Local theatre options are flourishing in April
Feminist theatre company’s Fertility, musical revue by Hamilton Mountain youth theatre, and Canadian comedy Buying the Moose are fantastic options this weekend.
April marks the burgeoning of new growth in local theatre options that will continue on into May. Among them is the world premiere run of a new ensemble play, a musical theatre showcase, and the final production on the playbill of Binbrook Little Theatre’s 2024-2025 season.
Fertility, Light Echo Theatre at Theatre Aquarius Studio, April 24 to 27
Bear witness to the world premiere run of Fertility, an ambitious and socially relevant play featuring 10 mostly Hamilton-based performers from Hamilton’s Light Echo Theatre, staged at Theatre Aquarius. Fertility is described by its company as “an original collective creation theatre piece about menstruation, miscarriage, abortion, infertility, postpartum depression, premature birth, trans identity, and menopause.”
Hamilton-based actor, writer and director Laura Welch founded Light Echo Theatre in 2019 along with Fertility collaborator Rebekka Gondosch, staging a production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues. Light Echo describes itself as a feminist theatre company “that aims to share stories of women, queer, trans, and gender non-conforming folks.”
This new play brings forth stories from a rich wellspring of individual yet shared experiences that too often don’t make it into public conversation, let alone onto the stage. The production’s promotional material explains that, “Fertility was born from personal reflections on our own reproductive timelines, and realizing the need to bring private discussions about fertility into the public sphere.”
Welch says Fertility has been developed over the last five years as a central project and is Light Echo’s first full, original production. It has been supported by the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Arts Council and the Hamilton City Enrichment Fund. Fertility has not only had the support of Theatre Aquarius but has also partnered with Ovry, a Canadian, women-owned brand of affordable, eco-conscious, at-home pregnancy and ovulation tests. Ovry is the official show sponsor.
Directed by Sarah O’Brecht with a run time of 90 minutes, Fertility is written and performed by a talented and experienced collective that includes Karen Ancheta, Carly Anna Billings, Rebekka Gondosch, Kaleigh Gorka, Bria McLaughlin, Melissa Murray-Mutch, Miss Niki Nikita, Kit Simmons, Meg Webster and Laura Welch.
Fertility will launch at Theatre Aquarius and then move on to Factory Theatre in Toronto from May 1 to 4. There will be a post-performance talk back at Theatre Aquarius on the evening of April 26.
Light Echo Theatre understands representation and visibility to be key principles and that the personal is political within storytelling: “Our work is inherently intersectional, feminist-centric, deeply personal and unavoidably political. We pull from our lived experiences to create bravely vulnerable theatre, and know our power to create radical community engagement.”
A long term plan for the show is to have it picked up by a company to co-produce, remount and potentially tour the show around Canada or around the world, Welch says.
“The stories are important for people to hear, especially in places where women’s rights and the rights of trans people are being threatened.” A further aspiration, Welch says, would be to “have the monologues published together by a theatrical publisher in a book that folks could enjoy at home.”
NEED TO KNOW
April 24, 25 & 26, 7:30 p.m.
April 26 & 27, 2 p.m.
Post-show talkback: evening of April 26
Theatre Aquarius Studio
190 King William St., Hamilton
Tickets here
(905) 522-7529
Click here for more information
Broadway Hearts: An Evening of Razzle Dazzle, BIG HEARTS Little Theatre at The Staircase Theatre, April 24 to 27
For musical theatre lovers or those looking for a family-friendly entertainment choice, there’s Broadway Hearts: An Evening of Razzle Dazzle with four performances over Thursday, Friday, and Sunday evening. BIG HEARTS little theatre is a performing arts company on Hamilton Mountain founded and led by artistic director Erin Newton, an experienced and multi-talented arts educator.
Performing songs from memorable and popular musical theatre hits like Chicago, Cabaret, Wicked, A Chorus Line, and The Sound of Music, this vibrant hour-long show will feature “up-and-coming” youth artists from BIG HEARTS. The show is produced, directed and choreographed by Newton, with musical direction from Cydney Speers London and input from associate choreographers Kaitlyn Dallan and Damian Gradson. The venue is known for its comfortable seating areas as well as its great options for food and drink.
With Broadway Hearts, BIG HEARTS little theatre promises to have audience members “singing and dancing in (their) seats.”
NEED TO KNOW
April 24 & 25, 7 p.m.
April 27, 5 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
The Staircase Theatre
27 Dundurn St. N., Hamilton
Tickets here
Click here for more information
Buying The Moose, Binbrook Little Theatre, April 25 to May 10
Buying the Moose is a 2014 comedy written by Michael G. Wilmot, a Canadian playwright, actor, and comedy writer who spent most of his life in London, Ontario. He spent years in radio before turning to TV, film and theatre. Among his acting credits are Gray Matter (2018) and Devil Seed (2012), as well as episodes of Inventions That Shook the World (2011), Curious and Unusual Deaths (2009), and Creepy Canada (2003). Wilmot was also a freelance monologue writer for Jay Leno's Tonight Show and for comedian Kevin Nealon’s Weekend Update segment on Saturday Night Live.
Though he died prematurely in 2019, Wilcot was eulogized for his “fresh observations and dry, sharp wit,” and had already seen his plays performed “over a hundred times” on stages in Toronto, New York City, London (U.K.), and other cities across Canada and the U.S. as well as Australia and Russia. The Playwrights Guild of Canada notes affectionately that, “Michael Wilmot lived and breathed comedy,” and left a legacy of “five full length comedies” when he died.
Buying the Moose was first produced in 2015 by the London Community Players, and then premiered professionally at the Globus Theatre in Bobcaygeon, Ontario in 2016. The play is a light-hearted look at relationships, the foibles of human nature, and the misunderstandings that can develop between the sexes. The Binbrook production is directed by Lisa Cook, herself an experienced actor.
In the play, things seem to be going well for Betty and Rob when she comes home to discover him with an inflatable sex doll wearing one of her dresses. Horrified and assuming the worst, she reaches out to her girlfriend (and sister-in-law) Cheryl for support. Greg, Cheryl’s husband, reaches out to the unfortunate Rob, who is his brother. What follows is a quick-witted comedy of errors that uncovers the assumptions, stereotypes and differing ways of thinking and communicating that men and women have.
Previous productions of Buying the Moose have led to the two-act play being described as “sweet & funny” as well as “a comedic gem.”
Saturday shows at Binbrook Little Theatre provide the option of a sit-down dinner before or after the play while at other performances, small meals and snacks can be purchased at the concession. Doors open 30 minutes before the dinner or performance.
NEED TO KNOW
April 25, 26, May 2, 9 & 10, 8 p.m.
April 27, May 3 & 4, 2 p.m.
Binbrook Little Theatre, Memorial Hall
2600 Highway #56, Binbrook (beside the fairgrounds)
Tickets & more info
(905) 692-5076
tickets@binbrooktheatre.ca
