Author Archives: Liz Nicholls

A Michelin star performance by Andrew MacDonald-Smith in Fully Committed, at Teatro Live!, a review

Posted on June 7, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca A phone starts ringing before our unemployed actor hero even arrives at his day job for a shift in the underworld — at the reservation desk hidden in the nether regions of the hottest, hippest Manhattan … Continue reading →

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An ‘industrial puppet symphony’ by the transgender/gender-diverse community: Fantasies in Trash: in eleven movements, at Nextfest. A preview

Posted on June 5, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “It’s not a play it’s a puppet show!” declares Emilia Fox Hillyer, the artist who instigated and “assembled” Fantasies in Trash: in eleven movements. The collectively written “industrial puppet symphony” that opens Saturday at Nextfest is … Continue reading →

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Where the human and animal worlds meet: The Bin, at Nextfest. Meet playwright Lexi House

Posted on June 4, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “I’ve never written a play before,” says Lexi House. It’s a declaration of artistic intent that weaves itself through the fabric of Nextfest like a golden thread. Innovative (by very definition), Edmonton’s multi-disciplinary festival of emerging … Continue reading →

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A June week on E-town stages: two festivals, a multi-character solo show, a drag queen extravaganza, a Pride party …

Posted on June 3, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca A June week in Edmonton theatre: for starters, two festivals, a virtuoso solo show in which one extremely agile actor plays 40 (!) characters, an evening with local drag royalty, a big Pride block party. •The … Continue reading →

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Thinking big: the Citadel’s Collider Festival is back with new plays for Size Large stages

Posted on June 2, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Think big or go … wait. There’s a mantra not often heard in Canadian theatre, where “size matters,” another multi-purpose catchphrase, almost always really means “think smaller.” Thinking big is the agenda of Collider, the festival … Continue reading →

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All grown up at 31, and forever young: Nextfest, the festival of emerging artists, is back this week

Posted on June 1, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca All grown up, and forever young. That’s Nextfest, the 11-day multi-disciplinary festival of emerging artists that’s been asking “what’s next?” ever since it got dreamed up at Theatre Network in 1996. It’s back Thursday at the … Continue reading →

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Suddenly, amazingly, it’s starting: Edmonton’s summer festival season

Posted on May 26, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Edmonton’s magic box, the season of summer (and summer-ish) festivals, opens this very week on stages here. And that’s just the start (think Pandora). Common Ground Arts’ RISER New Works Festival, designed to support, profile, and … Continue reading →

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Meet Concrete Theatre’s new artistic director Brett Dahl

Posted on May 25, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Concrete Theatre, the award-winning 39-year-old Edmonton company devoted to making theatre for young audiences, has found a new artistic director. The multi-faceted theatre artist Brett Dahl inherits the Concrete artistic directorship from Jenna Rodgers (who’s moving … Continue reading →

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A new Canadian rom-com is the season finale at L’UniThéâtre (and other theatre too this weekend)

Posted on May 22, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The grand finale of L’UniThéâtre’s all-Canadian season is a premiere: a new rom-com by an Edmonton theatre artist, set in a small Franco-Albertan village. Sophie Gareau-Brennan’s bouanderie/boulangerie — doesn’t laundry/bakery sound so much better in French? … Continue reading →

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The guilty pleasures of Mamma Mia! Broadway Across Canada at the Jube, a review

Posted on May 14, 2026 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Mamma Mia! is one of those shows that’s made to be called a guilty pleasure. There’s no use having a guilty pleasure that’s decaf instead of double full-fat cinnamon dolce latte with a shot and sprinkles. And … Continue reading →

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