IGNITE! 2023

Get your tickets

Festival pricing:

Single show:

  • $10 for single show ticket

Festival passes

  • $25 for 3 show pass 
  • $60 for 10 show pass 

IGNITE! Festival of Emerging Artists

JUNE 7 - 10, 2023 | Pumphouse Theatres

Presented in the Joyce Doolittle and Victor Mitchell Theatre at the Pumphouse Theatres.

IGNITE! is a  multi-disciplinary, 4-day festival of emerging art and artists. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s beautiful! With 100 artists programmed each year, IGNITE! is a fantastic development, networking, and presentation opportunity for Calgary’s artists. 

IGNITE! is a festival dedicated to supporting, mentoring, and presenting early-career artists of all disciplines. IGNITE! allows artists to embrace risks in a supportive environment while providing resources, a bridge to the professional arts community, and meaningful opportunities for collaboration and community building with their peers.

Don’t miss out on this incredible celebration of emerging talent and artistic growth. 

Festival Schedule

7:00 PM

  • forever anyway | Joyce Theatre
  • High School Showcase: The Rabbit, the Water, and the Worms & The Unkindness of Ghosts | Victor Theatre

8:15 PM

  • Silver Islands: Silver Spoon & Islands Within Ourselves | Joyce Theatre
  • Glass Recollections: pointless purSUIT & Poor recollections & Verre Brisé (Broken Glass)Victor Theatre

9:30 PM 

  • Green KeyJoyce Theatre
  • Tales from the Gym Victor Theatre

7:00 PM

  • Green KeyJoyce Theatre
  •  Dance: Be Vardų, Be Kojų & La Vieja Astronauta | Victor Theatre

8:15 PM

  • forever anyway | Joyce Theatre
  • Tales from the Gym Victor Theatre

9:30 PM 

  • Silver Islands: Silver Spoon & Islands Within Ourselves | Joyce Theatre
  • Glass Recollections: pointless purSUIT & Poor recollections & Verre Brisé (Broken Glass)Victor Theatre

7:00 PM

  • Innocence Astray Joyce Theatre
  • Tales from the Gym Victor Theatre

8:15 PM

  • Green KeyJoyce Theatre
  • High School Showcase: The Rabbit, the Water, and the Worms & The Unkindness of Ghosts | Victor Theatre

9:30 PM 

  • forever anyway | Joyce Theatre
  • Dance: Be Vardų, Be Kojų & La Vieja Astronauta | Victor Theatre

7:00 PM

  • Innocence Astray Joyce Theatre
  • High School Showcase: The Rabbit, the Water, and the Worms & The Unkindness of Ghosts | Victor Theatre

8:15 PM

  • Silver Islands: Silver Spoon & Islands Within Ourselves | Joyce Theatre
  • Glass Recollections: pointless purSUIT & Poor recollections & Verre Brisé (Broken Glass)Victor Theatre

Learn more about the shows!

forever anyway

forever anyway is an exploration into the concepts of
forever and loss as told through the same couple over the many years following
their break up.

Playwright: Amy Sawka

Director: Kacie Hall

Cast:

  • Steph Bessala 
  • Shannon Steele
  • Corey Ariss
  • Giselle Morison
  • Erin Burns 
  • Alejandro Ron
  • Austin Halarewich
  • Alex Dodd

Tales from the Gym

“Tales from the Gym” is a musical comedy that aims to deconstruct common character archetypes found in your local gym. Each song focuses on a different character – everyone from “main characters” to gym creeps to “the Boysplainer”. Who are they? See the show to find out!

Solo performance, written and directed by Marc Rivest

Innocence Astray

What is it to lose your innocence, and who do you become when it’s gone? Innocence Astray is a devised storytelling structure that explores the concept of losing innocence following the characters of Alice, Peter, and Red Riding Hood.

Playwright: Nikayla Goddard

Creator / Director: Danelle White

Cast:

  • Quinn Smith, Alice

Production crew:

  • Nickolas H Bishop, Producer & Projection Designer
  • Cassie Smith, Production Manager
  • Alexa Parker, Costume Designer
  • Michael Luong, Stage Manager / Lighting Designer
  • Quinn Smith, Puppet Designer

Green Key

Green Key is a participatory theatre about refugees. This show is like a journey; you will experience the meaning of being a refugee as an audience.

Playwright and Director: Saeid Asgarian

Cast:

  • Jason Cabuenos
  • Nyssa Orr
  • Sophia Garcia
  • Keith Boniol 
  • Macie Lockhart
  • Iván Guevara García

Series containing multiple performances:

High School Showcase

The Rabbit, the Water, and the Worms

An abusive father seeks forgiveness from the innermost epithets of his child, wife and mistress as he travels through the process of death.

Playwright: Alexandra Miller

Director: Marin MacKenzie

Cast:

  • Rachel Benson
  • Marshall Gazaille
  • Cristiana Ursu
  • Kylie Klob

Crew:

  • Sophia Longinotti (stage manager)

The Unkindness of Ghosts

Should we feel responsible in the wake of tragedy? In the hands of director Sylviane Allard, The Unkindness of Ghosts, is a brutal social commentary on the role of bystanders in regards to mental health.

Playwright: Emily Haley 

Director: Sylviane Allard 

Dances choreography: Brianna Newman 

Cast: 

  • Rachel Benson, Zephyr
  • Will Nichols, Ghost
  • Elyanna Bouma, Asa
  • Sharmitha Balamurugan, Seren

Crew: 

  • Alicia Avila Marañon, Stage Manager
  • Mo Fekete, Lights Technician

Glass Recollections

pointless purSUIT

What does the stagnant and predictable routine of the corporate day job mean for the everyday artist who wishes to break free and truly express their humanity in these working conditions?

Choreographed and Directed by Sarah Vander Ploeg and Maddy Faunt

Live Performers and Choreographers:

  • Maddy Faunt
  • Sarah Vander Ploeg
  • Claire Winther

Film Credits:

Dancers:

  • Kadin Aumentado,
  • Claire Winther,
  • Emily Ireland,
  • Eva Reynolds,
  • Cabri Boechler

Videographer and Editor: Maddy Faunt

Directors: Maddy Faunt and Sarah Vander Ploeg

Choreographer: Sarah Vander Ploeg

poor recollections 

A mixture of found text and a collection of self reflections. This play explores power dynamics, trauma, and healing.

Playwright and Director: Cali Sproule

Cast:

  • Matthew Wilson 
  • Kat Armstrong

Verre Brisé

A movement piece that exposes what it is like to feel isolated because of mental illness. This show specifically looks at Body Dysmorphia, and how those suffering must heal by looking inward.

Playwright and Director: 
Amanda Iandolo

Cast:

  • Amanda Iandolo 
  • Nancy Nygo 

Silver Islands

Silver Spoon

Silver Spoon is a coming-of-age story that navigates childhood worries, poverty and family dynamics. This small scale theatre show follows a young woman and her realizations about her place in the world through everyday encounters.

A solo performance written and performed by Sage Cannon

Islands Within Ourselves

One of the most earnest things one can do is reconcile with the past versions of themselves. This performance brings forth all those different ‘islands’ – the parts of ourselves that we exile and shows them a loving embrace.

A solo performance written and performed by Rhiannon Fäst

Dance Series

Be Vardų, Be Kojų

“Be Vardų, Be Kojų”, meaning ‘without names, without legs’, is an entirely new folk dance work using the amalgamous forms of the 3D models to question the rigidity of gender roles and assignments within Lithuanian language and dance.

Playwright: Brigita Gedgaudas

Director: Brigita Gedgaudas

Cast:

  • Petra Schovankova
  • Ezgi Turker

La Vieja Astronauta

If a woman could have it her way, where would she choose to die, when she finds her roots and origin in different geographical places?

Playwright and Director: Alexandra Contreras

Music by Guafa Trio

Volunteer for the festival!

Join our team of passionate volunteers and be a part of the IGNITE! Festival of Emerging Artists.

We’re looking for enthusiastic individuals to fill box office assistant and usher roles for all our shows. In return for your invaluable support, you’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the festival’s vibrant atmosphere and catch a show (subject to seat availability).

Don’t miss out on this chance to contribute to the arts community while enjoying fantastic performances.