By Barb Brouwer
Contributor
Pack your favourite tote and be ready to move around town to catch performances in the 2024 edition of Theatre on the Edge.
Theatre on the Edge (TotE), Salmon Arm’s only theatre festival, is hosted on the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwépemc people and co-presented by Shuswap Theatre and the Salmon Arm Arts Centre June 14 to 16.
TotE organizers are dedicated to creating meaningful opportunities for performing artists to share their voices, allowing them to embrace risks in a fun and supportive environment. The three-day, curated, multi-location festival focuses on new performances and works in development from local and touring artists including community development and workshop activities.
Secwépemc Nation storyteller Kenthen Thomas will open the festival at 4:45 p.m. Friday, June 14 at Shuswap Theatre, with the family friendly Land Welcome and Storytelling.
Thomas has been storytelling since he was a youngster. The Secwépemc stories or Stsepetkwlle – Legends That Teach, are stories that, while entertaining, also provide important life lessons. The popular storyteller carries about 30 stories in his personal repertoire that are ready to be shared with all age groups. Performing in schools and other venues worldwide, Thomas brings the stories of his ancestors to life and gives his due to what he considers the real owners of the stories – the future generations.
Also a Shuswap favourite, Runaway Moon Theatre presents How did you get here? At 4 p.m. Sunday, June 16 on the Shuswap Theatre stage.
This is a series of miniature autobiographical puppet shows, each created with, and performed by, the person who is answering the question “How did you get here?”
The shows were shared in a series of workshop performances at Curly Willow Farm in Grindrod (Runaway Moon’s home), Merlin’s Sun home theatre in Victoria, and at a Festival of Suitcase Theatre in Salmon Arm and Hornby Island.
Organizers are also pleased to welcome Vancouver’s Chop Theatre’s outdoor performance of Playing Fields, created and directed by Emelia Symington Fedy and Anita Rochon.
Playing Fields is a youth-driven, outdoor, participatory sound performance about teenage longing, that takes place at 4 and 6 p.m. Saturday, June 15 at the SAS Jackson Field.
Created using interviews with youth ages 13-17 about land use, ownership and belonging, this aural performance comes from communities around the world that have experienced some form of colonization.
The recorded audio interviews are interwoven with prompts for the audience on the field – each wearing individual headsets – who will be led through a series of movements that will combine to create a sort of choreography that resembles playing a field game. This one-hour production takes place outdoors on an uneven field, so dress accordingly.
Symington Fedy, the artistic director of Chop Theatre, has created 18 new plays with founding member Rochon. Their works tour globally. Symington Fedy has also worked collaboratively with Caravan Farm Theatre, Neworld, Radix, Sto Union and Leaky Heaven Circus. She has been a broadcaster for CBC radio for almost 20 years, producing personal essays and documentaries, and produced and hosted her own radio show “Trying To Be Good,” which was inspired by her successful pop-feminist website. Her first book Skid Dogs, was named “top pick in 2024” by CBC, was on the BC Bestseller list for 16 weeks and is nominated for the 2024 Yukon, BC Book Award.
Vancouver-based Ragamuffin Production of June Bug brings an outer-worldly touch with aliens appearing sometimes most unexpectedly and allows the audience’s inner children to be explored, celebrated, cared for and loved.
June Bug is an energetic and imaginative young girl who loves conspiracy theories, Patrick Swayze and her granny. When her granny is abducted by aliens, June Bug is determined to save her and her home. June Bug was the winner of the TYP Family Forward Award at Vancouver Fringe 2022 and has been presented as part of Upintheair Theatre’s rEvolver Festival 2023 and Victoria Fringe Festival 2023. The show is an honest and outlandish portrayal of grief through the eyes of an imaginative youth.
Written by Ashley Chodat and directed by Sargil Tongol, June Bug is a show for all age groups, including youth and teenagers. It runs at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16 on the Shuswap Theatre stage.
An “Artist Talkback Session” takes place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 16.
For more information as it rolls out or to buy tickets, go online to totefestival.com.
Read more: Theatre on the Edge bringing 14 shows, live music and more to Salmon Arm
Read more: Enjoy Theatre on the Edge
