2023-24 Season
Welcome to the 2023-24 Season: Short Season, BIG Drama!
Get ready for 2023-24: SHORT SEASON, BIG DRAMA! That’s right, we’re talking a line-up of fantastic performances, all crammed into a shorter season bursting at the seams with drama, comedy, and everything in between. An entertaining season that may look a little different than we’re all used to, but one we know will be unforgettable, and will be the perfect lead-in to our biggest season yet in 2024-25… our 50th Anniversary Season!
The Shows
Made in Italy
By Farren Timoteo
Directed by Daryl Cloran
Presented in partnership with Theatre Calgary
CANADIAN PLAY | MARTHA COHEN THEATRE
October 17 – November 11, 2023
A Lively One-Person Performance. Every meal tells a story, and this one is about family. In this tour-de-force solo show, Francesco, a young Italian immigrant and his father, Salvatore, recall their experiences in 1970s Jasper, Alberta. A semi-autobiographical tale, Made in Italy is a comedic chronicle of the generational differences in an immigrant family. Holding dear the traditions of Italy, Salvatore hopes to pass them on to his son, while Francesco finds new role models in Italian cultural icons Rocky Balboa and John Travolta!
The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon
By W.O. Mitchell
Director TBC
February 20 – March 10, 2024
CANADIAN PLAY | MARTHA COHEN THEATRE
Wullie MacCrimmon is in for the match of his life… and, potentially, afterlife. When Wullie MacCrimmon, a shoemaker in the 1930s foothills town of Wild Rose, muses aloud that he would give anything to skip his curling team in the MacDonald Brier, the Devil (a travelling salesperson who deals in wholesale souls and retail sin) suddenly appears and makes him an offer. Wullie makes a counter offer, and one of the greatest matches in curling history is on – a Black Bonspiel. When the Devil appears with her curling team–Judas Iscariot (lead), Lizzie Borden (second), and Macbeth (third)–Wullie and his team are in for one hell of a match.
Coincides with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, happening in Calgary February 16 – 24.
Audience Considerations: Suggested for ages 12+
Selma Burke
By Maria Crooks & Caroline Russell-King
Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg
Presented in partnership with Theatre Calgary
April 2 -27, 2024
WORLD PREMIERE | NEW CANADIAN PLAY | MARTHA COHEN THEATRE
The true story of the woman behind the American dime. Few know of Selma Burke, the Black American sculptor who played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920s and 30s. Among her works is a bas-relief plaque of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which is now widely accepted to be the basis for the design on the American dime, and something for which she never received credit within her lifetime. A stirring play about the importance of art, courage, romance, and justice, Burke’s rarely-told story is brought to life in this world premiere by Calgary playwrights Maria Crooks and Caroline Russell-King.
The Birds and the Bees
By Mark Crawford
Directed by Lauren Taylor
An Arts Club Theatre Company (Vancouver) Production
Presented by Alberta Theatre Projects
May 7 – May 25, 2024
CANADIAN PLAY | MARTHA COHEN THEATRE
From the playwright of The New Canadian Curling Club! Sarah, a turkey farmer, has split up with her husband and moved in with her mom, Gail, a beekeeper. Add in Earl, the flirty neighbour, and Ben, an eager young graduate student, and you have the perfect breeding ground for unlikely attractions. Set in two adjoining bedrooms on a modern Canadian farm, the play tackles sex, love, science, family, and the artificial insemination of turkeys. The Birds and the Bees is a laugh-out-loud comedy with brains… and a huge, honeyed heart.
Audience Consideration: Suggested for 14+
