New live theatre festival opens Wednesday in Nelson
By Contributor
The inaugural year of Outskirts Theatre Festival kicks off this Wednesday with a Vancouver-based circus duo headlining a special opening gala at The Royal.
The festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. with music and appetizers.
Then Nelson comedy actor Lucas Myers will host a festival preview, with each of the live theatre performers in the festival showing scenes from their plays.
Around 8 p.m. Break|Contemporary Circus will present their brand new show The Heart in its entirety.
All gala guests will receive a free festival membership (also known as a “festival visa”) which they need, in addition to an individual show ticket, to gain entry into the other festival events happening over three nights from Thursday, August 21 to Saturday, August 23.
Each night festival members can enjoy some of the four plays showing nightly at two pop-up theatre venues downtown.
At Cafe Momento (535 Baker Street) Nelson actor and opera-singer Kevin Armstrong (Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar) will play One Man ‘Tommy,’ a solo rendition of the classic “Who” rock opera; and Vancouver sweetheart Devon More will tell the story of a hyperactive, party animal who decides to attend a silent meditation retreat in Silent Party Interlude.
At Old Church Hall (602 Kootenay Street) Nelson’s Lisel Forst (Cop Shop Grow Op, Cabaret) offers a multitude of theatrical fun times in her brand new solo offering called, simply, A Show; and Chimera Theatre Company from Kamloops will play One Day, about two teenagers who find themselves in a supposedly haunted house one Halloween night.
Tickets for all the nightly shows are $10 plus a festival membership.
Memberships ($5) and show tickets will be sold at the festival venues 30 minutes before show times.
Tickets to the opening gala are $18 in advance or $20 at the door. Get advance tickets at The Royal or Packrat Annies.
For a full schedule of events, including times of all the performances, see Outskirts Theatre Festival.
