PLAYBOT: Redpatch tells untold (until now) WWI story
Edmonton First Nations actor Sheldon Elter can’t be in two plays at once – but one imagines he would’ve totally been up for Redpatch.
He’s already starring in The Comedy Company (see below), another play about World War I. Coincidence? Not this time, Jasper. Remembrance Day is coming up.
At the Citadel Theatre Nov. 1-11, Redpatch takes place between 1914-1918, when more than 4,000 First Nations soldiers fought for Canada in World War I. Set in both Canada and the battlefields of France, the story focuses on the adventures of one soldier from the Nuu-chah-nulth nation on Vancouver Island, and features an all-Indigenous cast.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Doesn’t the movie usually come after the stage play? Not all the time. Now a musical where once no musical existed, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is based on the 1988 comedy starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine as a couple of con artists who get out-conned by their victim. Swell film – and fans should expect a swell musical from Edmonton’s Foote in the Door productions. The show plays a short run Nov. 2-10 at La Cite Francophone.
The Comedy Company
Neil Grahn, member of the legendary Edmonton sketch comedy troupe Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie, has written a play that literally laughs in the figurative face of death.
It’s based on a true story: During World War I, certain wise-cracking Canadian soldiers within the Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry Division were commanded to use their powers of jocularity to form a comedy troupe to “boost morale” during one of the most horrible wars in history. The troops in the first audience were commanded to enjoy themselves – but Canadian soldiers didn’t need any orders to let loose as The Comedy Company became very popular.
Interspersed with realistic and sobering depictions of deadly battle are the side-splitting rehearsals for skits and musical numbers the soldiers performed for their comrades – some in drag. The all-male cast (Elter, along with Andrew MacDonald-Smith, Steven Greenfield, Jesse Gervais, Julien Arnold, Nathan Cuckow, and Nick Samoil) does a fabulous job drawing out vivid characters in a story that balances hilarity with the horrors of war.
At the Varscona Theatre until Nov. 11, this world premiere coincides with the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, lest we forget.
The Bone House
After 19 years, Edmonton writer Marty Chan’s monster chiller horror theatre has come back to haunt us another time, just in time for Halloween. The Bone House is not your usual theatrical experience. It starts as a lecture in a brightly-lit hotel conference room before turning into “terrifying immersive theatre” (code for: You are literally IN the play) that takes a dangerous peek inside the mind of a serial killer. Only two more performances at the Varscona Hotel, Oct. 30-31.
Dead Centre of Town
There are likewise only two nights left for what is billed as “Edmonton’s only live action horror show inspired by true history.” Can they make this claim? Someone really ought to look it up. Taking place Oct. 30-31 at the Blatchford Field Air Hangar at Fort Edmonton Park, this show is also said to be “immersive.” One level down from “interactive,” all immersive theatre means is that audience members become involuntary participants, almost like extra characters that don’t do anything except get shouted at through the broken fourth wall, or props. Just go with it.
Bloodbath Peak
Serious question: Can an improvised horror show be scary, or does it all just turn out as comedy?
You could ask the same thing of any serious horror show, in fact. We laugh as a release from our greatest fears.
Edmonton improviser Lee Boyes promises both “terror” and “tickles” in his one-man (plus live musical accompaniment) Halloween show at the Grindstone Comedy Theatre Oct. 31, and there appears to be a script. The premise is a young couple whose new mountaintop home appears to be infested with demons. Should’ve used a realtor!
