The Extractionist – Theatre Thursday

On Theatre Thursdays, I discuss topics related to theatre. I also write about local productions that I think #yyc should see. Today I’m talking about a new play that I haven’t been able to stop talking about – The Extractionist.

The Extractionist by Michaela Jeffery - Photo Credit to Tim Nguyen
Image lovingly stolen from Vertigo Theatre. Photography credit to Tim Nguyen.

Calgary has been filled with new theatre this month! I don’t know if it’s because they were inspired by High Performance Rodeo or if it was just a coincidence, but our professional companies have been filled with world premieres this February. And as an artist who pretty much exclusively creates new works these days, I am hyped to see it. That said, it has led to a few little complications for my blog. Either the shows have had short runs (The F Word) or the buzz made its way to me late (Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer), but either way I didn’t have the opportunity to cover them before they closed. But you know what I did love and is still open? Vertigo Theatre’s The Extractionist, written by my very own Michaela Jeffery! 

Explain!

You got it, friends. Michaela Jeffery is a part of our club. She is a dear friend of mine from university, a fantastic playwright who I feel so lucky to know. Her way with words is truly magical – I sometimes still bust out a monologue that she wrote for Helen of Troy in an adaptation of The Trojan Women we created together during our senior year. She writes sparkling contemporary works that can be equal parts poetic and “real” (if realism is what you want in your dialogue, of course). 

And What About The Extractionist?

To let the official summary speak for itself:

“Asha Ray is the last option for desperate people who have reached the limits of what law enforcement can do for them. With no business card and no mailing address, she’s an expert deprogrammer who specializes in getting people’s family members out of cults. When a vulnerable woman disappears, Asha is asked to investigate the top suspect: a political young man who is a rising member of the powerful and secretive organization called Luminia. With the help of retired detective Rueben Medina, Asha slips into this dangerous world, making new enemies and exposing old secrets – including a few of her own. Can Asha find the answers she needs in time, or will history repeat itself?”

The Extractionist is very much a contemporary mystery, with a dash of film noir sprinkled over it. If you love modern crime tv shows or are into true crime, this show will feel familiar to you. There is a grittiness that I see in so many of my mom’s favourite thriller shows. (It probably goes without saying that she enjoyed the show as well.) 

That said – this play won’t be for everyone. I figured out the “whodunnit” element fairly early on so, for me, it became much more of a “how done it” type mystery… which is equally valid. It’s fun to feel like you’re so clever that you figured it out and then wait for someone to tell you how what you figured out actually played out. Traditionalists may not be into a different type of mystery, though.

I’m Sold On the Script. What Else Will I Like?

Perhaps you’ll like blog favourite, Mike Tan, playing retired cop Reuben Medina (a very different role than Bouc)? 

Perhaps you’ll be as obsessed as I am over the electric female cast – Tara Beagan (who last played Marmee in Little Women – a very different role!), Vanessa Leticia Jetté (also last in Little Women as Meg… again, very different), and Monice Peter (who hasn’t been on Calgary stages in almost a decade and has had an insane career).

But most likely, you are going to be captivated by the set and projection design by Andy Moro. The set is two levels of moving panels with constantly changing projections both in front of and behind the action. (As in there are some scenes that take place behind the panels. Obsessed.) The way that this constantly evolving environment creates such a strong sense of space is truly magical.

Final Thoughts?

Of course, your mileage may vary. Personal taste is personal taste and, though this show is very good, it might not be your taste. But it’s definitely worth checking out and deciding for yourself. The Extractionist runs until Sunday, February 26. Tickets can be purchased by visiting their website or calling (403) 221 3708.

Continue Reading

Murder on the Orient Express – Theatre Thursday

On Theatre Thursdays, I discuss topics related to theatre. I also write about local productions that I think #yyc should see. Today I’m talking about one of the many holiday productions currently running – Murder on the Orient Express.

Murder on the Orient Express poster
Poster lovingly stolen from Vertigo Theatre. Photography credit to Tim Nguyen.

Guess what everyone? It’s December 1! And you know what that means? It’s Blogmas!!

Unlike last year, I did stunningly at Nanowrimo this year. I clocked in at 50,5871 words at about 11pm on November 30. I am so hyped about my book and ready to keep grinding at it. Mostly because I just really need to know what happens next to my characters. 

I am also excited to keep my practice of writing every day going, but refocusing a little bit to sharpen my non-fiction writing skills. And I had so much fun doing Blogmas last year, how could I not do it again? Once again, I can’t promise everything I write will be Christmas related, but y’all know it will all be fun! 

Especially because this year December 1 is a Thursday, so that means we get to start out with an old classic – Theatre Thursday! And you read it above – I’m talking about Vertigo Theatre’s production of Murder on the Orient Express.

Continue Reading

Cipher – Vertigo Theatre

On Theatre Thursdays, I discuss topics related to theatre. I also write about local productions that I think #yyc should see. Today I’m talking about a show that I was supposed to see almost two years ago – Vertigo Theatre’s Cipher.

vertigo theatre cipher
Poster lovingly stolen from Vertigo Theatre. Credit to Tim Nguyen.

Cipher was originally set to open just a few days after what almost everyone I talk to cites as the “start” of the pandemic in Canada. (March 13, 2020, if you were wondering. Though there were cases in the time leading up to this, March 13 is when everything really came crashing down around us.) And, yes, I had tickets to opening night.

Almost two years later on January 20, I had tickets to opening night once again. And, yes, it was well worth the wait.

Continue Reading

Wait Until Dark – Vertigo Theatre

Vertigo Theatre - Wait Until Dark poster

(As always, poster image stolen directly from the Vertigo website. The volunteer ushers were super engaged last night and warning people about using their cameras in the theatre. And then I knocked my program onto the floor and it was almost gone forever – like, literally, a man almost stole it from the floor until my mom swiftly said “oohhh, thank you so much for picking that up, she knocked it on the floor!” so he stole someone else’s instead – and that was just way too much program-ness.)

Guys, I’m having all the anxiety about not blogging. The problem is, lately I haven’t really been doing anything new and fun. I pretty much exclusively go to Cibo or Earls during Happy Hour if I’m going to read a book and drink wine. I go to barre or yoga classes (I’m actually doing a challenge at Junction 9 right now and it’s taking up a lot of my time). I write a play with my friends. It’s a busy and fun life that I have, but it’s pretty repetitive.

So, I’ll work on changing that up for you, dear readers. And in the mean time? I have a play review!

Last night, I hit up the Opening Night of Vertigo Theatre’s Wait Until Dark. Those of you who have read my blog before will know that I can be a bit bratty when it comes to dealing with bozos, so you can probably guess that I love opening nights. Minimal bozos, just lots of members of the theatre community and theatre enthusiasts! (Also, there is usually food after the show. Last night I got to eat a soft pretzel and a shooter glass of Village Ice Cream’s Salted Caramel ice cream. It was awesome.)

I’ll start by being honest and admitting that I always get I’ll Be Back Before MidnightWait Until Dark and Gaslight confused. Which is actually kind of nice, because even though I’ve seen all these plays before, I never remember which plot elements belong to which show and it’s always like seeing a whole new show. Woo hoo! For the record, Wait Until Dark was adapted into a movie starring Audrey Hepburn and involves a blind girl and the criminals who try to take advantage of her after luring her husband out of their shared apartment.

I feel like my description of the show is super creepy – and the show is super creepy, in an environment-setting, suspense-building, slow burn kind of way. The play was written fifty years ago but it really does feel like a modern thriller. So, I think I’ve alluded to the fact that this play is produced fairly often and that begs the question – why see this production?

1) This is a new adaptation! So cool! I actually didn’t realize this until I was reading the program last night – because my reading comprehension is good, I guess? And I didn’t notice the words “adapted by” in anything I read earlier? Anyway, Jeffrey Hatcher wrote this adaptation, transferring the era from the 60s to 1944 and adding a few other twists and turns along the way. Pretty cool for any viewers who feel like they aren’t interested in seeing a story they’ve already seen – and the era change absolutely works. Admittedly, I get this plot confused with other plays so I may not be representative of a truly educated viewer, but for myself, at least, I wouldn’t have thought that the show didn’t originally take place in the 40s if I hadn’t read it.

2) This is the most Calgary show that ever Calgaried and it makes me so happy. Simon Mallet did his MFA at U of C right around the time that I did my BFA and he has put together a team of Calgary-based talent – people I know and love, including one of my former campers from the Pumphouse DDC in her professional theatre debut! I’m just so proud of this entire team and it warms my heart. (Yes, I’m even proud of the people I only know because I’ve seen them in lots of shows. Shut up. I feel like I know them. It counts.)

… I’m sorry I told you to shut up.

3) Anna Cummer is so wonderful as Susan. She really has to carry the show and she’s so sassy and spunky and wonderful. I spent the entire show rooting for her and knowing she could put it together and save herself… even when she wasn’t quite there yet. I can see how there might be a tendency to play this role as overly weak or tragic but it doesn’t go there at all. She is such a wonderful heroine.

It’s a strong showing from Vertigo Theatre. The show runs until February 19th and tickets can be purchased by visiting their website or calling (403) 221 3708. Do it, yo!

Continue Reading

I’m In a Play – Secondary Cause of Death – Theatre Thursday

secondary cause

(Caption: This is the face of a girl who slept for four hours during the daytime on Tuesday because she was sent home from work, and went on to kill it at the theatre that night. This is the magic that theatre does.)

I’m in a play!

Let me be real here – this is not a review for the play that I am in. Mostly because I think the show is pretty great but it is nigh impossible to be objective about a play that you are in. This also isn’t really an advertisement or promotion for the show that I’m in – I’ve been doing a ton of that on social media, even including a “tech week selfie” game with Claire since we always seem to manage to be in tech week at the same time. So, what is this? I guess it’s really more of an ode.

I can’t remember the last time I was so thrilled to be in a play – maybe when I did Scorpio Theatre’s world premiere of Blood of the Red Queen, had a role rewritten for me and knew that I was a part of something that was going to just take off? I don’t know… I’m always pleased to be in a play and I always love it (otherwise I wouldn’t do it), but this time I’m just thrilled.

Part of it may be that I was asked to step into this show to fill a role once they lost an actress after rehearsals began – I hadn’t met the director before so I did do a bit of an audition, though nothing like the ones I’ve written about before – and it’s always nice to be needed/wanted.

Another part of it may be that I’m really getting to stretch myself as an actress. I am playing the type of role that I often get cast in (lovely and graceful) but the process hasn’t been “easy” by any means, and I appreciate that. I swing towards bubbly when I act and I’m playing a character who is on the older end of my age range so there is absolutely no room for bubbly. The show also takes place in England in 1939 (and is very British murder mystery in feel) so accents are imperative. I went to U of C, I haven’t learned accents! But I can do one now…

I think the biggest part of it, though, is that I just feel like such a part of things doing this show. I am a shy person by nature (which people always seem to mistake for my being a bit of a bitch and not just rampantly socially awkward) but everyone in this show has just made such an effort to make me not feel like the “new girl” since Day One. There is a camaraderie in the dressing room that I haven’t actually felt since university (other than during Full Circle Theatre shows, but that’s really just me gathering my friends together and going “let’s make a play!”) and I love it, even when I just sit quietly and listen to everyone else. I absolutely trust every person on that stage to pick me up and save me if I forget a line. (Oh gosh, that better not happen… knock on wood!)

I’m in a play. And even though I am going on vacation the day after it closes, I’m going to miss it when it’s done.

If you would like to see the play that has inspired such gushing from me (and hear my sparkling dulcet tones), Simply Theatre’s “Secondary Cause of Death” runs until October 1 and tickets can be purchased by calling 587-575-656 or by visiting http://www.simplytheatre.ca Come see it. It’s worth it. (This is not a promotion, I’m just happy.)

Continue Reading

Post-Show Blues – Theatre Thursday

post-show blues

For this week’s Theatre Thursday, I’m addressing what should be a crazy topical post, considering I closed a show less than a month ago. The Post-Show Blues… what they are, how to combat them, whether you even should… (Btw, I was just doing a little casual googling about this topic and apparently the Post-Show Blues are a thing in the fitness world too. It makes sense, but… who knew?!)

I’ve actually been putting off writing this post for a few weeks, because I’ve been waiting for the blues to hit. After all, I was just a large role in a super-fun show where I got to fight with a super close friend… shouldn’t I be singing the blues? But I’m not, and at this point I don’t think I’m going to. I’m cool with it, and I’m starting to think that maybe you don’t get them as much with age and experience, but I’ll chat about that below.

What Are They?
Honestly, the term “Post-Show Blues” is pretty self-explanatory, I think, but I’ll dig into it anyway. The Post-Show Blues are the malaise that you hold after your show closes, the general doldrums, the feeling of missing every beautiful and difficult moment of working on the show and all the beautiful and difficult people you did it with. The sense that your real life isn’t nearly as exciting as the rush of the stage, the lights and the audience.

High school kids feel the Post-Show Blues really intensely – in part because they feel everything really intensely, in part because the amount of shows they can do are so limited. Most teenagers can only do the shows at their school, which rehearse for a longer time period than the typical community or professional theatre, and there are only so many shows at a high school.

I know I really felt the blues while at university too, again because I was so young and because there were only so many options for shows I could be in. Now, there are so many different shows I can audition for (I mean, I get to be picky about what I audition for!) and there is always a new opportunity on the horizon. Yes, I will never do that one show I just closed again, in the same way, but like I wrote in Monday’s post, I’m beginning to accept that “nothing will be never-ending”. Every experience is fleeting so I have to accept them for what they are.

How Can I Combat Them?
Personally, I think I may have beaten my Post-Show Blues for good by accepting that experiences are beautiful, fleeting and there are always new ones around the corner (to quote myself, naturally).

So that’s a great thing to keep in mind – you can always do another show and it will be just as fun in a totally different way.

I also was running on so much adrenaline during my show, I was doing so many things in addition to the play, that when I was done I was just so ready to relax, visit with friends and kick back with the newest season of Orange is the New Black. My liver, pocketbook and sodium levels were also ready for a bit of a break. When the show is over, luxuriate in your free time and treat yo’self a little, yo.

My friend, Megan, who played the lead in the show I just closed, went straight from our show to writing and acting in her own play. I doubt she’s had any time to feel any blues yet either, though I’m sure she’s about due for a big ol’ crash once her current show closes… so I don’t know if that’s the best of solutions but it certainly is a solution.

Should I Combat the Post-Show Blues?
There’s always the opposite option too – lean into your emotions and really feel them. I once was speaking to one of my friends from the barre studio and she told me that the grieving process was like facing down a wave. You can run straight-on into a wave but it’ll drag you down and thrash you around. The other option is to dive into a wave, dive right under it, and you’ll emerge on the other side… a little wet but none the worse for wear.

Or maybe you could just write a blog post addressing them, just like I had planned to do. That works too!

Do you get the Post-Show Blues? Let me know in the comments section!

Continue Reading

Sherlock Holmes – Theatre… Tuesday…?

Two Thursdays ago my mom, Bryan and I went to see the opening night of Vertigo Theatre’s season closer Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily. Normally this would be a weird time to write about it – the show is still on but it would only have a week to go so it may be hard to get out to see it. However, this show has actually been so well received (it just won a Critter award!) that it has been extended until June 18 (which incidentally is also the day my show closes…)

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily
Program Image belongs to Vertigo Theatre

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily was a bit of a revelation to me. I’ve seen the team of Haysam Kadri and Karl Sine play Holmes and Watson before, and I’ve seen Haysam in a variety of roles over the last nine or so years… but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Haysam be quite so funny. He – and the entire cast, really – was obviously having a blast onstage, and the enjoyment is infectious.

If Sherlock Holmes isn’t necessarily your jam, you still may love this show because it is peppered with real historical Victorian London references and characters. Paul Welch’s Oscar Wilde looks astonishingly like the real deal and lights up the stage with his witticisms. The script tends to stick to Wilde’s more popular works for its referential humour so even casual fans will be “in on the joke”.

I can’t imagine that I’m in the minority when I say that I love clever humour that throws around cultural references. This past month of theatre in Calgary has absolutely fed into this love and I hope that it is a trend that will stick around for awhile.

And if you’re on the fence about Holmes at all, let me just say… I was offered a ticket to see it again last Friday and I deeply considered it. I decided not to take it though so someone who hadn’t seen the show could have the opportunity. Soooo…

(Please note: This show did just win a Critter award for Best Direction of a Play so that may increase interest in seeing it. You can get tickets by visiting the Vertigo Theatre website.)

(Double please note: I know today is Tuesday… Thursday is the day before my show opens and if I thought I was stressed before… At least Tuesday still alliterates, guys!)

Continue Reading

Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)

Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) Program

Sometimes you see a show that takes you completely by surprise. For me, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) was that show.

I read it in university. I’m certain I read it in university – it’s a Canadian play. It was written by Ann-Marie MacDonald (yes, the author of Fall on Your Knees) in 1988 long before Fall On Your Knees. As director Kate Newby remarks in her Director’s Note, it explores a seemingly endless list of important historical, cultural and political themes. I apparently own two copies of this play. I absolutely read this play in university… and I don’t remember doing so at all, except a vague recollection that “this play seems kind of odd”.

My vague recollection is completely wrong.

This production of Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) (a co-production between The Shakespeare CompanyHit & Myth and the newly re-branded Handsome Alice Theatre) absolutely proves the common refrain that plays are meant to be seen and not read. The show is equal turns clever, thought-provoking and downright hilarious.

The production also lands on so many levels. Though Shakespeare fans will have a million “Oh! I get it! I’m so clever!” moments (much of the show is written in iambic pentameter and MacDonald skillfully weaves actual Shakespearean dialogue into her own), the absolutely clear intentions and communication on the part of the five actresses in the show coupled with adept physical comedy allows audience members of any background to enjoy the show.

Oh yes, did I mention? The cast of Goodnight Desdemona is five powerhouse female actors – a virtual “who’s who” of young lady actors in Calgary – who play everything from a Henry V style “Chorus” (Julie Orton) to a swaggering Tybalt (Mabelle Carvajal) to Juliet (Genevieve Pare) and Desdemona (Allison Lynch) themselves. (Each of the aforementioned actors plays at least three different characters and it is never any doubt at all who they are. Stunning.) At the centre of it all, is Ayla Stephen as Constance Ledbelly, an academic who falls into the worlds of two of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies as she tries to sort out the truth of the plays and the truth of herself. Ayla and I attended university together, so I’ve seen her play a dizzying array of different roles, but she really does shine when she gets to play a fish-out-of-water and lean into her comedic side. She, and, actually, all the ladies in this show, can communicate more with a facial expression than the average person can with a whole speech.

I generally wait until shows close to write about them, but in this case, I couldn’t wait. Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) runs until May 21, 2016 and absolutely everyone should go see it. I’ve done my best not to spoil any plot elements, but I genuinely think I could go see the show again tonight and enjoy it just as much as I did the first time even knowing how it ends. Tell your friends, get a girl (or guy) squad together, grab your lover or guilt your mom into hanging out with you and take in this show before it closes. Tickets can be purchased by visiting The Shakespeare Company’s website.

(Note: I was not compensated in any way for writing this blog post. I just really really liked the play and want everyone I know to go see it so I can talk to them about it.)

Continue Reading