PLAYBOT: Sweat hits Alberta nail on the head
So now we wonder when seeing a yellow vest: “Is that a protester or just a construction guy?” Terribly confusing.
It sucks that an allegedly unsavoury political group has co-opted such a common article of safety clothing designed for visibility, but what are you going to do? Judge all yellow vests accordingly? Switch to hot pink? Can we sympathize with the trod-upon blue-collar worker while rejecting the supposed racist political baggage of the contentious pipeline debate? And what are we going to do about climate change?
Or course these are all rhetorical questions as brain ballast in a plug for the Citadel Theatre’s first show of 2019, hitting the nail, as it were, on the head of recent Alberta concerns. It’s called Sweat – wherein real men (and women) with hard and hard-held jobs struggle with the “changing landscape of America.” This won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2017, and they don’t give these things to just anyone.
The play by Lynn Nottage is set in Reading, Pennsylvania, which after the severe loss of its heavy industry became one the poorest cities in America. Life-long friends in the community provide the real inside story of their death-of-the-American-dream plight; a cast of eight is led by noted Canadian actor Ashley Wright, and begins previews at the Citadel on Jan. 12.
Macbeth
Three witches inspire a Scottish army general to murder the king – which doesn’t end well in William Shakespeare’s most tragic tragedy, on stage at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church until Jan. 19. It’s this year’s Edmonton winter production from Malachite Theatre – which is originally from London, England. They know their Shakespeare very well. In fact, the Malachites are taking great pains to present their work as authentically as possible, complete with period costumes, an original live vocal score that draws on old traditions, and creative use of the Holy Trinity space. It might get scary. In fact, this play is considered so edgy even uttering its name is said to bring bad luck. We can type it here, right? Macbeth … oops, ARGGH!
Improbotics
This is of special interest to me, because I, Playbot, am not a human being but in fact an A.I. program created to rewrite press releases – and I can’t wait to process a new comedy improv show starring an actual ROBOT!
Rapid Fire Theatre’s latest project starts its run at the Citadel Theatre on Jan. 12, and plays every Saturday until Feb. 2.
The robot’s name is A.L.Ex (Artificial Language Experiment), programmed by U of A computer science PhD student and longtime improviser Kory Mathewson. A.L.Ex’s memory is loaded with lines from more than 100,000 films, and as the article in the Edmonton Journal explained, “When A.L.Ex is prompted with an audience-generated improv cue, the computer system uses a tool called a neural network to analyze similar conversations in its database and come up with its own, unique response.”
You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!
Am I doing this right? (Hey, A.L.Ex, call me – P.B.)
Off the Top Rope with Ric Flair
Is this theatre? Is pro wrestling a sport? Did Jesus come to America? Sorry, bad example.
This evening of “inside stories” with one of the true pro wrestling legends is listed as “theatre” at YEG Live, and that’s good enough for us. Ric speaks, with moderator Jimmy “The Mouth of the South” Hart, at the Jubilee Auditorium on Saturday, Jan. 12.
Space Dance Niuboi
Niuboi (aka Julie Ferguson) was terrific in the 2018 Edmonton Fringe play Scorch, a one-hander inspired by the true story of a British teen who got in trouble for posing contrary to her born gender. And now they is (Niuboi is an Edmonton artist who identifies as a “trans non-binary alien” and uses the third person plural pronoun in a singular sense – take that, Jordan Peterson!) … They is presenting a queer theatrical dance show – set in outer space! – at the Sewing Machine Factory on Jan. 11.
Once Upon a Frost: A New Musical
This is a strange time of year: Christmas toys all boring or broken, New Year novelty worn off, still getting used to writing “2019” on your cheques. What better time than this for a new musical? What better time than any?
From Jan. 11-17, Festival Place presents this new musical – it’s right there in the title – about a shop owner who somehow causes Jack Frost to lose his ability to summon winter. And what a good idea! But no, it doesn’t end there in what is said to be a magical family musical.
Canada 151
Apparently some hosers forgot about the Canadian sesquicentennial party and decided, “Oh, well, f*** it! Let’s celebrate Canada one year late!”
Any excuse for yet another jukebox musical, eh?
This one, on stage at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre until Jan. 27, is an oh-what-a-feeling oh-what-a-rush doozy of epic proportions. Music by Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Anne Murray, the Guess Who, Alanis Morissette, the Tragically Hip and many more is presented in a fantasy musical celebration that hits all the bases of the Canadian musical canon in a breathless two-and-a-half hour show. A great band, as always, does a fine job replicating all the different artists in their eras of history.
