Dayna Lea Hoffmann and Katie Yoner in Rat Academy, Batrabbit Collective. Photo by Marc J. Chalifoux.

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca

In a self-proclaimed rat-free province they’re scrappy outliers, up against it in a hostile world. But the rat underground persists (call it a rodent infestation but only if you’re classist).

In an unusual cross-town double-feature Batrabbit Collective’s pair of hit clown shows, comic gems both, bring back their rodent insurrectionists to two different theatres, separated by a river. Rat Academy returns Thursday through Sunday to Theatre Network’s Roxy. And this reappearance is followed by a longer run (April 19 to May 16) of the sequel Rat Academy 2: Gnaw and Order at Rapid Fire Theatre’s Exchange Theatre in Strathcona.

If you missed either or both in their sold-out Fringe incarnations,  this, my friends, is your reprieve. And if you have seen them, know that Dayna Lea Hoffmann and Katie Yoner (directed by Joseph McManus) are very apt to explore further with their richly imagined shows every time out. Both performers, quick on their paws, are expert at interacting with audiences; every performance is, in that sense, custom-made.

Katie Yoner and Dayna Lea Hoffmann in Rat Academy. Photo by Marc J Chalifoux

When we first met Fingers (Dayna Lea Hoffmann) and Shrimp (Katie Yoner) in 2023, it was in a Whyte Avenue alley. In Rat Academy the street-wise, wary Fingers, glaring suspiciously at us, is getting more and more exasperated trying to impart survival skills to Shrimp, a naive, distractible lab escapee — starting with ‘How 2 Steal’.  We are directly involved, because Shrimp gravitates impulsively our way,  looking for our approval. Which makes Fingers ready to blow a gasket.

In the sequel, which debuted at Nextfest and then the Fringe last summer, these outcasts want more, something more permanent, a home of their own, a barricade against eviction notices. This is Alberta, right? Land of real estate opportunity, right? Hilarity, satirical barbs, and, yes, poignance, ensue. McManus’s productions feature the inventive work of set and props designer Claire Sonmor, with lighting by Whittyn Jason, and costumes by Meegan Sweet. Ah, and fun photography by Marc J. Chalifoux, as you’ll see. Catch both shows. When you buy a ticket at one theatre, you get $5 off your ticket at the other. Tickets: theatrenetwork.ca and rapidfiretheatre.com.

Yes, it’s a big week of theatre openings in this theatre town.

Emily Howard and Nathan Cuckow, Casey and Diana by Nick Green, Citadel Theatre, photo by Nanc Price.

•Nick Green’s hit Casey and Diana, inspired by Princess Diana’s ground-shifting visit to the Toronto AIDS hospice Casey House in 1991, finally has its Edmonton premiere Thursday at the Citadel, in a production directed by Lana Michelle Hughes. Check out the 12thnight interview with the actor-turned playwright here. It runs through April 26, and tickets are at citadeltheatre.com.

Maureen Rooney in Marjorie Prime, Trunk Theatre. Photo supplied

•Trunk Theatre, an indie with a track record in bringing Edmonton hot offerings from across the border, and the pond, is back in action with Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime, opening Friday on the Varscona stage. An intriguing and mysterious 2015 Off-Broadway hit by a Pulitzer Prize nominee, it’s recently opened on Broadway, and still seems provocatively, scarily topical in 2026. It’s set in a future that has, in many ways, already arrived, since it’s about the blurring of the frontier between AI and the human. In her 80s and beginning to lose her memory, Marjorie has acquired a companion, an AI version of her husband at 30. That’s the starting point. The Trunk production, starring Maureen Rooney, Sue Huff, Ben Kuchera, Troy O’Donnell, runs through April 19. Tickets: varsconatheatre.com. Stay tuned for 12thnight’s interview with Trunk director Amy DeFelice.

•And to celebrate unpredictability, a festival ,and wild one at that. Returning Thursday is Rapid Fire Theatre’s annual Bonfire Festival to showcase a creative assortment of original, experimental long-form improv ideas of every description, from the improbable to the impossible, the edgy to the crazily risky to the completely bonkers. And the audience provides the cues. Here’s an example: in one of Friday’s offerings, Movie! The Musical, the company undertakes to transform your favourite movie into a Broadway musical. Really. Or how about Pearly Gates, when, as billed, “characters at the end of their lives face divine judgment from God (herself) in a comedic exploration of heaven, hell, and audience influence.” And how intriguing is P.S.A., public service announcements with life advice? Bonfire runs Thursday through Saturday at the Exchange Theatre. Tickets: rapidfiretheatre.com.