People filled the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Monday February 16 for a celebration of the life of Michael Green led by his longtime “arts partner” and friend Blake Brooker who started off a ceremony filled with both tears and laughter by noting that Green would have been thrilled to fill a venue so big. Friends and colleagues who knew Green through his work with One Yellow Rabbit the High Performance Rodeo Making Treaty 7 and Calgary 2012 took the stage to talk about Green’s love of a good time his fearless approach to theatre his faith in the talents of local artists and the lasting impact he had on the community. Many speakers vowed to carry on Green’s work. But the final word went to his daughter Maya who said she wanted to let everyone know that he was also “a great dad.”
After more than a decade Soulocentric Performing Arts has decided to change its annual festival format debuting a new Contemporary Performance Showcase that narrows the focus to dance and physical theatre. However one of those events is a dance cabaret featuring 11 short pieces ranging from contemporary dance to hip hop to ballet to jazz etc. — so needless to say there will still be plenty of variety. The other main event is Belle Paris a full-length mainstage solo performance by Judith Mendelsohn that incorporates bouffon clowning. The showcase runs February 19 to 21 at West Village Theatre — read our story at ffwdweekly.com.
The University of Calgary’s School of Creative and Performing Arts describes its production of Man Equals Man (pictured above) as “a gender-swapping madcap political satire where the theatre of war is a circus.” The play by German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht takes place in British colonial India and focuses on the transformation of a civilian against his will into the perfect soldier. The play runs until February 28 at University Theatre.
The Calgary Festival of Animated Objects revealed the lineup for its upcoming festival which runs March 7 to 15 and includes 95 artists in more than 30 events. Longtime curator Xstine Cook also passed the torch to Peter Balkwill and Bob Davis of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop who will head up future festivals — read the details at ffwdweekly.com. Meanwhile a retrospective of Cook’s work from the past 30 years is currently being featured in Stride Gallery’s Plus-15 Window in Arts Commons. Titled Animating the Spirit the exhibition features her work as a sculptor visual artist performer and filmmaker.
The Pumphouse Theatre is extending a helping hand to the Edmonton theatre community’s efforts to rebuild that city’s Roxy Theatre after the performing arts building burned to the ground on January 13. Pumphouse will host a fundraiser on Saturday February 21 featuring a staged reading of Chris Craddock’s adaptation of Summer of My Amazing Luck a novel by Miriam Toews. Admission is by donation and all proceeds will go to the Edmonton Theatre Network.
