Downstage Announces 20th Anniversary Season!
Downstage's new season will feature a co-production with Handsome Alice and Verb Theatre for the Alberta premiere of Beautiful Man by Erin Shields.
By: A.A. Cristi Apr. 13, 2023
Climate change and body politics are at the centre of Downstage's 2023/2024 Season. In celebration of their 20th anniversary, they continue to foster and embrace diverse collaborations that include the Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation and the UCalgary's School of Creative and Performing Arts.
Downstage's new season will also feature a co-production with Handsome Alice and Verb Theatre for the Alberta premiere of Beautiful Man by Erin Shields, with a season closer that features a feminist comedy wrestling series.
"We are so excited to announce our 20th Anniversary season! Downstage is happy to honour founding Artistic Director Simon Mallett's tradition of bringing celebrated scripts to the local stage with Erin Shield's Beautiful Man and we are trying something totally new as we host the GoGo Battles wrestling-meets-burlesque series in Motel Theatre," said Clare Preuss, Downstage's Artistic Director.
"We are also keen to showcase ground-breaking short plays by local and International Artists! All Good Things Must Begin and Magnetic Bodies feature new works focused on important topics that are at the heart of so much debate here in Alberta: climate change and body politics. By sharing a multitude of short plays focused on these sometimes polarizing topics, we allow for a multiplicity of artistic perspectives to be expressed while giving our audiences the chance to discuss these vital issues during our nightly post show conversations."
All Good Things Must Begin
November 17 - November 19, 2023
Downstage Production in Association with Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation
Motel Theatre, Arts Commons
Engage with staged readings of short plays from Climate Change Theatre Action 2023. The theme of this year's selection of short plays is inspired by the journal entry of American science fiction writer Octavia Butler: "All Good Things Must Begin". Winning each of science fiction's highest honours, Octavia Butler was also incredibly prescient, writing about extremism, racial justice, and climate change some 30 years ago. While the worlds of her novels depict the violent challenges of today's interlocking crises, her protagonists remain devoted to thriving. The climate crisis demands the same kind of imaginative leap. Climate Change Theatre Action invites this year's commissioned playwrights to be solarpunks and envision radical pluralistic futures where nature and community thrive, and where we reject the apocalypse and embrace counterculture, post-capitalism and decolonization. This doesn't necessarily translate into utopias, but into worlds where successes and failures exist side by side, and where hope, courage and grief overlap.
Beautiful Man by Erin Shields
February 29 - March 10, 2024
Alberta Premiere Co-Produced by Downstage, Handsome Alice Theatre and Verb Theatre
Motel Theatre, Arts Commons
In this biting satire about the portrayal of women in film and television, three friends take us on a whirlwind tour of a world where women rule society as politicians, hunters, queens and policewomen - all while gazing at the semi-nude Beautiful Man. This comedy joyfully exposes the insidious and toxic aspects of popular culture with a sense of playful audacity. You'll never watch your favourite binge-worthy shows the same way again.
"A brilliant, brutal reminder of the realities of being a woman in a society that values beauty and compliance." ~ Samantha Edwards, Now Magazine
Magnetic Bodies
April 5 - April 7, 2024
Downstage and UCalgary's School of Creative and Performing Arts Co-Production
Motel Theatre, Arts Commons
Enjoy a series of Short Performances created and performed by students from the School of Creative and Performing Arts UCalgary as part of Alchemy Festival 2024. Imagine a body producing a magnetic field - invisible and powerful. Polarity, attraction, repulsion and sphere of influence will be explored in Magnetic Bodies. This dynamic series of new works by UCalgary Drama students will examine the power within the human body and how we, as magnetic beings, co-exist in a polarized society.
GoGo Battles: OMG Someone Dies!
April 15 - April 28, 2024
World Premiere GoGo Battles Production by Karla Marx and Bitch Sassidy with Generous Support from Val Duncan and Downstage
Motel Theatre, Arts Commons
Get ready for this exciting one of a kind GoGo Battles experience as we present a prime-time mini-series event for the ages! It has all of the drama of wrestling but with murder!? There's a new one-time-only show every night! Collect the clues over the full six night run to figure out who survives and who dies at Motel Theatre in Arts Commons! GoGo Battles is proud to team up with Downstage for a high-class, super smart person type artsy SMACKDOWN KABLAMO!!
Downstage is an award-winning theatre company dedicated to producing plays that create meaningful conversation around important social issues. Their plays provoke vibrant dialogue between local audiences, both informally and through nightly post-performance discussions. For more information on Downstage, please visit www.downstage.ca.
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