Around + Out Theatre Co. presents the premiere of Horse Girls at the 2024 Halifax Fringe Festival, the story of teenage hobbyhorse competitors Missy and Bridget as they return to the Atlantic Hobbyhorse Association after being banned three years prior.
I hope [audiences] will have seen themselves in these characters and remember what it was like to sort through the challenges and joys of being a teenager. – Jessie Walker
In this Q&A, we learn more from playwright Jessie Walker.
Horse Girls plays as part of the 2024 Halifax Fringe Festival at the Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen St, Halifax) on August 29, 30 & 31 and September 4, 6 & 7. Visit halifaxfringefestival.ca for tickets and information.
This interview has been edited.
Q. Tell us about Horse Girls. What can audiences expect?
Set at the Atlantic Hobbyhorse Provincial Gran Prix, Horse Girls follows teenage hobbyhorse competitors Missy and Bridget as they return to the Atlantic Hobbyhorse Association, lovingly nicknamed “AHHA,” after being banned three years prior.
At this prestigious event, competitors from across Atlantic Canada mount their stick-horses to gallop towards the ultimate prize: a chance to compete at the International HobbyHorse Championships in Europe. For Missy and Bridget, only one thing stands in the way of ultimate victory: each other.
Horse Girls is a play about love, friendship, carboloading, Finland, body-spacial awareness, horsey promises, potato-battery emporiums, and what it really means to be a champion.
At Horse Girls, audiences can expect a zany, goofy, heartfelt look into the world of competitive hobby horsing and the joy, heartbreak, and love it contains. They can expect hobbyhorse dressage routines, homo-erotic stretches, emotional confessions, glittering trophies, high jumps, friendship, love, and more.
Q. What was the inspiration for Horse Girls?
This show was originally developed for the Toronto Fringe 24-hour playwriting contest in January 2024, where it placed third out of over 100 submissions from across the country. Since then, it has taken on a wonderful life with dramaturgical support from Jena MacLean through the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Center, Dan Bray, and Oliver Pitschner.
The show was inspired heavily by my fascination with the sport of hobby horsing and my own past experiences as a queer teenager in love. I mean, how can you not be inspired by competitive stick horses? It was also inspired by how we impact each other’s lives. Both Missy and Bridget focus heavily on how others perceive them and draw on very real insecurities, fears, and joys that so many of us have.
Q. Why this particular show now?
Horse Girls is incredibly relevant now because of the themes it focuses on. While hobby horsing may be all the rage on TikTok and Instagram, the core of the story focuses on the complexities of queer love and friendship for Missy and Bridget, our protagonists. Putting queer love onstage is more important now than ever, and Horse Girls is a show that brings it to the forefront.
Q. What do you hope audiences leave talking about after seeing Horse Girls?
I hope audiences will leave this show with their sides in stitches and consider how we live our lives in relation to one another. I hope they will have seen themselves in these characters and remember what it was like to sort through the challenges and joys of being a teenager.
Q. Why should someone come to see Horse Girls?
Audiences should come to see this show for the brilliant performances from an incredible cast and crew, a team of wonderful Halifax artists who have been incredible to work with. Learn about the world of competitive hobby horsing, get sucked into the chaotic and unhinged world of the Atlantic HobbyHorse Association, and enjoy the zany, heartfelt characters you see onstage.
Horse Girls plays as part of the 2024 Halifax Fringe Festival at the Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen St, Halifax) on August 29, 30 & 31 and September 4, 6 & 7. Visit halifaxfringefestival.ca for tickets and information.