Theatre That Rocks the Boat
January 17 – 22, 2012

Workshop West Theatre’s cutting-edge contemporary theatre festival – The REALTOR® Canoe Theatre Festival - marks its fifth year with a program of risky, ground-breaking performances from Edmonton, Canada and around the world, rarely seen on local stages. This year’s festival includes five shows, as well as Whitewater Theatre, a showcase of unique, innovative works-in-progress. New this year is the Big Ideas Speaker series, presenting discussions and debates about contemporary theatre practice in Canada.

The 2012 Canoe Festival line-up includes:

No.2
Written by Toa Fraser | Performed by Madeleine Sami
Produced by Silo Theatre, Auckland, NZ
Fast-moving and touching, No. 2 features Madeleine Sami portraying all nine characters in a virtuosic solo performance which earned her the Chapman Tripp New Zealand Theatre Award for Outstanding Performance.

The Last 15 Seconds
Multicultural Theatre Space | Kitchener, ON
In 2005, a series of coordinated attacks struck three hotels in Amman, Jordan: three explosions; 60 dead; over 100 injured. Among the casualties were Syrian-American filmmaker Moustapha Akkad and his daughter Rima. Using dance, music, projection and visceral physicality, The Last 15 Seconds explores cultural assimilation, terrorism and family through an imagined dialogue between Akkad and Rawad Jassem Mohammad Abed, the suicide bomber responsible for his death.

The House at the End of the Road
Inner Fish Performance | Kelowna, BC
In a hybrid of installation, performance art and traditional theatre, The House of the End of the Road is the investigation of a restless urban couple’s need to keep moving, or harder yet, to stand still. Will the desire to progress and evolve prevail or will they settle roots where they stand?
Told by six performers and 150 two-by-fours, audience is encouraged to move amongst the performers and installations throughout the space.

Homeless
by Jeremy Baumung | Edmonton, AB
The Spady Centre, a downtown homeless shelter, is a place where people go when no one else will take them. In 2006, Jeremy Baumung started working there. Inspired by his experiences, Homeless shows a glimpse into the lives of people society tries to forget and follows a personal religious journey from fundamentalist Christian to a broader and more generous form of spirituality- a search for the true meaning of charity.

Ladies Who Lynch 
The Serial Collective | Edmonton, AB
Judith has absolutely had it with things bringing her down. War, famine, disease; it's all so depressing, and a little passé. Luckily, Judith has a brilliant idea. She's decided to ban any form of non-entertainment information from her life and advises her fawning friends to do the same.

The ladies settle into an afternoon of gossip that slowly becomes ever more honest, vicious and absurd, but something is wrong.  The waitress is missing. Judith is not accustomed to waiting and the longer she does, the more vicious she gets. Inside, what started as a cordial lunch leads to casualties. Outside, chaos erupts. Armageddon has come.

The Festival also presents new partnerships with Brian Webb Dance Company (La La La Human Steps at the Jubilee Auditorium January 18) and the Arden Theatre (Ghost River Theatre January 27 & 28).