2019 IGNITE! FESTIVAL EVENTS

Welcome to the productions in the Joyce Doolittle Theatre!

THEATRE SERIES    

  • The Donut Diaries – Katya O’Donnell, Maezy Dennie Click Here for Tickets!
    • Inspired by a true story, an arson of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Shamokin, Pennsylvania inspired High School Students to speculate on who set the fire, and why.
  • Ya Burnt – Kodie Rollan (playwright) Click Here for Tickets!
    • An island festival. Social Media Influencers. The day after it all goes up in smoke. Ya Burnt is the phrase that defines how so many people feel about this event. It’s also the play that takes you inside of it.
  • Remaining Anonymous – Jelena Minshall Click Here for Tickets!
    • This production investigates the pressures society has placed on individuals to search for permanence and label relationships in search of security.
  • We Will Tune it to a Whisper – Potluck Collective Click Here for Tickets!
    • A wild, interactive, and playful look at the ways technology has impacted our lives, for better and for worse.
  • Wildfire Playwriting Competition! – Major Matt Mason Once again, Major Matt Mason brings the Wildfire Playwriting Competition to the IGNITE! Festival! Two plays, a winner and a runner-up, will get workshopping and a staged reading at the IGNITE! Festival!
    • Hallelujah, It’s Holly, by Jesse LaVercombe Click Here for Tickets!
      • A Jewish writer’s quest to find a miracle worker named Holly brings him to an old Catholic church in Toronto. He becomes involved with a new, technology-driven Christian sect which takes control of the building, affecting the lives of the many recovering addicts who found refuge in the church basement’s 12-step programs.
    • Absolute F*cking Mayhem, by Morgan Grau Click Here for Tickets!
      • In the wake of his father’s untimely death, a young Danish student refuses to accept his uncle’s sudden marriage to his mother. To make matters worse, the father’s ghost begins to speak from beyond of his murderer and the boy’s very sense of reality is called into question.
IMPROV SERIES    
  • Screamy Linguine – Ellie Stewart and Jeff Kubik Click Here for Tickets!
    • We do so hope you enjoy scary stories, because the Lovecraft Twins adore them more than—dare we say it?—life itself. Lock yourself in a crypt-dark room and hear never-before-told tales of the macabre, the twisted, and the supernatural. No one has ever heard these stories before, but you will never forget them.
  • Push Button – Jessica Belbin and Natalie Johnstone Click Here for Tickets!
    • A duo of female improvisers creating a mono-scene from suggestions given by the audience using an app from our phone.
  • The Rovers Click Here for Tickets!
    • The Rovers will be presenting a long form improvised format, Poetry Night. The night will be filled with improvised poems and improvised scenes inspired by those poems, as the Rovers take you on a journey sure to entertain.
DANCE SERIES    
  • Stripped – Sarah Mitchell Click Here for Tickets!
    • Stripped focuses on the physical and psychological impacts overuse, oversexualization and improper training can have. Utilizing text, humour, and pop culture references, Sarah Mitchell shares her research and lived experience!
  • Tunnel Vision – Elizabeth Ferns Click Here for Tickets!
    • Tunnel Vision explores the notion of being stuck in a continuous loop on the thoughts that haunt us in the back of our minds. “I remained so much inside my head and ended up losing my mind”  – Edgar Allen Poe
  • Imperfect Perfection – Sasha Wilde Click Here for Tickets!
    • Obsession with perfection. Why and how do imperfect creatures strive for the unattainable? – being perfect vs appearing perfect. Is it a façade?
  • Because – Abby Scott Click Here for Tickets!
    • “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
  • Everything, Nothing – Cindy Ansah Click Here for Tickets!
    • This piece analyses the way material objects attract our attention and call us in, enabling us to respond, interact and connect to inanimate objects. Considering instances such as window shopping, hoarding, and littering, it disrupts the perception of “it” and “things” as separate from and irrelevant to “us” and “beings.” Embrace not only how you move objects but how objects move you.

INTERDISCIPLINARY SERIES

 

PROVOCATION SERIES – Produced and curated by Swallow A Bicycle Theatre
  • “Ghost” Return to Mourning – Deedra Salange Ladouceur (she/hers) Click Here for Tickets!
    • This is a biographic exploration of personal sentiment and opinions’ regarding death of a loved one and what follows. Death has been my life and I wanted to share why, so I wrote a letter to death.
  • Nobody – Emily Parkhouse (she/hers) Click Here for Tickets!
    • Nobody tells the story of one woman’s journey through life and her longing to be seen, heard and loved by those around her.
  • 100 years in the (un)making – Riki (they/them/theirs) Click Here for Tickets!
    • Most Albertans and other Canadians know Nellie McClung from after she moved to Alberta and became one of the “famous 5.” Having experienced a different side of this legacy, A young Manitoban questions the common narrative and wonders why the rights of so many marginalized women are still sacrificed in order to promote it.
  • You are not alone – River Wearmouth (he/his) Click Here for Tickets!
    • We are coming to take up space, to have our stories heard, Those who are marginalized often feel and are told that they are not good enough. Well we are here to say that we are and that if you ever feel alone know that you are not. We are all struggling. This project is a collective of pieces and yet also a whole. As we may walk alone in our journey however we are also walking together. This project focuses on those who have experienced mental health if it be their own or those of loved ones.
  • For Love Sake – Sarah Uwadiae (she/hers) Click Here for Tickets!
    • I explore trauma’s effect on my Psyche and my perception of reality. I also want to explore the evolving relationship with my family from the beginning to this point in my life.

 

The IGNITE! Festival presents exciting work from new voices. Take in the bleeding edge of theatre, music, and dance at a festival dedicated to supporting, mentoring, and presenting emerging artists of all disciplines.

Be sure to follow Sage Theatre and the IGNITE! Festival on Facebook, or tune into #IgniteYYC on Twitter and Instagram for more festival action!

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Treaty 7 Land
The IGNITE! Festival acknowledge this event takes place on the land of the Treaty 7 People, The Blackfoot from Kainai, Blood, Siksika, and Peigan, The Sarcee from Tsu’tina and Eden Valley, and the Stoney Nakoda people from Morley. We are all treaty people, visitors to this land and we give thanks to the people who came before and keep this land for us and all our future generations.

IGNITE! Graphic by Renee Stewart