Author Archives: Liz Nicholls

Sex in the city, hypocrite puritans, corrupt politicians … who’s ever heard of that? Measure For Measure in the park

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The opening image of Nancy McAlear’s production of Measure For Measure, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival’s companion piece to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Hawrelak Park this summer, is a male pole dancer in a cage. It’s … Continue reading →

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More about folly than love: A Midsummer Night’s Dream brings Freewill Shakespeare back to the park. A review

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Blow blow thou winter wind…”  oops, wrong play.  After two years of wandering the town in small-cast entertainments, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival is back on the big stage in Hawrelak Park. And on Tuesday’s blustery, unremittingly … Continue reading →

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Their long journeys to Canada and the shoes they wore: The Shoe Project at Workshop West

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca To understand someone you must first walk a mile in their shoes. The old truism gets renewed and powerful resonance in the performance event happening at Workshop West this weekend. In The Shoe Project, Saturday and … Continue reading →

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Let the journeying begin: Northern Light Theatre announces a new season

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The journey. After two years of our collective fretfulness — isolation, scrambling on the ground, pivoting on one foot, running on the spot as the world crumbles — theatre’s favourite metaphor gathers new dimensions. Journeys, and … Continue reading →

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Under the big top: after two years Freewill Shakespeare Festival is back in the park

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The geese are milling around backstage in the greenest of green rooms. A crew is planting marigolds on the route between the gate and the stage. The mosquitos are working out their ensemble numbers. Sound cues … Continue reading →

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Re:Construct, at RISER, is a celebration of self in trans-it. A review

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Welcome!” declare the beaming go-for-the-gusto duo who greet us in Re:Construct. “You are SO SO SO … valid.” Valid! Hurray! Unless, of course, we’re not. Ah, there’s the rub: All good! Relax! “Do whatever it takes!” … Continue reading →

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Trying to ‘do gender right’ through the trans lens: Re:Construct, at RISER

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Playwright Even Gilchrist was in full producer mode at home one morning last week, making a cake for his new play. The play? Re:Construct, premiering Wednesday at the Backstage Theatre in RISER Edmonton’s 2022 series. The … Continue reading →

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Creation and destruction: the story of an artist in Stone and Soil, at Nextfest. Meet playwright Gabby Bernard

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca It’s not random chance that the role Gabby Bernard wrote for herself in her first full-length solo play is an artist character. It’s a sign of the age. After all, theatre artists have had two years … Continue reading →

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Strangers on a train: the real-life story that inspired Omisimawiw, at Nextfest. Meet playwright Shyanne Duquette

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Strangers on a train. Imagine the scene (with special thanks to the ETS): a young woman on the LRT, heading towards class at the university, notices another young woman on the LRT. There’s just something about … Continue reading →

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The building of Pressure, at Nextfest. Meet playwright Amanda Samuelson

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Amanda Samuelson remembers the moment Pressure began to build.  Her play, which gets a workshop reading at Nextfest Saturday and then becomes Nextfest’s first-ever official Fringe show in August, began in the winter of 2018. In … Continue reading →

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