Hobson's Selection: Solo exhibits with unstoppable and unflappable girls performers

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When Elena Belyea or Makambe Ok. Simamba take the stage, they aren’t solely extremely entertaining however unflappable and unstoppable forces of nature. Belyea is the star of Verb Theatre’s model of the extremely praised New York cabaret present We’re Gonna Die, whereas Simamba is the creator and star of Makambe Speaks, which is closing Ghost River Theatre’s present season. Each exhibits, which additionally characteristic reside music, will assist to shut the April theatre scene.

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We’re Gonna Die was created and carried out to rave opinions by experimental New York Theatre artist Younger Jean Lee along with her band Future Spouse in 2011. Lee insisted it is a life-affirming present anybody can carry out and that’s one thing Verb Theatre’s creative director Kathryn Smith realized the primary time she learn the play.

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“The primary time I learn the script and listened to the music, it was like a balm. It each eased my anxious emotions and made me face inevitability whereas concurrently making me wish to dance and sing alongside,” says Smith including “You wouldn’t realize it from the title, however this present is truthfully so joyful and enjoyable.”

Smith additionally knew instantly she needed Elena Belyea to carry out this musical standup routine as a result of Belyea had wowed sold-out crowds at Downstage Theatre final October along with her artistic associate Sydney Campbell of their unique sketch present Gender? I Hardly Know Them.

Belyea jumped on the alternative as a result of Younger Jean Lee is one among her all-time favorite playwrights and he or she additionally feels We’re Gonna Die is presumably much more related now than when written 12 years in the past.

“Many individuals, myself included, are nonetheless reeling from the occasions of the previous few years, and attempting to make sense of their emotions of grief, loneliness and alienation. I really feel like We’re Gonna Die is each a chance to sit down with these emotions, and hopefully discover consolation, nevertheless it’s additionally a celebration, a live performance and a confession,” says Belyea, who shall be accompanied reside by the band Mom Braveness which options Sacha Crow, Caleigh Crow and Gus Rendell.

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We’re Gonna Die is being carried out on April 28-Could 6 on the new performing area Theatre 1308, which is positioned at 1308 Edmonton Path. Earlier than and after the performances, audiences are invited to take pleasure in native visible artwork within the theatre’s gallery that includes the work of artists Alix Pavlenko, Bri Robust and Elisa Shigehiro.

For pay-what-you-can tickets and extra data, go to verbtheatre.com/season.

Makambe Speaks presented by Ghost River Theatre and Handsome Alice Theatre. Photo by Jaime Vedres
Makambe Speaks offered by Ghost River Theatre and Good-looking Alice Theatre. Picture by Jaime Vedres Picture by Jaime Vedres /www.JaimeVedres.com

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Don’t count on a fast or pat reply should you have been to ask Makambe Ok. Simamba the place she is from.

Simamba was born in Zambia however moved to the Caribbean along with her household when she was seven. At 17, she got here to Canada to check journalism and playwriting first in Prince Edward Island after which in Lethbridge. After establishing herself as an actor and playwright in Alberta, Simamba moved to Toronto the place she wrote the Dora Award-winning Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers.

She returned to Alberta just lately to direct InVISIBLE (Too) on the College of Lethbridge after which to Calgary to work with Ghost River Theatre and Good-looking Alice Theatre on Makambe Speaks. This can be a efficiency she says is comprised of “fragments of stand-up comedy, musical theatre and some different surprises which come collectively in a fantasia of rage, cultural commentary and star-crossed love.”

She says Makambe Speaks deconstructs the age-old query ‘The place are you from?’ via diverting, daring and experimental storytelling.

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“Multidisciplinary solo exhibits are my factor, so I’m actually excited to make use of my favorite type to shake issues up somewhat, and ask questions on group versus particular person identification and the way issues come collectively.

“I’ve lived in a number of locations in Canada, and to my shock, Alberta continues to be the place that feels probably the most like residence. It’s a true homecoming to return to Ghost River Theatre and dive right into a present that explores each the frustrations and freedoms that create my Albertan identification,” says Simamba.

Ghost River’s creative director Eric Rose can also be the co-creator of Makambe Speaks. He says Simamba is “a wordsmith and bold maker of politically rigorous theatre and an simple performer.”

Meg Farhall, the creative director of Good-looking Alice Theatre, the present’s co-presenter, says Makambe Speaks “is a curler coaster of laughter and music that invitations audiences to think about what it means to be residence. It’s a heartfelt and provocative piece.”

Makambe Speaks runs on the West Village Theatre (2007 10 Ave. S.W.) from April 25 to Could 6. For tickets and additional data, go to ghostrivertheatre.com/makambe-speaks.

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