Shuswap Theatre has announced the lineup for its fourth Theatre on the Edge Festival, to be held July 20 to 22.
Over the three days of the festival, seven theatre groups will each offer two one-hour performances. This year, two troupes new to this “fringe” style festival will be joined by five returning groups.
• Vancouver actor Nathan Barrett brings The Particulars by Matthew Mackenzie, the story of Gordon who by day forges systematically ahead, but by night, begins to unravel when a relentless scratching sound echoes throughout the walls of his home.
• Comedian Morris Bartlett brings his own one-man show, At War. A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, Bartlett (who served as a corporal in the 1st Battalion, PPCLI) takes a very personal look at war, brotherhood, loss and the fickleness of fate, while straddling the line between hopeless and hilarious along the way. Strong language.
• Fred Skeleton Theatre Company of Kelowna offers “Adrift” by Brandon Shalansky, directed by Rob Mason-Brown. In a small boat alone in the middle of the ocean, Clarice has run out of fuel, then realizes she has an unexpected stowaway, Fiffon, on board. This two-woman “dramedy” is Fred Skeleton’s third appearance at Theatre on the Edge. Strong language.
• Kamloops’ popular Saucy Fops return for the fourth straight year. The only troupe that has appeared in all four festivals, Cayman Duncan, Terri Runnalls and friends offer a series of short, comedic plays. Some mature content.
• Well known theatre artist James Bowlby’s Salmon Arm Actors’ Studio returns with a comedic drama, Theft Of The Venetian Nude With The Spider Monkey In The Foreground. A young journalist is in over his head as he interviews Gina Dell Torre, once Europe’s greatest seductress and art thief. Funny brain twister, mature content.
• Andrew Wade (last year’s “World’s Most Honest Man”) returns with his Hullaboo and The End of Everything. This heartfelt dramedy is the story of an invisible friend who doesn’t want to be forgotten. What can an invisible friend do to survive? A two-hander, the play requires twice Wade’s regular number of people, and features Katie Purych.
• Powerhouse Theatre of Vernon brings Flight, directed by Cara Nunn, a coming-of-age fantasy tale using shadow theatre and masked actors with a narrated storyline. Embodying the symbolism of archetypes, the universal message of how one finds oneself in a tragic world is given in a joyful, positive manner.
This year’s Theatre on the Edge Festival will again offer the Edge Club, an outdoor venue featuring live music between theatre performances, along with food and drink.
Theatre performances begin Friday, July 20 at 3 p.m., and are scheduled every two hours. The festival will close with the 7 p.m. performance on Sunday, July 22. All shows are at Shuswap Theatre, 41 Hudson Ave NW in Salmon Arm.
Tickets for the Theatre on the Edge Festival plays start at $10, and the more shows you buy, the lower the price per show. The performance schedule and tickets are available at shuswaptheatre.com and at Intwined Fibre Arts, 81 Hudson Ave NE in Salmon Arm.
For more information, contact Hamilton McClymont at hammcc3@gmail.com or 604-741-5305.
-Submitted by Hamilton McClymont, Shuswap Theatre.