Wellington Oracle

Oracle theatre review by Wayne Current

On January 14th I saw my first-ever gay rap opera, Bash’d, at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre. To be honest, I wasn’t at all sure what to expect from this show. Would this production be a campy comedy? A politically-driven hip hop performance? A love story?

Impressively, the performance is a compelling blend of all three.

Written and performed by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cukow, this is the story of two men Jack (Craddock) and Dylan (Cukow) who meet and fall and love as teenagers. The first part of the performance is about being a gay man in a small town, the pain of coming out to your family, and the giddy joy of finally finding real community after moving to the big city.

After the passage of the Civil Marriage Act (2005), Jack and Dylan decide to get married. Of course, despite the new law, currents of homophobic violence still run deep in Canadian society. This is made evident in an emotionally powerful scene where Jack is brutally assaulted. As the second half of the performance unfolds, we see the impact of this violent act on the couple; the fear, the anger, and then, unexpectedly, something more – a desire for revenge. (more…)

The team behind last summer’s smash hit “Countries Shaped Like Stars” at the Ottawa Fringe are set to take scenes from their next project — “Tales from the Belly of a Whale” — to  Hintonburg this upcoming Saturday as part of a salon evening at Cube Gallery on Hamilton Avenue.

We’ve discussed the amazing creative force of MiCasa Theatre before in these pages; and this time around we’ve got audio from both of the MiCasas –Emily Pearlman and Nick Di Gaetano – as they discuss the  the way the take artistic inspiration from the concept of “not being wasteful”.

The evening will also feature music from Ottawa songwriter John Gillies and spoken voice artist Kel Parsons.

Image by Johnathan Marshall