OutFest, the largest Queer theatre festival in Atlantic Canada, featuring local, regional, and national artists returns this April. The festival is produced by Page1 Theatre and includes completed works that have been on tour, to new and emerging creations.
“I’m really excited about this years lineup,” Artistic Director Isaac Mulè explains. “We’ve developed relationships with new partners and it's allowed us to expand the festival, providing more artists with an opportunity to share their work.”
Those partnerships and the expanded lineup include a closing night Music Stage at The Carleton with Jade Bennett and Natasha Sophia, a Comedy Stage at Roxy Live which will include standup comedy, drag and improv, as well as an opening night Community Supper with the folks at Every One Every Day. This is in addition to theatre and dance performances from the Main and Emerging Stage shows at The Bus Stop Theatre.
“Last year was a tremendous success for OutFest,” Isaac explains, “and this year we’ve almost doubled our programming, which I think is really exciting. We’re providing an opportunity not only for Queer artists but for members of our community to see stories they otherwise would not get the chance to see.”
Main Stage Performances
PRUDE by Lou Campbell premiered as part of Eastern Front Theatre’s festival STAGES and has since gone on to perform at the Toronto Fringe Festival, rEvolver festival in Vancouver, Intrepid Theatre in Victoria, and High-Performance Rodeo in Calgary, Alberta.
PRUDE is a hilarious and high-energy blend of stand-up and drag. The piece begins as a motivational talk, given to the audience by the King of the Party, there to show everyone how to have a good time. Slowly, through lip-syncs and mortifying personal tales, we watch them unravel onstage, digging into the complex experience of being an asexual in an (allo)sexual world.”
The second Main Stage show is Kiss The Stormy Sky by Sid Ryan Eilers. The show was been part of the Hamilton Fringe Festival in July 2022, In The Soil Arts Festival (St. Catharines, Ontario) and Brave New Works (Hamilton, Ontario) in June 2023. The show was created through several national and international dance residencies.
"Kiss The Stormy Sky” is a compelling visual masterpiece & deeply emotional contemporary dance performance created & performed by Sid Ryan Eilers (they/them). Journeying into Eilers’ personal story & ancestry spanning from the 18th century to today: from the Russian Revolution, Nazi Germany to #MeToo. Eilers plays their great-grandfather, grandmother, mom, & themself, questioning the gender binary, queer existence, and how they came to be who they are today. The show includes original music by Shn Shn; Queer Black singer-songwriter & composer. Shn Shn’s soundscapes use lush vocals, meditative beats, & swelling pads, to create cinematic-inspired music.”
Emerging Stage series
Lifespan of a Mattress, by Sara Graham (NS)
“Lifespan of a Mattress follows a chronically ill person navigating queer relationships, the medical system and trying to keep their room clean all from the discomfort of their own bed. Gently exploring the connections between love, friendship, disability and unhealthy obsession with Pride and Prejudice.”
A Pineberry’s Past by Third Wheel Co (ON).
What would you do if half of you was drowning? Living in a perpetual fog, Mixed, Indigenous and white, attempts to share the story of their life over a home-cooked meal in their childhood kitchen. A place of joy, family, decay, and silence; Mixed is left gasping for a community of their own.
DEEPER by Rovyn Vivian (NL) Produced by Unnatural Disaster Theatre (NS)
Deeper is a queer love story about a group of women living in ‘80s and ‘90s Newfoundland. Set in an underwater world that reflects the island above it. Deeper takes us on a rocky journey across decades, through college classes, marriage and divorce, cross-country moves, familial tension, unlikely friendships, and heartbreak.”
Contemporary Dance Solo by Robert Azevedo (NL)
Contemporary Dance Solo is a solo dance show with a hint of bouffon. The performer (Robert Azevedo) recreates 18 dance solos from various youth dance competitions back-to-back! The audience gets to see Azevedo’s rendition alongside projected videos of the original performers.
Families and/or those with young children can also attend the festivals YA (Young Audience) Stage on Saturday morning. Everyone’s Story tells the story about “best friends Kit and Kat love escaping into books and reading stories to one another, but never see themselves in any of the heroes because the strong, adventurous and courageous characters they read about in books are not like them. They decide to take matters into their own hands by writing their own adventures where they finally get to save the day.”
And finally, PUSHED by Riley Reign (NS), a Staged Reading which explores themes of “prison abolition, colonialism, state violence, sexual violence, and the importance of friendship and community for marginalized people. On a night out with friends Clara, a young Mi’kmaw woman is charged and convicted with second-degree murder - a crime she does not believe she is guilty of.”
“We’re very fortunate that we’ve had a lot of support as we continue to grow, including a specialty doughnut from Vandal Doughnuts that will be available the week of OutFest,” Isaac says. “This festival is extremely important to the theatre ecology here in Atlantic Canada and our patrons. Artists need spaces like this where we can share our stories and our audiences also deserve to see themselves reflected on stage.”
Folks will also have the opportunity to chat with some of the artists during Say Hello, an informal chit-chat taking place between 4pm - 5pm on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of the festival, at The Bus Stop Theatre. This event is free and open to local artists or community members who would like to learn more about the show or chat with the artists involved.
OutFest runs from April 23rd - 28th, with performances at The Bus Stop Theatre, The Carleton, and Roxy Live.
Click the schedule, below, to open the OutFest tickets page.
