Discussion

Opening February 26th at the Vertigo Studio Theatre in Calgary, and closing March 5th, Full Circle Theatre presents a gender-flipped Romantasy version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Kyle sits down with director Cayley Wreggitt and costumer Tawni Marie Evans to discuss how this vision of the production came to be and what they hope audiences take away from the opportunity to bear witness to it.

Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/the-taming-of-the-shrew-hazndhyk

About the Show:

First produced by Full Circle Theatre in 2011, The Taming of the Shrew marked the beginning of our journey with Shakespeare. Fifteen years later, we return to Padua in a whole new way, reimagining Shakespeare’s most provocative comedy through a bold, romantasy-inspired lens.

This production keeps the original text intact while flipping the genders and placing the story in a lush High Fae Court. It is a world of magic, hierarchy, and unspoken rules where power is always up for negotiation. Here, a brooding fae prince meets their match in a fearless human knight, sparking a battle of wills that blurs the line between performance and desire.

Often dismissed as one of Shakespeare’s problematic plays, The Taming of the Shrew becomes, in this telling, a story about control, consent, and transformation. Witty, sharp, and charged with tension, this production asks what love looks like when two people refuse to yield - unless it’s for each other.

Expect Shakespeare’s language layered with fae glamour, enemies-to-lovers tension, and a court where every glance, gesture, and word carries consequence. This is a Shrew that leans into spectacle and storytelling while wrestling honestly with the questions at its core.

Discussion

Opening February 27th and running through March 7th at the Pumphouse Theatre in Calgary, Scorpio Theatre presents Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards! directed by Chris Gamble. Kyle sits down with Chris, and producer Carl Bishop, to talk about how the show has come together and the long road it has gone down for Scorpio to realize this fantastical production.

Tickets: https://www.showpass.com/guards-guards/

About the Show:

Welcome to “Ankh-Morpork”, the (second) greatest city in all of Discworld. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and silly brou-ha-ha’s on a fairly regular basis… but things are about to take a sinister turn. A secret organization, The Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night, have concocted a most ingenious plan – by utilizing a stolen magical book, they plan to summon a fearsome Dragon to terrorize the city and replace the leadership of Ankh-Morpork with their own puppet king.

Defending the city against this monster threat is the underpaid, undervalued City Night Watch – the drunken and world-weary Captain Vimes, the cowardly Sergeant Colon, the small opportunistic Corporal Nobby of … unknown origins…and their newest recruit, Lance-Constable Carrot, whom is a dwarf (by adoption only). They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the Patrol. Whatever the name, their purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is the same: it is, around about Chapter Three, or ten minutes into the play, to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time … and be slaughtered.

No-one ever asks them if they wanted to.

Discussion

On March 12th at the Hope Covenant Church in Strathmore, the Strathmore Theatre Players Guild opened Nana's Naughty Knickers, closing on March 28th. Directed by Robert Cole, Kyle sits down with Robert to discuss what the show is all about, why they chose it and the difficulties around presenting this sort of comedic face in a church setting.

Tickets: https://thevaultonline.ca/collections/strathmore-theatre-players-guild

About the Show:

Bridget and her grandmother are about to become roommates. However, what Bridget saw as a unique opportunity to stay with her favorite nana in New York for the summer quickly turns into an experience she’ll never forget. It seems her sweet grandma is running an illegal boutique from her apartment, selling handmade naughty knickers to every senior citizen in the five-borough area! Will Bridget be able to handle all the excitement? Will her nana get arrested – or worse – evicted?

Discussion

Opening April 9th through April 12th at the Studio at Vertigo Theatre in Calgary, Baker Miller Pink presents The Painter and the Lake, directed by Cayley Wreggitt, choreographed by Samantha Ketsa. Kyle sits down with Cayley and Samantha to discuss what this new work is about and how it came to be.

Tickets: https://purchase.vertigotheatre.com/EventAvailability?EventId=2601

About the Show:

Peter, a down-on-his-luck painter, has hit a rut. In search of a muse, he traverses the Kananaskis backcountry until he discovers Lillian, a pristine mountain lake. But something sinister lurks beneath her surface, unearthing ghosts from Peter's past and challenging his relationship to art as a passion and a profession. “The Painter and The Lake” is presented by Baker Miller Pink as a Resident Company of Vertigo Theatre.

Discussion

Opening April 10th and running through the 18th at the Pumphouse in Calgary, Misfit Theatre YYC presents the original musical work Oddition, written and directed by Krista Willott. Kyle sits down with Krista and with choreographer and performer Nimue Nova to discuss the productions creation and the difficulties of directing while also being on stage.

Tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/oddtion-presented-by-misfit-theatre

About the Show:

ODDITION (written by Krista Willott, Paul Finkleman and Lacey Bartko)  takes place during one afternoon of auditions for a community theatre musical and all the chaos that entails.

Discussion

On April 24th, and running until May 2nd, Morpheus Theatre presents Gilbert & Sullivan's Patience at the Pumphouse theatre, directed by Winnifred Hume with musical direction from Aly Carigan and choreography from Kylie Bullock. Kyle sits down with Kylie and Winnifred to discuss the difficulties of bringing a 143 year old production to life in the modern day.

Tickets: https://www.morpheustheatre.ca/?portfolio=patience-or-bunthornes-bride

About the Show:

All of the maidens in the village are besotted with Reginald Bunthorne, a moody and handsome poet, but he has eyes only for the simple milkmaid, Patience. The problem? Bunthorne’s artistic ways are all just an act to attract women to him–he doesn’t even like poetry! Besides, Patience is in love with her childhood sweetheart, who happens to be a real poet named Archibald Grosvenor, but feels she cannot marry him because he is just too perfect. In the meantime, the serious (and decidedly non-poetic) platoon of Heavy Dragoon Guards that were meant to marry the village maidens find themselves dismayed and perplexed by their sudden loss of prospects. One of Gilbert & Sullivan’s most successful shows, Patience is a rollicking satire that pits the straight-laced ideals of the Victorian era against the passions and indulgences of the 1870s Aesthetic Movement, ridiculing each side of the spectrum.

Discussion

Opening May 1st and running through May 10th at the Swamp Donkey Theatre in Bragg Creek, Aubry Baux directs, with Melanie Baux musical directing, 9 to 5, the Musical. Kyle sits down with Aubrey and Melanie to talk about the relevance of this production, it's history and Aubry's first time directing a large scale musical.

Tickets: https://www.showpass.com/s/events/all/?search_string=nine+to+five

About the Show

9 to 5: The Musical, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and book by Patricia Resnick, is based on the seminal 1980 hit movie.  Set in the late 1970s, this hilarious story of friendship and revenge in the Rolodex era is outrageous, thought-provoking, and even a little romantic.

Pushed to the boiling point, three female coworkers concoct a plan to get even with the sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot they call their boss.  In a hilarious turn of events, Violet, Judy, and Doralee live out their wildest fantasy – giving their boss the boot!  While Hart remains "otherwise engaged," the women give their workplace a dream makeover, taking control of the company that had always kept them down.  Hey, a girl can scheme, can't she?

Discussion

Kyle sits down with Cherie Dianne Caslyn, director of Take a Bow's forthcoming production of Noise's Off, presented in Cochrane at the Cochrane Ranchehouse Theatre May 1st through the 10th. They discuss the difficulties of doing it all in the effort to bring a production to life.

Tickets: https://www.showpass.com/noises-off-by-michael-frayn/

About the show:

Called “the funniest farce ever written,” Noises Off presents a manic menagerie of itinerant actors rehearsing a flop called Nothing’s On. Slamming doors, on and offstage intrigue, and an errant herring all figure in the plot of this hilarious, high-energy comedy. Mixing mockery and homage, Frayn heaps a hilarious melée of stock characters and situations into his side-splitting play-within-a-play.