In 2022, Sage Theatre had a busy, vibrant year. With the return to in-person performances, we were ignited with a passion to bring you bold, intimate, and thoughtful performances. We wanted to take you through the year we had!
Returning to the stage with Cantata
In April 2022, we hosted audiences for Cantata (Rumours of My Crazy, Useless Life). This was our first in-person production, having adapted to life with COVID-19. Cantata is a dramatization and fictionalization of Martini’s experience as a caregiver for a brother with schizophrenia and a mother developing dementia.
Clem Martini’s story touched audiences with sold-out performances, strong reviews, and numerous award nominations and wins!
Louis B. Hobson: “Sage Theatre’s world premiere of Cantata (Rumours of My Crazy, Useless Life) is a master class in writing, directing and acting.”
Awards won
Cantata was embraced both by our audience and artistic community, being nominated and winning awards!
- Clem won a Calgary Critic’s Award for best new play.
- Duval Lang won a Betty Mitchell Award for best lead performance.
We were also nominated in the following Betty Mitchell Award categories:
- OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY – Clem Martini
- OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE- Valerie Campbell, Brian Jensen
- OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN OR COMPOSITION – Rod Squance
Legislating Love goes international
Originally paused by the pandemic, artists who passionately believed in Natalie Meisner’s story of Evert Klippert worked to take this play to the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival in May 2022!
Klippert’s story, the last person to be jailed for homosexuality in Canada, resonated deeply with Dublin’s own queer community and the international artists attending the festival! Along with strong performances, and a fruitful partnership with Theatre Outré, this production and Natalie were recognized with an Oscar (named for Oscar Wilde) for best play in the festival!
IGNITE! returned in person to inspire
Our IGNITE! Festival of Emerging Artists returned to the Pumphouse Theatres and the artists returned with it!
Nearly 100 artists built new work on site, including a prologue of a podcast, statues expressing feelings about being torn down, a play created and produced by high school students, innovative dance and tech integrations, and more!
The House of Bernarda Alba - a new translation
In September 2022, we premiered a new translation of The House of Bernarda Alba.
Written in 1936, The House of Bernarda Alba is considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish theatre. Queer playwright Federico Garcia Lorca wrote this all-female play as an analogy of the sexual and emotional repression he experienced throughout his life.
In this new exciting production, the text is modernized for a cast of all 2SLGBTQIA+ performers to give life to Lorca’s characters.
Translated and directed by Artistic Associate Javier Vilalta, this production was passionately embraced by our audience to another sold-out run!
Lorca’s own coded sexuality and response to gender became a key part of the vision as Javier focused on queer and trans artists to play
Louis B Hobson gave us an amazing review! “Sage Theatre’s The House of Bernarda Alba is a stunning achievement and one that should not be missed.”
We were grateful for your support
This Giving Tuesday, Sage Theatre was blown away by the support we received from our community. We had an amazing giving season which was matched – meaning triple the impact! We raised, including the matching, $8,100. This fundraising helps Sage Theatre as we move into 2023!
And of course, we cannot forget to thank the companies, foundations and institutions that support Sage Theatre.
End of the 2022 year donations need to be received by December 31, 2022, 11:59 pm to be issued a tax receipt for 2022.
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