Calgary's Best Alternative & Avant-Garde Theatre
Companies Venues Which Offer Cutting Edge Live Theatre Performance
Feb 9, 2009
Groundbreaking theatre, tour de force performances, and plays with edgy themes are not the exclusive domain of fringe festivals. Here is a selection of some of the best in this western Canadian city.
One Yellow Rabbit
With cutting-edge experimental and alternative productions, One Yellow Rabbit (OYR) became an overnight sensation when its satirical production of Ilsa, Queen of the Nazi Love Camp was banned during holocaust denial advocate, Jimmy Keegstra's hate-crimes trial, and founding members, Blake Brooker, Denise Clarke, Michael Green, Andy Curtis, Richard McDowell instantly rocketed into fame. One Yellow Rabbit is contemporary, on topic, and has its finger right on the pulse of culture. Every January, its festival of alternative theatre, The High Performance Rodeo brings the freshest, edgiest new work and companies to Calgary's Secret Theatre in the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts.
Ground Zero Theatre
Ground Zero Theatre (GZT), under the artistic direction of Ryan Luhning, and associate directors, Joel Cochrane and Kevin McKendrick, was the first theatre to bring Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monoloques to Canada. Their repertoire includes subUrbia, Urinetown, and many others, a substantial number of which are written by Calgarian playwrights and often launch the careers of professional actors within the city. Be sure to keep eyes open for their Groundbreakers festival of new Calgary works. GZT is located in the Vertigo Theatre Centre at Palliser Square just under the Calgary Tower.
Theatre Junction
Theatre Junction, with its resident company of artists under the direction of Mark Lawes, not only produces its own contemporary Canadian live theatre, but brings in such stellar performers as Quebecoise dancer/choreographer, Marie Chouinard, London's Tiger Lilies' concert 7 Deadly Sins, Vancouver's Wen Wei Dance Troupe, and speaker, Marie Brassard. They are located in the Grand Theatre on Stephen Avenue Mall.
The Old Trouts Puppet Workshop
Since 1999, The Old Trouts Puppet Workshop has created some of the most innovative puppetry theatre in western Canada. It might seem, with shows named The Tooth Fairy, Beowulf, Pinocchio, and Famous Puppet Death Scenes, that Old Trouts was geared towards children, but their work often comes out of the stranger places in the psyche which adults understand. Usually they appear alternative venues such as ATP or the Grand Theatre, and they also tour for several months of the year, so keep an eye on their website in order not to miss them.
Ghost River Theatre Company
The premiere this year of NiX, Ghost River's unorthodox production of arson and ice at the end of the world, which begins on the Olympic Plaza and moves onto ATP's stage, shows this company is unafraid of challenging material. Be sure to check out their website in order not to miss them!
The International Festival of Animated Objects
Every second year, the Calgary Animated Objects Society (CAOS) hosts a festival of performance which incorporates masks, puppetry, and objects which project the energy of the actor. Performers include renowned puppeteer, Ronnie Burkett, Texan company "Crawdaddy" and many others. The last festival was in January of 2009, so keep an eye on their website for 2011!
The Loose Moose Theatre Company
Loose Moose became famous in the 1980s with the arrival of Theatre Sports, the high-energy improvisation game developed by Keith Johnstone, a professor at the University of Calgary's Drama Department, which challenged actors and comedians to assume characters and situations instinctively without blocking. Loose Moose is famous for improvisation. Visitors who like their actors quick, clever and satirical will enjoy this company even if the theatre is a little off the beaten track. Loose Moose is located in the Crossroads Market in NE Calgary off 16th Avenue---not too far from the International Airport.
For those who prefer less unconventional theatre companies, be sure to check out the Best of Calgary's Live Theatre.
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