June in Ottawa. That special time, every second year, where the month is just jammed packed with so much theatre you might explode! With JOY! People, I love me some theatre festivals. While Ottawa Fringe is just around the corner (eep!), the Magnetic North Theatre Festival sweeps in like an older sibling jazzed to show you all the cool things they learned while they were away at school. It started, officially, on Friday with an invitation to For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again at the National Arts Centre. Those in attendance with me absolutely adored this one. Really, nothing wrong with this production, but it just wasn't my cup of tea... or I should say that for me "the tea was very good."
Speaking of tea (and totally mixing my references), you know who makes a great cup (even if they only paid $2.99 for a box of 100 tea bags)? Lovely couple by the name of Peter and Valerie. As you can imagine, I'm a big fan of site-specific theatre these days and Peter and Valerie is a wonderfully interactive and entertaining experience... well, as entertaining as a wake can be, I suppose. For the first 30 minutes or so, I felt that same awkward feeling you get when you're politely sitting at a distant relatives house while they show you photos of people you should know because your parents knew them. And for the other half, I felt like a gossip detective (a profession I totally just made up) trying to piece together the pseudo-mystery, at least to me, of this man's life. I am absolutely not doing this show the justice it deserves with my words, but suffice to say I would go back again just to see if things change with a different audience. Unfortunately, I can't. And if you don't already have your ticket, you can't either because I hear the entire run is sold out - not hard to do when only 9 people can see it at a time. But if you are one of the lucky few with a ticket, come find me at Club SAW and tell me, please, did she tell you what was on that letter?
Oh and speaking of Club SAW, I forgot how much I enjoy that venue as an artist bar. I almost didn't go last night, but I'm so glad I did. This space should be used more often: live performances, various nooks and crannies to mix & mingle in, a wonderful outdoor patio, a cheap bar AND hot dogs! What more could you want?
The Magnetic North Theatre Festival is off to a promising start. The Industry series starts tomorrow. Really looking forward to the War of 1812, God That Comes & A Brimful of Asha... OH AND ZOMG YOU GUYS! MORRO AND JASP! MORRO AND JASP AT SUBDIVISION! I have my tickets. How about you?