S6E24: Iso-Interview: Ben Gorodetsky

Ben Gorodetsky’s Biblioteka was set to be shown as part of Mile Zero Dance’s mainstage earlier this month. Now cancelled, like everything else.

It’s our first foray into remote recording! We tracked down Ben Gorodetsky to talk about Biblioteka, which was cancelled (among everything else) with the order to shutdown gathering spaces. We cover the ideas behind his show, how artists are coping these days, and plans for Ben’s future creative output.

Also, many recommendations for things to see online below. See some shows, everyone!

Links of note:
• Dan Savage’s SPLIFF Film Festival, where you can watch Munchies Massacre
• Folk Lordz web series
• Malachite Theatre’s Shakespeare Sundays
• The full cut of Grindstone’s musical hit ThunderCATS  
• Die-Nasty’s weekly improvised Radio Hour, new episodes out every Monday
• Chase Padgett’s Digital Fringe (where you can actually pay to watch or rent 2019 Fringe faves like For Science! and Reality Crack)
• Actor Jamie Cavanagh’s online campaign that petitions Disney to cast him as the next Wolverine.

I Don’t Get It is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

S6E23: But think of The Children (and your local arts community)

An eerily appropriate image for The Children, running (at time of press) at the Roxy on Gateway until March 22.

Here we go, all: It’s a pandemic. We managed to catch The Children in preview, and sat a healthy distance from each other while discussing the impacts of COVID-19 on the arts community. We provide some tips and pointers for making the best of this challenging time, including what you can do for your local out-of-work theatre folk.

I Don’t Get It is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

S6E22: Soaking up the end of the world

Beth Graham and Michael Tan in Girl in the Machine. Photo © Marc J Chalifoux Photography

Our fears of the end times are quelled with a soothing soak at AGA’s Nests For the End of the World exhibit with curator Lindsay Sharman, followed by a trippy dip into the über-immersive visuals of Bustle & Beast’s Girl in the Machine at Telus World of Science. Finally, we catch the documentary Cunningham at Metro Cinema, complete with a meta-Merce dance piece by Jen Mesch and Gerry Morita. Whew! At least we’ll all go out feeling a little more relaxed.

S6E21: Unpacking The Blue Hour (live!)

The Blue Hour is the mainstage presentation at SkirtsAfire this year.
The play and festival run until March 8th.

An articulate and insightful discussion on the themes of the award-winning play, The Blue Hour, by Michele Vance Hehir.

Our panelists in this episode are:
• Michele Vance Hehir – Playwright of The Blue Hour
• Candace Fehr – Co-chair of the Family Advisory Council with Child Adolescent and Family Mental Health 
• Clare Gallant – Vice President of Community Services with The John Howard Society
• Andrea Moen – Retired Judge from the Court of Queens Bench
• Nikki Bernier-Singh – Director of Community Engagement for the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE)
• Christine McCourt-Reid – Communications Manager for the YWCA

Please be advised this episode includes discussion of themes pedophilia, child abuse, sexual abuse, suicide, religious content, and some definite spoilers.

Special thanks to SkirtsAfire and APN for partnering up on this episode! And to the trusty technicians and staff at the ATB Arts Barns.

S6E20: Unleash the Beatles

Across the universe, straight through to Lotus-land:
As You Like It runs at Citadel Theatre until March 15. (Photo by Dylan Hewlett)

Guest Breanne Byrne of Emily Missed Out drops by for the Citadel’s oh-so-satisfying hippie trip in As You Like It, and Colleen Feehan returns to for a night on the town at Alberta Ballet’s triple-bill, Unleashed (featuring two intermissions!).

To claim your $5 discount to The Blue Hour at SkirtsAFire, enter panelfive at checkout when you purchase your tickets at the Fringe Box Office. And come catch our live episode recording at the fest on March 1st!

I Don’t Get It is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

S6E19 (live!): That’s Me in the Spotlight @ Chinook Series

During the live recording of panel at Chinook Series on February 16. In photo, left to right: Fawnda Mithrush, Allan Morgan, Chris Dodd, Marynia Fekecz, NASRA.
© Marc J Chalifoux Photography

An insightful conversation with an incredible panel of artists discussing lived experience in art creation, featuring SOUND OFF founder and playwright/performer Chris Dodd, Polish choreographer Marynia Fekecz, Can-theatre legend Allan Morgan, and NASRA, former YEG Youth Poet Laureate and Director of Black Arts Matter.

This episode was recorded from a live salon session at Chinook Series on February 16. Special thanks to Workshop West Playwrights Theatre, our ASL interpreters, and the swift-thinking technicians at the ATB Arts Barns.

A transcript of this episode is available here. Please email idgidance@gmail.com to request a pdf copy.

To claim your $5 discount to The Blue Hour at SkirtsAFire, enter panelfive at checkout when you purchase your tickets at the Fringe Box Office. And come catch our live episode recording at the fest on March 1st!

I Don’t Get It is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

S6E18: Dear Moms Everywhere

Stephen Christopher Anthony and Jessica. E. Sherman as the Hansens in Dear Evan Hansen. This scene completely stole the show. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Valentines, Galentines, and mom-love: Evan’s mother steals the show in Dear Evan Hansen, Shakespeare’s wife wins in Shakespeare’s Dog, and Shay Kuebler’s Radical System Art gets heady and physical in Epilogos. Special thanks to our guests Colleen and Laura for hopping on board this week, and to the moms who prove that love can truly be unconditional (cue the ugly cry here).

To claim your $5 discount to The Blue Hour at SkirtsAFire, enter panelfive at checkout when you purchase your tickets at the Fringe Box Office. And come catch our live episode recording at the fest on March 1st!

I Don’t Get It is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

S6E17: Nazis, spies, suicide, and a wide blood-splash zone.

The cast of Catalyst Theatre’s The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
(Citrus Photography)

Buckle up, folks: Content warnings abound in this one! Colleen returns with thoughts on Catalyst Theatre’s anticipated all-female musical, The Invisible: Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Then our pal Laura drops in to chat about the Citadel’s surprising Every Brilliant Thing and Theatre Network’s ketchup-heavy production of The Society for the Destitute Presents: Titus Bouffonius. (Note: This episode discusses themes of suicide, depression, sexual assault, and graphic violence.)

To claim your $5 discount to The Blue Hour at SkirtsAFire, enter panelfive at checkout when you purchase your tickets at the Fringe Box Office. And come catch our live episode recording at the fest on March 1st!

I Don’t Get It is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

S6E16: Wives, witch hunts, wokeness

Edmonton Opera’s The Marriage of Figaro runs until Feb. 7. Photo by Nanc Price.

It’s a loaded ep this week: First up we catch Edmonton Opera’s delightful The Marriage of Figaro, followed by thoughts on Shadow Theatre’s Happy Birthday Baby J, and The Crucible at MacEwan University. Plus, we discuss the 2020-21 season announcements from Edmonton Opera and Citadel Theatre, the Alberta Queer Calendar Project, details on two LIVE episodes we’ve got in store, and general upcoming happenings. It’s February, folks: We made it!

Check out the Aria Code episode on ‘Dove sono’, one of the arias sung by the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, which features Dan Savage talking about infidelity and forgiveness.

We’ll be at Chinook Series on February 15 for a LIVE episode discussing true life experiences in art-making with a panel of artists involved in the fest. Come hear their stories, and say hello! https://chinookseries.ca/event/thats-me-in-the-spotlight/

To claim your $5 discount to The Blue Hour at SkirtsAFire, enter panelfive at checkout when you purchase your tickets at the Fringe Box Office. And come catch our live episode recording on March 1st!

I Don’t Get It is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

You can find, subscribe, and listen to our new podcast, A Tale of Two Weeklies, at taleoftwoweeklies.com.

S6E15: Diavolical? Is that a word?

Los Angeles-based acro-archi-dance troupe Diavolo came to mainstream fame
with their top-ten run on America’s Got Talent in 2017.

We saunter out to the Jube once more to catch Alberta Ballet’s recent guest troupe: Diavolo. Athletic dancers, abstract moving sets, and one very buoyant artistic director (Jacques Heim). Think Cirque du Soleil meets I.M. Pei.

I Don’t Get It is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

You can find, subscribe, and listen to our new podcast, A Tale of Two Weeklies, at taleoftwoweeklies.com.