionable ideas, one night I lay awake in bed and the storyline for a short scene popped into my noggin. A clownish bit about a lonely dope trying to declare his love for a local barista by offering her a token of his affection…a solitary blue flower, hence my name for the show, ‘The Flower’. I quite enjoyed the finished product, and even performed it in a couple of other places a few times for new audiences. It was a nice bit.

Then a while later, I applied for and got in to a local theatre Festival, Fresh Meat, dedicated to premiering original 20-minute shows. I thought of the flower, and wondered what else that character could get up to. Somehow, speed dating popped into my head. After a few weeks of awkwardly imaging a 20 minute speed dating piece as a solo work, it occurred to me that this would be a LOT easier, and better, if someone else were on the stage with me. Also if someone were watching the both of us and making sure what we did made sense. Enter Madeleine Hall and Jodi Morden, two pals and previous grads of the Ottawa Theatre School, where I devised the flower in the first place. We put together the original show, FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF DATING, for the 2014 Fresh Meat Festival, and it went over like gangbusters. I played two oddball characters, Madeleine tackled ten (not bad for a 20 minute show), and I’m still proud as mud of the staging for that show. It was a long rehearsal process for such a short piece, but worth every second.

Me and the 2 bestest gals in showbiz.

Jodi, Mad and I (along with Rebecca Laviolette) would go on to collaborate on the 2015 Ottawa Fringe show HANNAH & GEORGE, very much inspired by characters from Speed of Dating. Not a sequel per se, more of a ‘what if’. A live action clown romantic comedy. It was fun. 🙂

I can still feel the love. 🙂

Now it’s 2016 and, after each performing in original works of our own at this year’s Ottawa Fringe (CARDINAL for Madeleine, with Mitchel Rose, and the solo NORMAN BISBEE GOES TO WAR for me) we’ve got the gang back together to bring Speed of Dating out of retirement and out west to the Vancouver Fringe Festival. It’s a lot of firsts for me…first time performing out of Ottawa, first remount of a show (with almost ten extra minutes added to boot…it’s a revamp as well!), first time actually even going to Vancouver…the excitement is building, folks. I’m rather giddy.

In true emerging artist fashion, the gang and I have begun a Fundraiser campaign to try and offset the expenses of flying across the country to perform in just one festival. Please feel free to click on the link and donate what you can, if anything…and if nothing, that’s fine too, we accept good vibes and well wishes!

lux elle imagery is fine art, editorial, and commercial photography, digital editing work and motion work.

We have also the obligatory Facebook event page, which it would be lovely if you west coast types took a look at…it seems trite, but as out-of-towners, I promise, every ‘going’ click is another confidence boosting shot in the arm (I’ll add to that that , wow, am I ever blown away by the advance ticket sales for the show, already way above what I received for my show this year in Ottawa…THANK YOU, Vancouver!)   https://www.facebook.com/events/291773537853609/

I would be remiss if I didn’t shoutout our incredible photog/designer MJ Gervais, who has done stellar work making us look good, not only on our sweet, sweet poster, but our series of collect-them-all polaroid postcards. 8 in all, and we’ve printed them in varying degrees of rarity. If you manage to get a complete set, tweet a pic of yourself with them at #SpeedofDating ! We will owe you, at the very least, a group hug.

lux elle imagery is fine art, editorial, and commercial photography, digital editing work and motion work.

lux elle imagery is fine art, editorial, and commercial photography, digital editing work and motion work.

Almost time to head on out, still finalizing the last bits of packing, printing and panicking…but mostly, can’t wait to check into the False Creek gym and see how Vancouver audiences react to our rapid fire, silent, silly romantic adventure. We hope you like it.

Vancouver Fringe…damn. Pretty good mileage for a 5-minute piece. Peace, love and soul,

Kevin Reid