Theatre Outre presenting world debut of ‘Like Orpheus’
Ancient stories have become the inspiration for countless new interpretations. A Greek myth, the tragedy of Orpheus and Euridice, has become the starting point for dozens of dramas, novels, poems, films, ballets, operas and operettas.
The story was interpreted by Jacques Offenbach’s symphonic “Orpheus in the Underworld,” Tennessee Williams’ novel “Orpheus Descending” and the vivid Marcel Camus movie “Black Orpheus,” to name just a few.
Now it’s become the backdrop for a new Theatre
Outre drama, scheduled for its world debut in Lethbridge.
“Like Orpheus,” the first script by Calgary actor and playwright Brett
Dahl, is the featured work during this year’s Pretty, Witty & Gay Festival. Its second run is set for an international festival in Ireland.
For Dahl, it’s an opportunity to raise questions about physical and sexual assault — a discussion that usually focuses on heterosexual violence.
Long fascinated by Greek mythology, he’s put a contemporary twist on the story of Orpheus — son of the Greek god Apollo — and his ill-fated marriage to a woman of unsurpassed beauty and grace.
Kevin Jesuino plays tormented Orpheus in the two-person cast, with Dahl as a younger man.
The drama will run Friday to March 1, downtown at Club Didi, preceded Thursday by a public reading of another new Canadian play, “Public Arts Ohio.”
Wrapping up the festival, the annual Pretty, Witty & Gay cabaret is set for March 2, 8 p.m. in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre. Tickets for events through the week are available at www.theatreoutre.ca. • • • For lighter fare, Playgoers of Lethbridge is staging “Where’s Oscar?” — an original adaptation of a French farce. It’s set for Wednesday to next Saturday in
the newly upgraded Sterndale Bennett Theatre.
Rob Berezay is directing the cast, which includes performers from across the region along with veterans of previous Playgoers productions.
The event marks Playgoers’ return to the Yates Centre’s smaller theatre, named after one of the long-running organization’s founders. Tickets are available at Ticket Centre locations in the Yates and the Enmax Centre.
• • • For stand-up comedy, Good Times on 7 Street South is featuring Renee Manners tonight, with shows at 6 and 9:30 p.m., and tickets at the door. But the new venue also offers weekly events including “name that song,” open mic and “Roast Battle” evenings — check them on Facebook for details.
• • • Prefer an evening of music? Bill
Bourne returns for a performance next Saturday at the Lethbridge Folk Club, with doors opening at 8 p.m. at Lethbridge College in The Cave.
Pokey Lafarge and Ryland Moranz will be presented Feb. 24 at the Geomatic Attic.
And there’s a special concert Feb. 26 at the University of Lethbridge, where music composition students premiere their recent works, 7:30 p.m. in Recital Hall.
• • • And there’s more music in the wings! From Uganda, the Watoto Children’s Choir will perform on Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m. in Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Prize-winning organist Neil Cockburn will join the Vox Musica Choral Society for a March 2, 7:30 p.m. concert at Southminster United.
And the Lethbridge Community Band Society has announced two upcoming events, starting with the “Music from the Silver Screen” on March 9, 7 p.m. at College Drive Community Church. Then on March 16, the Incanto Singers will join the Silver Band, also 7 p.m. at College Drive.
• • • And speaking of singers, here’s a salute to the Opera Workshop vocalists and the
Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra for an outstanding production of “Candide.” And more applause for student Hunter
Semrau in the feature role, and for Lethbridge stage veteran Doug MacArthur as the witty Voltaire.
Next up for the symphony are March 1 and 2 performances, “Cello Adventures” with the Cellissimo Ensemble and selections from baroque to rock and jazz. They’re set for 7:30 p.m. at Casa, with tickets at the orchestra’s kiosk in Westminster Hall.
••• For yet another musical genre, Lethbridge’s own Hippodrome will be on stage for a fundraising “community cabaret” on March 2 at the Italian Canadian Cultural Centre, with proceeds assisting the Southern Alberta Community Living Association. ••• And the Lethbridge International Film Festival is also on the horizon — March 4-9 at the downtown library. We’ll preview the lineup next week.
••• And lots of last-minute choices: As part of the North American Saxophone Alliance conference at the U of L, there’s a 5:30 p.m. concert in Recital Hall, to be followed at 9 p.m. by a cabaret featuring the Lethbridge Big Band in the Students’ Union ballroom.
The Family Day menu includes events at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Galt Museum is offering a free Family Day pancake brunch (with free admission) as part of its Museum Community Day celebration.
There’s also a free “Family Funday” event, noon to 4 p.m. at Casa. “Musical fun” will be provided, along with “box city,” creative button-making and other art activities.
And the 1st Choice Savings Centre at the U of L will host Play Day for youngsters and parents, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with no-charge opportunities to climb, swim or get involved in floor hockey or basketball.
And weather permitting, you could visit Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, the Remington Carriage Centre and the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre with admission free.