Hobson's Choice deals with arguments, resets and best friends

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From disbelief and disappointment to determination, excitement and joy, May is part of the theater scene as it draws to a close.

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Playwrights Caroline Russell-King and David Sklar will host a special play reading event at the Central Library on May 27. They call it a revival of three plays that were canceled or censored in Victoria because of their subject matter.

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“In a world marked by diversity of thought and opinion, it's important to create spaces where theatrical dialogue can flourish, even in the face of disagreement,” says Russell-King.

In January, Victoria's Belfry Theater pulled Christopher Morris' The Runner, a play about violence in the Middle East that won Toronto's Dora Mavor Moore Award for best play in 2019 and has been performed six times since its premiere. The theater received e-mails and phone calls demanding its cancellation, and the building was covered in graffiti.

In March, Inconnou Theatre's production of Wendy Leal's play about school violence, Sisters, was canceled after two weeks after the theater complained that the playwright was white and therefore “the play was biased.” Former Calgary Theater Artist Kevin McKendrick, who directed the play, said he didn't come to see the play before theater management made the decision. Board members are also afraid of damage to their venue. Leal's play was nominated for a Governor General's Award in 1989, and the film version won a Gemini Award in 1992.

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Zelda Dean, another former Calgary director, canceled a performance of Izzy Salant and Ryan Michael Dunne's Peace Talks during the 2022 Victoria Fringe run after event organizers received three emails and two phone calls. The play deals with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and the fringe organizers felt unable to provide security for all fringe locations.

Calgary actors Tyrell Crews, Heather Pattengale and David Sklar will perform at the Patricia A. on May 27 at 6 p.m. Whelan will read excerpts from these three plays in the performance hall. Doors open at 5:30. The event is free, but donations are accepted at the door to help cover the cost of the event.

DEJÁ VU FOR THIS PAIR OF WINNERS

The final night of March's 2024 Calgary-area One Act Play Festival felt more like a rock concert than a theater competition.

A capacity crowd at the Pumphouse's Victor Mitchell Theater laughed, cheered and clapped along to Greg Miller's Teach Stede, Jamie and AJ Pearce's Like & Subscribe. Although judge Cody Rolland didn't send two plays to represent Calgary at the recent provincial festival, he did award Christopher Ford acting awards to Like and Follow's Teach Stede, Jamie and Jennifer Andrew.

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Morpheus and Workshop Theaters are hosting two plays at the Pumphouse Joyce Doolittle Theater from 29 May to 1 June at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2pm. Tickets are $20.

Teach Stede, Jamie is a fantasy farce about a waiter who drinks a bit of rum and wakes up on a pirate ship, where he meets The Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnet. He is only in second place. The real master of the brig is none other than the famous Blackbeard Edward Teach. Jamie doesn't know how he got on board, nor does he know how to get off because of his alcohol-induced fear. Starring Casey Colville as Jamie, Christopher Ford as Steed, and Aaron Ranger as Blackbeard, it's a fun, fun romp.

The humor in Pierce's likes and follows may be a little subtle, but none the less as viewers look to the Olsen family and their wildly successful YouTube channel. There's trouble in paradise as the eldest daughter has announced that she no longer wants to create content. Dad is negotiating a sponsorship deal that will break up and benefit the airwaves if he can't reunite the family. Pierce, who wrote and directed Like & Subscribe , stars as the ultimate clueless dad who causes headaches for Jennifer Andrews, Anna Brash, Abby Langille and Marcus Della Rosa.

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MEET CALGARY THEATER WINNERS AND FRIENDS

When Theater Calgary announced it would co-present the world premiere of Beaches The Musical in 2023, the competition was on. People were invited to submit a picture of themselves and their best female friend and explain how that person changed their life.

Iris Rainer Dart, who wrote the original novel in 1985 and now the book and lyrics for the musical, which officially opened on May 24, recalls that “in one day the producers received over 6,000 entries and they just kept coming.” The winners were Laura Letica Quesada and Sarah Evans of Long Beach, California, who will attend the opening night. When the audience comes to the theater, the pictures of that competition will be shown on the stage screen.

The fun doesn't end there. Friends attending any Beaches performance through June 16 can take photos in the Max Bell lobby and they will appear on the stage screen during intermission that night.

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