OutFest, billed as the largest queer theatre festival in Atlantic Canada, returns to Halifax’s Bus Stop Theatre following the success of its inaugural festival last year.
Our goal this year was to ensure that we were programming a diverse selection of artists and shows, and I think we’ve done a really good job of that. – Isaac Mulè
Over six days in April, audiences will feature professional queer theatre from local, regional, and national artists.
From completed works to new and emerging creations, the 2023 festival lineup features various work that reflects the diversity of the queer community.
“Our goal this year was to ensure that we were programming a diverse selection of artists and shows, and I think we’ve done a really good job of that,” says Isaac Mulè, the artistic director of Page1 Theatre. “We have such an incredible lineup of new and completed work, there is something for everyone.”
Among the main stage presentations at this year’s festival is Margo MacDonald’s The Elephant Girls, the true story of the all-female gang that once terrorized London, England. A piece of lost women’s history, the play focuses on the 1920s when they were at the height of their power.
The emerging stage will feature Trisha Malik’s Water, Baby!, a story of two friends navigating their relationships in the water, a contemporary dance show from Robert Azevedo and Untitled Flamingo Project by Nathaniel Hanula-James, which follows two children and their search for queer role models in a normative world.
OutFest will also feature a staged reading of Xaiver Campbell’s 76 Centimeters, in which a long-term mixed-race couple has their relationship put to the test as they find themselves trapped in their basement apartment during St. John’s record-breaking snowstorm of January 2020.
For the first time, OutFest offers a young audience show with The Skeleton Dance, a light-hearted play creative movement play for all ages about death with elements of clown and puppetry.
In addition, there will also be development workshops throughout the week and talkbacks with the artists.
Page1 Theatre presents OutFest at The Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen St, Halifax) from April 26-30. Visit pg1-theatre.com for tickets and information.