What: OUTstages
When: Thursday through Sunday
Where: Intrepid Theatre Club (1609 Blanshard St.) and Metro Studio Theatre (1411 Quadra St.)
Tickets: $20-$25 at ticketrocket.co
Information: 250-383-2663 or intrepidtheatre.com
This year鈥檚 OUTstages festival marks the first time in festival history a local artist has been included among the headliners, which is a great point of pride for festival curator Sean Guist.
鈥淚鈥檓 really happy that we finally have some queer art that we can present on this level,鈥� Guist said of local performance artist Eddi Wilson, whose Animal Medicine will be staged tonight and Saturday at the Intrepid Theatre Club.
鈥淲hen we started OUTstages four years ago, there was this void of professional queer art and professional queer theatre happening in Victoria. We recognized that, and created this festival to fill that void in that community. Because there鈥檚 a hunger for it.鈥�
During its infancy, the festival ran in the days following Victoria Pride Week. The six-day OUTstages now kicks off the Pride season, and plays a vital role in bringing Pride events into view for much of Greater Victoria. 鈥淎udiences who are looking at this and thinking: 鈥楾he queer festival isn鈥檛 for me鈥� 鈥� they are wrong,鈥� Guist said.
鈥淢ore than anything, it鈥檚 just really powerful, thrilling theatre.鈥�
OUTstages, one of three major events staged annually by the Intrepid Theatre Company, is heading into its fourth edition strong in several areas. With a range of multidisciplinary performances by artists from across sa国际传媒, there鈥檚 plenty on tap, from Toronto drag sensation Pearle Harbour and Chautauqua to the hotly-anticipated debut of the Queer Songbook Orchestra.
Guist spent 18 months on getting the latter group. The 12-piece Toronto orchestra (which tours with 11 musicians and a poet) has not trekked west in the past, and with the news of their Polaris Music Prize longlist nomination last week, Guist feels he booked them at exactly the right time. Not surprisingly, advance tickets for the group鈥檚 Friday performance at the Metro Studio Theatre have already sold out, he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the biggest show we鈥檝e ever presented at OUTstages 鈥� size-wise, scope-wise, there鈥檚 a lot to do.鈥�
The orchestra is partnering for this show with two local 鈥渘arrators,鈥� who tell archival stories taken from the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. Popular local performers Rae Spoon and Louise Rose will fill those roles on Friday, according to Guist. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a special show for Victoria.鈥�
The Queer Songbook Orchestra will also perform Saturday at the Ladysmith Little Theatre in Ladysmith.
Guist did his best to program a diverse range of performance styles and artists for OUTstages, with an unofficial theme of community, queer history and identity as his core constructs.
鈥淚 try to present a diverse and interesting festival, in terms of performance styles and the stories that are being told. I don鈥檛 try to check boxes, like traditional theatre or music. The interesting thing about OUTstages and a lot of the work coming from queer artists is that it is pretty multidisciplinary. Queer performers are so siloed, they tend to collaborate more with other queers in other disciplines.鈥�
Meeting a bottom line is always a point of focus for any festival, but bridge-building is equally important to Guist and the Intrepid Theatre Company.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I want from this festival 鈥� I want it to break out of that queer-art silo. It鈥檚 really boundary-pushing and exciting and thrilling to see it on its own, it just happens to be in this queer-art wrapper we鈥檝e put on it for the festival.鈥�
