Photo courtesy of Animal Show
By: Lauren O'Donnell
Animal Show is playing as part of the Hamilton Fringe Festival, and is in the Staircase Theatre in the Bright Room. It runs until Sunday, July 28th.
Over the course of its 55 minutes showtime, Katie Hood’s one-woman play takes you through the daring rescues and harrowing tales of her time as an animal rescuer on the West coast. It is a roller coaster of emotions; by turns hilarious, gut-wrenching, and uplifting. I laughed so hard that I cried, and then I just plain old cried.
Hood breathes life into every character and every situation. We’re right there with her as she saves bald eagles, seagulls, and cats alike.* We are taken through several different rescues, interspersed with Hood’s stories and dialogues with others. Each character is memorable and interesting, with unique and funny personalities and quirks. It’s hard to say what is more compelling: the daring rescue of a bald eagle stranded at sea, or speed dating gone disastrously wrong.
This show is a masterclass in storytelling, chock full of memorable tails and delightfully funny jokes. Provided free of context, my favourite line from the show is: “Cat urine is like the British Empire; nothing is gonna stand in its way.”
You should see this show if you like laughing uproariously, hearing stories about animals, and questioning your existence.
10/10, would cackle maniacally again.
For more information, visit http://hamiltonfringe.ca/shows/animal-show/
*And, of course, she’s never held a cat before.
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By: Natalie Clark
Hamilton has been getting its fair share of the winter weather this season, so in what better way to embrace it than to explore all that Winterfest 2019 has to offer?
Winterfest is a two-week long affair that features winter events in and around the city. Beginning Feb. 1, there will be free and paid events held throughout Hamilton such as open skate, live music and various themed events. Take a break from studying and enjoy the winter weather while taking part in this timely Hamilton tradition.
Juno Award winner and Hamilton born indie rock singer/songwriter Matt Mays will be performing at Hamilton Central Public Library on Feb. 10. Mays is currently on his Dark Promises Tour and will be making a pit stop in his hometown for an intimate show. Head on down to Hamilton Central Public Library for some of the best music Hamilton has to offer. This is a paid event and tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.
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Frost Bites is a four-day event in partnership with Hamilton Fringe featuring some of Hamilton’s best theatre performers. Each night, artists will perform “bites” of theatre shows that are meant to last no longer than 20 minutes each. The festival will also be taking place on Feb. 14 to Feb. 17 at two community locations, the New Vision United Church and St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church.
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On Feb. 13, Winterfest will be holding a lecture featuring guest speaker Kojo “Easy” Damptey, an afro-soul musician and scholar-practitioner. Born and raised in Ghana, he attempts to address societal issues and enact change in the world with his lyrics. He will be speaking on behalf of stories of existence, resilience and resistance. The event is free and will be held at the Historic Ancaster Old Town Hall. All are welcome to join the celebration and commemoration of Black History Month.
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Stressed? Bored? Dying to pick up a new hobby? If any of those resonate with you then this beginners knitting course may be up your alley. For $90 you’ll learn the basics of knitting over the course of three classes, running on Wednesdays from Feb. 13 to Feb. 27. Grab a group of friends and head down to the Art Aggregate in East Hamilton for all the tips and tricks you need to know about knitting.
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In honour of the beginning of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 5, Barton Stone Church will be hosting a Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi Open House on Feb. 9. This event is free and includes a demonstration and class, as well as various hot drinks including tea and apple cider! There will be volunteer staff available to chat with you about their class schedule, as well as information about the benefits of Taoist Tai Chi. The event is sure to be a warm evening full of new learning experiences.
The Canteen is one of Hamilton Winterfest’s signature events. Featuring live music from a variety of artists, including Hamilton-based singer/songwriter Ellis, a cozy fire, winter marketplace and various other events, this event is worth the trip to the Battlefield House Museum & Park National Historic Site on 77 King Street West. The location is also known as one of Canada’s most significant monuments of the War of 1812. Aside from participating in the event’s attractions, you are also welcome to explore the museum and historic grounds on site. This is an all-day event taking place on Feb. 16 starting at 10 a.m.
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By: Vanessa Polojac
Established from a study conducted within the Hamilton community, McMaster associate professor of Social Work Mirna E. Carranza collaborated alongside Toronto based, Persian-Canadian actor, singer and writer Izad Etemadi to create a story that explores the re-occurring struggles, sacrifices and issues that many newcomers to Canada face, particularly women.
In partnership with the Immigrant Working Centre, Emergency Support Committee and Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, Carranza’s research was developed through a series of interviews focused on immigrant women, their partners and children. The interviewees ranged from two to 35 years since their immigration to Canada. The objective was to understand the intersection between immigration, integration, trauma and mental health.
The idea of popular theatre was then brought to the attention of Carranza by the women whom she had interviewed.
“The women wanted an impact, rather than writing a report or a paper. I then began thinking, what can I do differently?” explained Carranza.
During this time of her research, Carranza met Toronto playwright Eternadi when he mediated a panel about Syrian refugees at the immigrants working centre. The two instantly bounded over their passion for storytelling and began conceptualizing performance ideas.
In May 2016, the process had began. Eternai was given transcriptions and transformed them into a piece of theatre. The play centres around four young women and intersperses monologues with group scenes, telling emotional and memorable stories of their experiences of being new residents to Canada.
Some of these stories include: a young women who had fallen in love with a Canadian while on vacation and was forced to leave everything behind in her home country, a 12 year-old girl who moves to Hamilton with her family and sees the city as a terrifying place and a women who had just immigrated to Canada and is being stripped away from her ethnicity to conform to the new society she is now apart of.
“I just readjusted some of the wording to create a narrative. Everything came from the mouths of these women,” explained Eternai.
We Are Not The Others was first performed by McMaster students at the Art Gallery of Hamilton during the time of the American election.
“You could see the mood change within the audience. It was such a vulnerable topic for the time,” said Ethernai.
“The women wanted an impact, rather than writing a report or a paper. I then began thinking, what can I do differently?”
Mirna E. Carranza
Associate professor of Social Work
Due to an overwhelming response from the first showcase, Ethernai and Carranza decided to hold open casting calls for young actresses within the local community. The cast was then composed of Rashanna Cumberbatch, who is a first generation Canadian actress to Guyanese parents, Heath V. Salazar a Columbian-Canadian Dora award winning trans writer, actor, singer and dancer, Sima Sepehri, who had immigrated to Canada from Iran at the age of six years old and works on shows such as Private Eyes, and Angela Sun Chinese-Canadian multi-talented performer who has been apart of SummerWorks, Paprika, and InspiraTO theatre festivals.
We Are Not The Others was one of 50 plays to be chosen to be apart of Hamilton’s 2017 Fringe Festival running from July 20 to 30. The vast majority of people come to this country with the idea of hope.” said Carranza. Using music, poetry, and the real words of immigrant women, We Are Not The Others took audiences into the world of immigration that is full of struggles, pain, tears and hope.
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On the outskirts of campus, McMaster graduates prepare a story of an apocalyptic diner to be performed at the fourteenth annual Hamilton Fringe Festival. For many of those involved, ???????????????????? ???????????????????? preludes the next big step in pursuing a career in the local theatre industry in Hamilton and beyond.
Full story is available at https://www.thesil.ca/
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On the outskirts of campus, McMaster graduates prepare a story of an apocalyptic diner to be performed at the fourteenth annual Hamilton Fringe Festival. For many of those involved, First Class preludes the next big step in pursuing a career in the local theatre industry in Hamilton and beyond.
First Class was first shown as part of the McMaster Theatre Programs’ graduating classes’ Honours Series Performances, and was selected via lottery to show alongside over 300 live performances from July 20 to July 30 at this year’s Fringe Festival.
The drama centers around three strangers trapped in a diner just days before the world ends. The three fight over the news of a spaceship, which is set to give the lucky few a first class ticket to a new, habitable planet.
McMaster Commerce graduate YiJian Zheng plays Benny, a young, gifted inventor with a villainous disdain for the poor, and who has had the privilege of having his ticket purchased for him by his parents.
Theatre program graduate Christina Stolte plays his foil. Her character, Callie, is a single mother, who is frantically finishing her application to earn a spot on the ship for her and her son.
The diner owner, Deejay, mediates the two and is played by Mohawk television and broadcasting student Funsho Elegbeleye.
The story explores themes of privilege, immigration and seeks to explore the grim question of who deserves to live or die when given the choice.
“I've always wanted to pursue a more artistic career. Singing, and [now] acting. I came to Mac mostly because my friends were here and they took commerce and my parents wanted to me have a commerce degree so that's what I chose. [But] my real passion is acting …"
YiJian Zheng
Co-writer and co-director Omobola Olarewaju was able to insert her own experience as a former international student into the characters.
“Coming from privileged background in Nigeria I was able to have both ends of the privilege [experience] … So I was privileged back home and came here and the international student life isn’t quite as [privileged] as what I came from I noticed there are a lot of limitations based on the fact that I'm not a citizen,” said Olarewaju.
“Deejay's character is kind of in the middle … I put a lot of my own experience into because he is also an international … an immigrant at the end of the world. [He] doesn’t have food ration rights, doesn’t have any of the normal things that people are entitled to, but still makes things work.”
This year, Olarewaju graduated from theatre and film and the economics programs at Mac, and like other members of the First Class team, she is immediately seeking to further her career in the theatre or film industry. She is currently working on a book, continuing her life-long practice of writing, while also seeking opportunities to work in television and film.
Unlike his fellow cast members, Zheng entered McMaster planning to pursue a career in commerce. In his third year, this changed when an extra male role needed to be filled for the McMaster School of The Arts’ production of Lady In The Red Dress.
“I've always wanted to pursue a more artistic career. Singing, and [now] acting. I came to Mac mostly because my friends were here and they took commerce and my parents wanted to me have a commerce degree so that's what I chose. [But] my real passion is acting … so when my friend told me about this opportunity with Lady in the Red Dress I took it."
Zheng resides in Richmond Hill, and currently has a full-time job to support his endeavour into a potential full time acting career. He hopes that opportunities to work in theatre, whether that’d be finally landing a role in a musical or working in the technical aspect of production, and that those opportunities present themselves close to the GTA.
The Fringe Festival is a means of showcasing the Hamilton theatre community, and it is this community that has both Stolte and Elegbeleye hoping that they can launch their careers in Hamilton specifically.
“[Hamilton] might not seem like the place to go if you were looking to be a skilled actor but I feel like it will get there, and aim hoping to be part of the people who find that, inspire that or who bring that to life ... I feel that Hamilton is going to be [my starting point]. ... it already is. People see that at the Fringe,” said Elegbeleye.
Elegbeleye has been acting in a variety of different productions since childhood, and has performed for two years at McMasters’ African Students Associations’ Afrofest. Currently, he is working a working on a web series titled Catalyst.
“[Hamilton] might not seem like the place to go if you were looking to be a skilled actor but I feel like it will get there, and aim hoping to be part of the people who find that, inspire that or who bring that to life ..."
Funsho Elegbeleye
Stolte has been part of school and community theatre productions since her childhood. Originally hailing from Burlington, she also sees Hamilton as a place for making connections with theatre industry veterans.
"Some theatre in some location is awesome, but not so much in a career sense — more in a recreational sense. In Hamilton, I have a very distinct feeling that it is very productive in a career sense where you could get a lot of really good experience ... that will then help with furthering a career in acting or anything to do with theatre really,” explained Stolte.
While this may be the last chance to see First Class, it may not be long before the names behind the production appear again in Hamilton’s theatre and independent film scene. For these artists, writers and technicians, Hamilton continues to be an increasingly attractive place to hone their craft.
First Class will be play at Mills Hardware from July 20 to July 30. Show times and more information about the Fringe can be found at http://hamiltonfringe.ca/
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