A year ago, the highly successful Nevermore: The Imaginary Life & Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe scooped up seven Sterling Haynes Awards. Following this coup d’Ă©tat, Catalyst Theatre toured the production at Ottawa’s National Arts Gallery, Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre and just last month at Vancouver’s Arts Club as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
With a feeling of triumph, artistic director Jonathan Christenson returns the play to its roots on Saturday, Feb. 13 for a nine-day stint. “It’s a piece people respond to in terms of the design, the music and the calibre of performance,” says Christenson.
The former St. Albert resident explains that in Vancouver people responded by saying they expected a show like Nevermore to come from London, Berlin or New York rather than the Canadian Prairies. “It was nice to shake up their presumptions and also to represent Canada so well.”
Nevermore is more than a period piece about the life of Edgar Allan Poe, a man haunted by depression and presumably addicted to alcohol and opium.
This version has been tweaked with small text changes, restaging several scenes, adding music and tightening the choreography. “It focuses on Edgar as more of witness to the story and a less active participant. It sees his memories played out.”
Two St. Albert Children’s Theatre alumni are part of the cast. Vanessa Sabourin plays Eliza, Edgar’s mother and Garrett Ross portrays Jock, Edgar’s foster father.
Catalyst Theatre is at 8529 Gateway Boulevard. Tickets are $28 to $35. Call 780-420-1757 or visit www.tixonthesquare.ca
With the provincially mandated Family Day on Monday, Feb. 15, Heritage Lakes Community Association and the City of St. Albert are jointly planning the 2010 Family Day Winter Games, an afternoon of friendly fun.
Held at Ă©cole La Mission, the planned activities include sleigh rides, snowshoeing, broomball, hockey hot shot and milk jug curling. To keep the chill at bay, organizers are bringing in hot chocolate and s’mores.
Game day runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Ă©cole La Mission is at 46 Heritage Dr. For more information call Roy at 780-459-1595.
Family Day in Edmonton is going big with Global Village Family Day, a Winter Light celebration that focuses on the city’s expansive cultural mosaic.
Organizers are bringing in entertainment that ranges from National Film Board animation and FuzzFly Ariel Circus to a multicultural stage featuring a Chinese lion dance, East Indian Bollywood style footwork and a First Nation’s traditional grass dance. Workshops in heritage crafts, survival, dance, bannock making are also planned along with kids’ activities and horse rides.
The festival runs from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at Churchill Square.
Come Tuesday, Feb. 16, blues-meisters Paul Finn and Jimmy Guibouche with Don Marcotte and Joey MacIntyre drop by Ammar’s Open Stage for a night of love songs. The jam is at LB’s Pub, 23 Akins Dr. No cover charge.
