Puppets, Comedy, and Gore
Whitehorse has an awesome art scene. This month, The Guild will try to make it more awesome when its production of Cannibal! The Musical hits […]
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Start at the Beginning
Have you ever had big dreams of creating a piece of theatre but weren’t sure how to start? Have you ever had a great idea
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Brave New Works
Nostalgia: sometimes it’s bitter, sometimes it’s sweet, and sometimes…it’s bagpipes. Brave New Works (BNW), the annual Whitehorse-based multidisciplinary performing arts collective, is back with a
Gearing up for Cannibal
Am I excited. In April I’ll be acting in the Guild Society’s newest play, Cannibal the Musical written by Trey Parker of South Park fame.
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Sibling Revelry
Brigitte and Caroline Desjardins-Allatt were well into elementary school before learning about their father’s musical past — and the instruments stashed in the family garage.
There’s Something About Twenty
The Yukon Arts Centre (YAC) is challenging Yukoners to embrace “spring break up” in all its disparate meanings. To help with that, YAC is hosting
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Blind Date with a Clown
Having a blind date can be very stressful — from thinking about what to wear and say, to awkward silences and thoughts of escape. Now
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Talking to Strangers
It’s been done before, and Moving Parts Theatre is doing it again — transforming Well Read Books into a theatre. Around the corner from the
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Wushu Comes to Whitehorse
Last November, Whitehorse entrepreneur Stephen Kwok Wai-Kan was in Vancouver in his part-time role as liaison officer between the Yukon and Chinese governments. When Her
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Yukking It Up for a Cause
Katie-Ellen Humphries has one clear goal in mind this week when she makes her second trip to Whitehorse. “Now that I’ve been up there and
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Winter Folklore
The dances are coming. On January 31, Skookum Jim’s annual Folklore Show will take place at the Yukon Arts Centre. The vibrant show will feature many First
Dan Mangan is Back in Town
Dan Mangan is almost as excited to see the Yukon again as Yukoners are to see him. In 2010, Mangan played both the Frostbite and Dawson
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The Web of Family
Two distinctly different takes on the theme of family are among the highlights of this year’s Nakai Pivot Festival, which kicks off on Saturday, January
Turn Your Conversations Into Art
“ Anyone – no matter what their background is – can take a tape recorder and go out and ask some questions,” says Saskatoon-based artist
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En Pointe and On Budget
Deep-pocketed balletomanes (ballet fans) could spend thousands of dollars flying to Russia to catch the legendary Bolshoi Ballet in action. Or, for a mere fraction
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The Nutcracker Comes to Dawson
The Nutcracker is coming to Dawson City just in time for the holidays. The Northern Lights School of Dance in Whitehorse is staging the traditional
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The Birthing
When a play hits the stage for its first full production , it’s travelled a long way. Often a playwright begins showcasing her work by
The Guild presents Dedication
Terrence McNally’s Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, playing at the Guild Hall until December 6, is a love letter to theatre in an era
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Playwrought
After hearing artistic director David Skelton talk about Nakai Theatre’s 24 – Hour Playwriting Competition on the radio, I decide to sign up. I’m not
1920s Silent Film Night
Halloween is over, but don’t stop dressing up . On Saturday November 8, Open Pit theatre is giving you another chance; it’s hosting a 1920s-themed
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Terror and Terpsichore – The Guild Haunted House
The thrills of the 2014 Guild Haunted House, featuring a unique music-and-dance show from Varietease this October.
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The Shape of all Sorts of Things
The Shape of Things, which runs every night at the Guild Hall in Porter Creek until October 11, continues playwright Neil Labute’s reputation for blunt
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Theatre in the Bush
Theatre in the Bush is held in the fall, and with a start time of around 8:45 pm, it’s held in the dark. The darkness
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It’s Your Story
The Open Pit theatre company is scouring the territory for stories.Genevive Doyon and Jessica Hickman are two playwrights, actors, and founders of Open Pit who
Do I look Enlightened to You?
I recently heard the term “supermarket spiritualism” to describe folks walking down the proverbial aisle picking and choosing bits and pieces from every spiritual practice
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David Skelton Nakai Theatre’s artistic director
A high-school excursion to a Toronto production of Peter Shaffer’s play, Equus, is what triggered David Skelton’s fascination with theatrical design. “The set and the
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Makushan-maker
Florent Vollant, appearing at the Adäka Cultural Festival, would celebrate a successful hunt with traditional Innu tradition of the makushan.
Feels Like a Celebration
Journey with Our Hearts and Hands at Adäka Cultural Festival is 13 master carvers from New Zealand, BC, Alaska, the NWT & The Yukon.
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Second Sunday Dance Shakes it Up in Whitehorse
The body is mysterious; it is intricately linked to all that we do, and the ways we think. I’m a dancer; this is my perspective.
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Jivin’ to the Jukebox
This week, 14 ambitious students from Vanier Catholic Secondary School will be belting out a raft of hit tunes their parents or grandparents probably danced
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Taxicab Theatre
Gab in a cab, do time in the hole, or ponder what lies behind schoolyard shootings. These are just some of the options available to
Statu Quo resists stereotypes of adolescent angst
A Vancouver play that earned four nominations for prestigious Jessie Richardson awards (Jessies), and won the category of best script by an emerging playwright, will
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It’s a Mad, Mad World
It might have been on John Lennon’s mind when he wrote “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (so speculates Beatles biographer Bob Spitz). It was
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Strangely Funny, but True
Anthony Trombetta’s first act as new artistic director at the Guild Theatre was to throw out the rule book. Instead of a conventional play, the
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Thumbs Up Captain !
Superhero movies have become increasingly popular, and film studios seem to be pumping them out as quickly as they can. Unfortunately, not all of these
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One Foot in a Moccasin, and One in a Sneaker
Marissa Mills, Kluane First Nation, example of what First Nations youth can achieve if they stay true to who they are as Indigenous people.
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A Testament to the Disappearances of Aboriginal Women
International Women’s Day is Saturday, March 8, it’s a day to pause and consider women’s health, dreams, and safety — worldwide, and in Canada. It’s
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Family, Change, and Acceptance
Torontonian Clinton Walker has flown into the Yukon to direct another play at The Guild Hall. The new production The Book of Esther, by Leanna
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Filling the Frostbite Void
For 35 years the Frostbite Music Festival has been bringing bands to Whitehorse to showcase new music to an appreciative audience. Year after year organizers chose
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L’Ark Brings Communal Experience (and fish) to Young Audiences
The creative spark for a new theatre company, L’Ark, took place at Yukon Educational Theatre’s (YET) presentation of Dean Eyre’s Diabetes, A Love Story nearly
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An Invitation to Experience the Thrill and the Grit
The mix of open-flowing creativity, with a dash of fear, makes for a high that’s addictive for theatre performers — and especially for playwrights who
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Playing Irish: The Guild Hall presents The Cripple of Inishmaan Nov. 21 to Dec. 7
The Guild is putting on one final show before the New Year: The Cripple of Inishmaan, by the respected Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. The comedy
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Broken Heads Down the Road
Brian Fidler’s latest one-person show, which he wrote and stars in, has an inclusive quality about it. Broken, which premiered in Whitehorse in the fall
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Clowns running amok at Yukon Arts Centre: Humour in the finest traditions of Bugs Bunny
Skating on wash buckets, pratfalls, explosions and fart jokes – Fart jokes! What can be better than fart jokes? – combine for a rollicking fun
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Frostbite brings music from all over the world: It’s the Thrill on the Hill
The Canada Council grant made it possible for the committee to decide on a “chase list” that just happens to coincide with Barnes’ “wish list”
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Courageously Putting your Voice into the World
Whitehorse-based theatre company Open Pit is on a mission. In addition to creating new performance works and fostering collaboration between local creators, Open Pit co-artistic
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Syphilis Spreads like Wildfire: Peter Jickling’s Play Syphilis: A Love Story wins comedy award
It’s difficult to resist making puns about the title of the award-winning play Syphilis: A Love Story by Whitehorse playwright, and What’s Up Yukon assistant
A Conversation With Colleen Murphy
If you are susceptible to the perception that we are a country of people who play it safe; Colleen Murphy is the kind of person
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Theatre Returns to The Guild Hall
The stage is set for another season of theatre at the Guild Hall in Whitehorse. The Guild is back with four genre-bending productions that aim
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The Power of Love: Gwaandak Theatre is committed to Aboriginal, northern and diverse voices
Running a theatre company is not for the faint of heart. Only those who work behind the scenes in theatre truly know the passion, work,
Amateurs and Professionals Share the Spotlight
Nakai Theatre’s upcoming season Nakai Theatre is back with a diverse season, showcasing fledgling Yukon talent as well as established professional shows from across Canada.
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A Guide to Good Laughs: Dissecting the Whitehorse comedy scene
Tired of doing the old smile-and-nod routine because your boss thinks he’s Jerry Seinfeld? Experience some real comedy in Whitehorse. Anthony Trombetta, Jenny Hamilton, and
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Sharing Traditional Art with Europeans
Dennis and I leftRoss River, and landed in Germany on our annual trip to promote tourism, culture, and Yukon artists,.
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Dancing the fine line between reverence and irreverence
The Yukon Arts Centre will become a church Feb. 27 to 29. This may appear to blasphemous to some when you consider the name of
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Staging local talent
As the sunshine creeps into the evening and temperatures slowly rise toward double-digits, some art organizations’ seasons are winding down. One of the final accomplishments
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Fred Astaire, meet the street dancers
It’s Boys in the Hood and “Singin’ in the Rain” combined with what Nicolette Little describes as a “Sinatra-y feeling.” Little is an instructor for
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Grace under fire
The hands move as they do in Spain, the hips move as they do in Africa and the shoulders sway as in Cuba. It is
A lightbulb, a chair and a bowl
It must be a magic trick, because Andy Massingham is going to hold the attention of a Yukon Arts Centre audience for one hour with
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The Adäka Cultural Festival Aims to Include Everyone
2013 Adäka Cultural Festival: 28 performance groups, 44 visual artists and 50 workshops over 6 days at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre.
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Making New Tracks
More and more First Nation dance groups have been popping up. It’s pretty cool to learn their traditional drumming, singing and dancing.
Leaping Feats: on stage and screen
Andrea Simpson-Fowler has a choice for audiences: if you want to see cute little kids and a mix of entertainment, come to the recreational show;
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Adäka Cultural Festival – Selkirk Spirit Dancers
After their initial inception, the Selkirk Spirit Dancers had a hiatus, Based in Pelly Crossing it is now comprised of 45 dancers.
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African, French and Japanese Groups Showcase Their Culture
They are not always featured in history books, but since the Klondike Gold Rush people of many ethnic backgrounds have called the Yukon home. On
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Healing and Transformation: Ravenstail Weaving
“A woman needs to have an art form,” says Tlingit Tutchone master weaver. she’ll pass art of weaving to a generation of First Nations women
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Dream North Returns For Season Two
BY GEORGE MARATOS “We came up last year a bit hesitant and $4,000 in debt,” explains Robin Urquhart, as he sips on an organic juice
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Keeping the Stories Alive
Tammy Lee Josie first performed her family’s Vuntut Gwitchin stories at the Yukon International Storytelling Festival
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Northern Scene
I am one of the lucky few who will be at Northern Scene for the entire 10 days. I’m here with the production of Leonard
Audiences get the story they ask for
Did you just say, “storysmithing”? “Yeah,” says Aaron Janke, his arms still stretched out in the telling of his upcoming introactive theatre project. But he
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From his Basement to the Stage
86Heaven – they’re an informal conglomerate of Yukon hip hop artists headed by Warren Strand a.k.a. Abstract Original.
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Review: The Elephant Man The Drama of Humanity
BY TARA McCARTHY Tackling Bernard Pomerance’s play, The Elephant Man, is a huge undertaking. From the rich script filled with emotion and tender subject matter,
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Behind the Curtain of Varietease: The Remount
BY TARA McCARTHY Being part of a community production means commitment. And when I signed up to be a part of the revival of Varietease
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The Yukon is Not Just a Place
Naturally, I miss the Yukon. To be specific, it certainly wouldn’t be the weather (heh … sorry), but far more importantly, the people.
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Fostering Talent Through Emotional Realism
BY TARA McCARTHY Last season, Moving Parts Theatre tackled the orchestrated words of Shakespeare – now the company is taking a page out of human
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REVIEW: A Farce Of Sex And Insanity
BY TARA McCARTHY As quoted in the show program, playwright Joe Orton was “widely recognized as the bad boy of British theatre.” And only minutes
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The strength and grace of Irish dance
Irish dancing is known by its row of stiff upper bodies and crazy strong legs moving in quick union. But Andrew Vickers, lead male dancer
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A sex farce well told
Colin Heath was chatting online with Eric Epstein, the artistic director of The Guild. They were playing Scrabulous at the time because they both love
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Laughing at the unlaughable
Bruce Horak no longer needs the catharsis that his play, This is Cancer?, has been for him. But other people do and, so, he will
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Kidd Pivot Is the dance you want it to be
Crystal Pite knows that audiences will watch her contemporary dance company, Kidd Pivot, with trepidation. “They feel they don’t have enough knowledge to get something
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Varietease is so baaaad, it’s good
Burlesque cabaret uses psychology in such a delicious way: it is a naughty place and we feel naughty being there. So we throw decorum to
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The Excitement of The Nutcracker
BY AISLINN CORNETT The Northern Lights School of Dance studio is packed, but the hush in the room doesn’t seem to match the 60-plus young
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Timber Rabbits has a big heart and flat feet
I push the potatoes around in my cup of Timber Rabbit Stew and find no timber rabbit meat. Oh, I get it. I’m supposed to
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The Two Sides of Rebecca Reynolds: Nutcracker, Woodcutter
BY AISLINN CORNETT Not only is choreographer and artistic director Rebecca Reynolds influencing this year’s Nutcracker production, she is also involved in the upcoming Varietease
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The Shock and Awe That is ‘Timber Rabbits’
BY GEORGE MARATOS It is being described as Jack London meets Stephen King, an original northern mystery of man, murder, mutilation and mayhem. It begins
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We get the theatre we deserve
When you think of plays, you think of The Guild and Nakai Theatre. More and more people are thinking of Music Arts and Drama at
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The very human story of Frankenstein
Just as the movie Twilight surprised the film industry, the success of Catalyst Theatre’s Frankenstein is surprising theatre watchers. Both are a hit with teenagers.
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Provocative Fringe Theatre
When it comes to theatre, David Skelton says he believes Whitehorse audiences are “brave and sophisticated”. As Nakai Theatre’s artistic director, Skelton admits that last
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Living Another Life
“Like all actors, I enjoy the spotlight. So if there’s an opportunity, I like to break out.” That is how 21-year-old Winluck Wong explains his
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A Shakespearean Celebration of the Solstice
Besides the regular fare of snow-covered sidewalks, holiday decorations and bundled-up pedestrians, this time of year signals the impending arrival of two familiar – and
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‘Yuletide in the Yukon’ Includes Stories
BY AISLINN CORNETT If voices alone could command Mother Nature, then by George it’d be snowing! It’s Wednesday night and inside the Trinity Lutheran Church,
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It’s gonna be a ‘blue’ folklore
Skookum Jim Friendship Centre is doing something different this year with its 2009 Folklore Show on Saturday, Jan. 31: it will be A Night of
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The comfort and joy of Fred Penner
Adults of all ages will be thrilled to hear that Nakai Theatre is bringing Fred Penner to Whitehorse. Sadly, many children today haven’t had the
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The many ‘faces’ of the Pivot Festival
When David Skelton discusses the upcoming Pivot Festival, he keeps coming back to the example of Joseph Tisiga. The young Yukon First Nations artist is
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Memories, though invisible, are very real
“Go easy on the references to the Holocaust,” Jonathon Young says to me over the phone. “People will go into the theatre expecting it. “This
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Yukon Fashion to Swarm Ottawa Runway
When you live in a place where it is winter for half the year you would expect fashion to be restricted to parkas and boots.
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Julius Caesar: A very Shakespearean Shakespeare
“Et tu, Brute?” A famous line uttered by even those who don’t know it is Shakespeare. It is spoken when one friend betrays another. Does
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Brian Fidler did it!
There is a moment in Becky Mode’s Fully Committed when Brian Fidler’s character, Sam, gives his father some disappointing news over the telephone. The entire
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Sasquatch Prom Date will have fun at Frostbite
The bearded man shrugged on his Carhartt jacket and then levelled a gaze at Genesee Keevil. She was sitting by the window, wearing a cover-your-eyes
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One actor, 37 characters
“I don’t want someone who can do 37 voices,” says director David Mackay. “I want 37 characters.” Therein lies the magic he hopes to capture
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One of many moving parts
Theatre isn’t just about the actors on stage. And while Moving Parts Theatre concentrates on methods and techniques for its players, it also provides community
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Brian Fidler
For Whitehorse-based theatre artist Brian Fidler, the desire to perform dates way back. “I can trace it to third grade,” he says. “Our teacher would