Finster Finds

No, it's true.  I was hit with a horrible cold/flu (I never know which - I only know the suffering) in March and totally forgot to write about the Skirts AFire Festival!  The illness was descending when I took in The Mothers in the days before the festival actually started. A one woman show by Nicole Moeller, starring Annette Loiselle and directed by Glenda Stirling, The Mothers explored how the mother of a child gone wrong deals with her guilt, confusion, sadness and anger over the actions of her child. The script raised a lot of interesting things about how little we know about how a dangerous child might be created. We think there must be a straight line from the baby to the teenager with clear indicators and inciting incidents and predictive behaviour, but the truth is a lot more complicated.  Loiselle has many fine moments in the piece which is as times an archaeological examination of the past and at other times an emotional exploration of her perceived failu...

Okay, for me, pretty much every day of the year could be Theatre Day, being that I work at one, volunteer at several and I watch a heck of a lot of it.  But for those of you who are more moderate in your approach to theatre, today is THE day! Luckily, there are a lot of shows you can see right here in Edmonton this weekend! Shows that close this weekend: Vigilante at the Citadel Theatre.  This rock opera with an edge is being presented in the Maclab Theatre.  It's a show ideally suited to the thrust theatre space and re-imagines the story of the Black Donnellys, an Irish immigrant family who were brutally murdered.  It's also the latest work from Catalyst Theatre ( Nevermore, Frankenstein, Hunchback ), and has the same level of excellence in concept and execution, and a very talented 8 person cast who can sing some amazing celtic and rock inspired musical theatre.  We've had people respond so well to it that they've come back and seen the show three times...

Thank you so much to whoever nominated me for the #yeggies again. The #yeggies are the Edmonton New Media Award created to recognize and celebrate outstanding social media content creators in the capital region. It was very exciting to receive the email letting me know that I had been nominated in the Arts & Culture category for the second year in a row. I always feel strange filling out the "tell us why you should win" part of the process, especially when I saw who else was nominated with me. We are lucky to have the Arts Scene we have in Edmonton, and doubly blessed to have so many avid supporters and champions of that scene. For the complete list of Nominees, click here. In my category, I thought I would share my fellow nominees so that you can all start following them as well! Best in Arts & Culture After the House Lights Comics! The Blog Finster Finds I Don’t Get It Reading in Bed The Pulp What It Is Podcast There's a variety there - from the...

This past weekend, I took in First Time Last Time  by Scott Sharplin at Shadow Theatre with my good friend @catharooni.  We had a lovely evening in the Strathcona area, starting it at The Next Act for dinner and then taking in the show down the street.  I used to be in the area so much more than I am lately, so there is always a wonderful feeling when I have a good reason to go there! The play is about two people who meet each other in the familiar pick-up place of a nightclub and both being inexperienced sexually (but wanting not to be), they decide to hook up as long as the first time is the last time.  The two, Ben (Mat Busby) and Airlea (Madeleine Suddaby), are very different in personality and type, but find themselves compatible and they find a unique way to modify the initial verbal contract so that the non-relationship extends into years.  It's a very funny exploration of how far a couple might go to construct a non-relationship out of what is clearl...