Category Archives: Features

Richard Gishler: Edmonton theatre has lost part of its story and its heart

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca A hard year in theatre got harder still in December. With the passing this month of actor/ playwright Richard Gishler, at 74, this theatre town has lost some of its lustre: part of its origin story, … Continue reading

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2021: the year in Edmonton theatre, part two

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca 2021 was the year a mystery box, gift-wrapped in silver with a Do Not Open warning, arrived at the house. At showtime three days later, it turned out to contain cues for a play — no, … Continue reading

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2021: the year Edmonton theatre returned to live (part one)

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca In theatre, 2021 is a year that isn’t ending as it began. It was more than half over when The Pivot pivoted. Live performance gradually, cautiously ventured out of its online exile, where it had creatively … Continue reading

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Why Edmonton? Why Garneau? What’s in a ‘hood? We ask novelist Todd Babiak about The Garneau Block

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “LET’S FIX IT.” A rallying cry? A call to action? A cosmic signal? It sounds like a communal mantra for our fraught and broken time. That mysterious three-word sign, duct-taped to trees in a signature Edmonton … Continue reading

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Together once more, on the street where you live: The Garneau Block at the Citadel. Meet playwright Belinda Cornish.

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “There was something quite magical,” says Belinda Cornish, “about having us all come together, to be a community together that one night…. It felt very special. And I felt lucky to be there.”    She’s talking … Continue reading

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Towards a more inclusive theatre: Postmarginal Edmonton

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca At a moment in history when so many of our artistic assumptions are ready for their close-up, the intertwined questions of how theatre gets made, how it’s experienced — and by whom — are up for … Continue reading

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‘A lovely step back into live performing’: What was it like to be a Fringe artist in 2021? We asked.

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca For artists, the Fringe has always been an experiment. Does their new show have potential? Will it attract an audience? How will the audience react? Will they get it? Laugh in weird places? In 2021, when … Continue reading

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Making real space: péhonán, a venue for Indigenous artists at the Fringe

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The name, in Cree, means “meeting place.” That’s how Josh Languedoc explains pêhonân, the Fringe incarnation of the Roxy on Gateway (temporary home of Theatre Network). “And not just gathering…. It’s a waiting place that’s welcoming, … Continue reading

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The first line of your play is here: a public service from 12thnight

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight The week in overheard lines (from walking alone), a selection of possible first lines for your play-in-progress. The Fringe is coming. So feel free to use any of the following (since “Who’s there?” and “When shall … Continue reading

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Thoughts on the Plain Janes’ Scenes From The Sidewalk the sequel

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca You have to hand it to the catastrophe that is the pandemic: it’s impossible now to take for granted the “live” in live theatre. “Going out to the theatre,” a phrase to be tossed off expectantly … Continue reading

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