Your Story, Your Stage
YOUR STORY YOUR STAGE
Beginner-friendly, inclusive & accessible workshops
September 6-7 | Oxygen Art Centre
A rare opportunity for creativity and self-expression in the Kootenays - at an unbeatable price!
Optional Sunday evening showcase: Share your piece (poem/comedy/song/scene) with a live audience if you're feeling it. No pressure!
WORKSHOPS & FACILITATORS
Saturday, Sept 6 | 11:30 am
Associate Professor Emerita (Drama) from University of Calgary's School of Creative and Performing Arts. Theatre artist, movement educator, and producer of Shakespeare on the Shore in New Denver.
Saturday, Sept 6 | 2:30 pm
Award-winning actor, playwright, and folklorist specializing in African and Afro-Diasporic oral storytelling. Creator and performer of the touring solo show Black and Rural, Vibrant Basin podcast host.
Sunday, Sept 7 | 11:30 am
Decade-long drag entertainer from Kelowna, podcast host of Dénht'ā, appeared on Call Me Mother, and host of Nelson shows including Hard Leather Honey and Swipe Right: a Drag Dating Show.
Sunday, Sept 7 | 2:30 pm
Final prep and supportive feedback before the evening showcase.
Sunday, Sept 7 | 6:30 pm
Share your creative work with a live audience!
PRICING
- FREE spots available!
- Full series: $20
- Individual workshops: $10
Register: tinyurl.com/yourstoryyourstage
The Mosquitos – New Absurdist Theatre
"Things are changing rather quickly. We no longer share a reality".
A group of old friends get together for a dinner party, while rumours of an unimaginable change swirl around them. How will they face total transformation?
An absurd comedy of manners with an existential heart, The Mosquitos is original new theatre written and directed by Slocan Valley playwright Marya Folinsbee. With equal parts humour and pathos, The Mosquitos reconsiders our place in the ecosystem, asking;
How do we create a coherent life together when we understand the world so differently?
A meditation on politics, relationships, (mis)information and the role of art in making meaning, The Mosquitos is inspired by absurdist classics like Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros and Samuel Beckett's Happy Days (and, by life in these times).
This world premiere features a talented ensemble of local performers and artistic team:
Written and Directed by Marya Folinsbee
Featuring Performances by:
Emily Ryan
Kozmo Sammartino
Roger Carter
Patricia McLaughlin
Karmelle Spence-Sing
Lindsay Clague
James Shaw
Aaron Pickett
Mike Funergy
Sound Designer Jeremy Sauer
Projection Designer Brian Lye
Mask & Puppet Designer Elaine Weryshko
Stage Manager Martina Avis
Technical Director Terry Brennan
Production Designer Marya Folinsbee
Creation support from The Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance.
Production support from The BC Arts Council.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts
AUDITIONS for new original absurdist theatre: The Mosquitos
AUDITION this February for Material Theatre’s newest production, the premier of a new full-length play, The Mosquitos, written by Marya Folinsbee.
In The Mosquitos, a group of old friends get together for a dinner party while around them, the human world seems to be enduring an inexplicable, bizarre and total transformation. Will this be their last dinner together as human beings? Inspired by 20th century absurdists like Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett, The Mosquitos asks: "how do we share the world when we no longer share a reality?”.
We’ll be casting up to 14 parts. Rehearsals start in March 2025 with production week in the first and second weeks of June. Rehearsals will take place in Nelson and/or the Slocan Valley, based on the best arrangements for cast and crew. Performances in the Valley at the Vallican Whole, and in Nelson at the Capitol Theatre.
All artists will be paid for their work
Production support from The Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, the BC Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
The Addams Family musical is coming to Nelson this spring
By John Rune, KCR News
While the end of May will see warmer temperatures in the Kootenays, the stage at the Civic Theatre in Nelson will be sending out bone-chilling entertainment in the form of The Addams Family musical.
Local Nelson District Arts Council president Sydney Black said her company, Black Productions, will spend the new year scouting for talent to include in its anticipated 20-person cast who together will embody the spooky cult-classic Addams family.
"So that is super exciting, with probably 10 lead roles and 10 supporting roles, so there is a lot of space for people who are like 'I'm a singer but I don't dance, or I'm a dancer but I don't sing. There is all sorts of roles for people, so we are really stoked," Black said.
The musical version of The Addams premiered on Broadway in 2010 where it received high praise by critics, and has been produced in numerous countries around the world. Black said the timing couldn't have been better for a Nelson-version of the Addams Family, as the spinoff series 'Wednesday' is currently making the rounds on Netflix and in social media, where users are doing dances to the soundtrack of the movie.
"It's really interesting how serendipitous it was that we decided on this show, and then a couple of weeks later, the Wednesday-phenomenon happened."
