Centaur Theatre's 18th Annual Wildside Festival Kicks Off Next Week

From January 7 to 17, 2015 Centaur Theatre takes its annual walk on the wild side with the 18th edition of the 10-day winter festival of boundary-breaking theatre. With a keen eye for the new and unusual, local playwright and actor, Johanna Nutter (My Pregnant Brother), has curated a program ranging from mime and movement to rock opera and comedy. "Wildside is Centaur's no-holds-barred blast-off into the new year, an open invitation to the audacious and curious," said Executive and Artistic Director, Roy Surette, who added, "It's our way of combatting the post-holiday blues so Wildside Superpasses make great stocking stuffers!

This year, the Wildside Festival explores such themes as loss (Aiden Flynn Lost His Brother So He Makes Another), the sensuous connection between the body, words and light (Coming and Going), open relationships (Delicacy), sexual predators (F*** You! You F***ing Perv!), finding love and freedom (Johnny Legdick), rediscovering your inner kid and letting him loose (Playday Mayday) and the irresistable urge to get a laugh at any cost (The Way You Tell Them).

The Wildside Art Exhibition is a 'first-come, first-exhibited' art display for emerging artists. Centaur invites artists to register at the theatre (453 Saint-Francois-Xavier) on December 14th between 1:30 and 5pm. Centaur will display as much as the Seagram's Gallery walls can handle for the duration of the 10-day event with a vernissage from 5 to 7pm on January 7th.

The Offside Festival - last year Ms. Nutter introduced a new facet of the fest that syncs perfectly with the event's edgy character and has been officialy dubbed, Offside. She has expanded it considerably since last year with live shows every night (except Sunday) following the day's final presentation. Audiences can linger over a drink and avoid going back out into the cold just a little bit longer. Sarah Segal-Lazar's Sermo Scomber (Talk Mackerel, Wildside 2014) is planning a country-themed show, No More Radio will drop by, Oimoi's Ephemerillz put an improvisational spin on Greek lyric poetry, the newly created Wildside Emissaries will host an open mic night, Rachel Mars (Wildside 2015) will host a Jewish-themed improv slide show and both Friday nights are dedicated to the wild man himself, Tom Waits, who's written enough material to last into the wee hours. As Nutter put it, "Offside is the most open and wild aspect of the fest: just come, hang out, laugh and sing along." See below for the Offside line-up.

Wildside Theatre Superpasses offer a discounted price to any four shows in the line-up but they're very popular and sell out fast. Centaur recommends buyers take advantage quickly of this great opportunity.

TICKETS

4-Show Superpass: $50 Regular or $40 for Subscribers, Students, Seniors & under 30 Single Show: $15 Regular or $12.50 for Subscribers, Students, Seniors & under 30

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