TEN MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT: Are you someone who binge-watches shows on Netflix? Or maybe stays up till 2 a.m. with your favourite book? If so, the Ten Minute Play Festival is the best way to kick off your HPR experience. In the span of two hours, your senses are bombarded with play after play by new artist after new artist. It’s an all-killer, no-filler Calgary tradition that perfectly captures One Yellow Rabbit’s ethos — and feels like inhaling a season of television in a single sitting.
January 13 at Martha Cohen Theatre
PERFORMS TOM WAITS
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT: If you’re reading The Scene, we know you’re a music fan, and chances are good you like Tom Waits. But you’ve never heard his tunes quite like this. L’orchestre d’hommes-orchestres brings new life to his music with a madcap collection of found objects and self-made instruments, transforming the Bella Concert Hall into a disaster zone. This isn’t just a concert: it’s a junkyard circus tribute to one of the great American songwriters. Tom Waits would either love it or call the police. Possibly both.
January 15 to 17 at Bella Concert Hall
SWAN?
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT: Raunchy twists on classic stories are a HPR tradition at this point, and Swan Lake is next in the crosshairs. Lauren Brady reimagines the Russian ballet as a one-woman, zonked-out party starring a chain-smoking disaster who desperately needs to break a curse of ennui. The show promises to be a highly interactive piece in which the audience is part of the story, which is just the kind of irreverent experience the Rodeo specializes in. Plus, on top of creating and performing the piece, Brady did the sound design; how cool is that?!
January 15 to 18 at The Studio at Vertigo Theatre
JULIET: A REVENGE COMEDY
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT: Everyone knows what happens in Romeo and Juliet, but this show puts a spin on the formula based on one simple question: What if Juliet doesn’t kill herself?” Like a great Elseworlds comic or alt-history novel, the narrative twist creates a butterfly effect that instead spirals out into a feminist action comedy starring Betty Mitchell winner Lili Beaudoin. Worth checking out if you’re a longtime Billy Shakes fan, or someone with bad memories of high school English class.
January 21, 23, and 24 at Martha Cohen Theatre
MISS RITA’S LUCHA VAVOOM
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT: OYR describes this one as “Telenovela meets WrestleMania meets a horny fever dream.” That’s not just a description: that’s a warning.
Miss Rita throws lucha libre wrestling, burlesque, theatre and drag into a blender, hits “chaos,” and serves it with zero apologies for one night only. Tassels, body slams, and glamour; oh my! Miss it and spend the rest of January hearing everyone else’s stories … and wishing you had been the one getting suplexed instead. Va-va-voom indeed!
January 24 at WinSport Event Centre
NEW BLOOD
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT: This collaboration with Strathmore High School brings Peter Gabriel’s music to life through dance, sweat, passion, and pure energy. Students blend hip-hop, contemporary, and cultural movement to tell the powerful story of Siksika Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman and his journey from residential school survivor to leader of his people. It’s a dance that breaks barriers, and your chance to see what the next generation of artists and storytellers has in store for us.
January 30 at The GRAND Flanagan Theatre
