It’s not always easy being queer in Calgary.
After decades of (nearly) non-stop conservative leadership, queer folks have grown accustomed to the tune of premiers crafting policies that make them feel unwelcome.
But in this whole mess, Calgary’s vibrant theatre spaces offer a place for 2SLGBTQ+ people to feel at home.
“The queer community is relatively well-represented in the theatre community,” said Jason Mehmel, artistic director of Sage Theatre. “Probably at a higher percentage than a lot of other industries.”
Mehmel became Sage’s artistic director in 2015 and carried on the company’s mandate of producing “bold, intimate, and thoughtful” theatre. While producing queer shows is not Sage’s primary goal, shows written or directed by 2SLGBTQ+ artists often fulfills that mandate.
Mehmel says that the goal of Sage’s shows is to give the audience something to think about and that may challenge them, rather than deliver a sermon on a belief system.
“If an audience knows that you’re trying to teach them something, or that there’s a lesson or ideology attached,” said Mehmel. “Your audience will self-select away before they even sit down in their seat.”
Natalie Meisner keeps this in mind when she’s writing her plays.
Sage Theatre has produced two of Meisner’s plays — Legislating Love: The Everett Klippert Story in 2018 and Boom Baby! earlier this year — both of which feature gay characters. Meisner herself identifies as gay. She fights the impulse to give in to online “rage-farming” that would turn her plays into attacks.
“I want to resist polarities at all costs,” she said. “There’s no change when both parties are using flamethrowers.”
Meisner’s Legislating Love tells the true story of Everett Klippert, the Calgary bus driver who was the last person jailed for homosexuality in Canada. It received critical acclaim, winning the Heritage Calgary Lion Award before going international at the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, where it won the Oscar Wilde award for Best New Writing.
“[Sage Theatre] took a risk on this play because it fell under their mandate,” said Meisner.
In doing so, Sage Theatre helped bring a piece of Calgary’s queer history to sold-out audiences that may have never known the story otherwise.
In Meisner’s experience, Calgary’s theatre audiences are “radically accepting.” However, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed everyone inside, and now, it takes more effort to get people to leave their screens in favour of live theatre. Audience sizes are smaller and, in the opinion of Sage’s artistic associate, Javier Vilalta, mainstream theatre companies have become less brave in their approach to storytelling.
“For smaller, independent companies, what does that mean?” said Vilalta. “Do they need to follow a similar path, or do they need to come even stronger than it was before?”
Sage Theatre’s answer to this question came in 2022 with The House of Bernarda Alba. Queer playwright Federico García Lorca wrote the play as an analogy for the sexual and emotional repression he’d experienced in Spain in the early 20th century.
Vilalta, who identifies as gay, translated the play himself and cast men in the roles of the socially isolated daughters to further amplify the play’s representation of the author’s repression.
“We cannot underestimate the audiences here,” said Vilalta. “I think our audience is a lot more sophisticated than we give them credit for.”
Vilalta understands the hesitancy of big theatre companies to tell stories that may ruffle a few feathers. Yet the very audiences these companies worry about alienating completely sold out Sage’s run of Meisner’s newest play, Boom Baby!, earlier this year. Calgarians are ready and willing to be challenged; they just need to be given a chance.
Calgary audiences will get this chance again at Sage’s 2025 Ignite Festival. Mehmel and his team dedicate themselves to showcasing diverse voices in Ignite, just like they do with their mainstage performances. Queer theatre artists are encouraged to share their creations, because the last thing Sage wants is for artists to suppress their work rather than submitting.
“You are needed. You are important,” said Vilalta. “If the door doesn’t open, then let’s build our own door together.”
Sage Theatre wraps up its season with Mary Stuart, directed by Vilalta, on May 4. True to their mandate, Sage offers a flexible pricing model where audiences choose what they pay after seeing the show – just pay according to how much you loved it. The Ignite! Festival runs from June 4 to 7, showcasing new works by emerging artists in Calgary.
Go to sagetheatre.com to get updates on Sage’s boundary-pushing productions.
