Blood, Love and Betrayal

The University of Calgary School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) is thrilled to announce its 2022-23 season – Blood, Love, and Betrayal - a season of dark comedy, high stakes… and just a little bit of blood.

The 2022-23 season will feature Hookman, our Halloween themed slasher comedy (co-production with Calgary’s Chromatic Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare’s most favourite romantic comedies; and Argonautika, an epic retelling of the Jason/Medea Myth by Mary Zimmerman.

“This season will kick-start your nervous system. Be prepared to scream in terror, (followed by the deepest of belly laughs), remember the overwhelming sensation of falling in love, and have your mythic ambitions awakened. Put your screens to sleep, and treat your heart, your soul and your imagination to the power of live performance.”
 

Christine Brubaker, Artistic Director & Division Lead, Drama, SCPA

In October, our first show of the season is an exciting collaboration between UCalgary Drama and Chromatic Theatre.  Hookman by award winning playwright Lauren Yee is an existential slasher comedy. First year university life gets even harder for Lexi when she’s feeling homesick, her roommate is super weird, and a hook-handed serial killer is slashing girls’ throats. When Lexi discovers what really happened to her high school best friend, she learns what it means to grow up – and isn’t pretty. Directed by Chromatic Theatre’s outgoing Artistic Director Jenna Rodgers, featuring design from nationally lauded designers Andy Moro and Thomas Geddes and UCalgary MFA designers Cassie Holmes and Gal Minnes.

In December, we are delighted to present one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies Much Ado About Nothing. A troop of back-from-the-war soldiers Benedick, Claudio and Don Pedro arrive at a home in Sicily to rest and recoup. While there, the soldiers and the occupants, Beatrice, Hero and others find themselves in the push and pull of love, and the tangles of jealousy and deception. “I’d rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me.” Beatrice. “When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I would live till I were married.” Benedick.  Adapted and directed by MFA Candidate Cali Sproule and design by MFA Candidates Jared Rascheke and Bonnie Garland.

In February, we finish our season off with a splash with an adaptation of the epic Greek poem, Argonautika written by Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman. This highly theatrical, contemporary retelling of Jason, his Argonauts, and their tumultuous search for the Golden Fleece spans continents, myth, and time. Filled with storied gods, monsters, and men - including Hera, Hercules, Medea, centaurs, sirens, and more - Argonautika is an enormous journey told best by live theatre.  This interdisciplinary design-rich adventure will be directed by MFA Candidate Randi Edmundson and designed by MFA Candidates Bonnie Garland and Cassie Holmes.