After a Fringe-ful August, it's time to gear up for the 2026-2027 theatre season, with Canadian and Edmonton productions at centre stage and new artistic directors taking the reins at two theatres in town. Lana Michelle Hughes has programmed an all-Canadian season for her first season at Shadow Theatre, with Undressed by Edmonton's Louise Casemore amid three shows out of Toronto: Yaga by Kat Sandler (the season opener, running from Oct. 14), The Waltz by Marie Beath Badian, and The Golden Anniversaries by Mark Crawford.
Theatre Network's new artistic director, Jenna Rodgers, will present three partnerships this season as the theatre faces a bit of a cash-strapped situation. The lineup includes the musical Oh, Anne! in a co-presentation with Carter-Ryan Theatre. Directed by Bridget Ryan and designed by artist Jason Carter, it's running at The Roxy from Sept. 15 to Oct. 18. There will also be what's billed as Canada's first rock-and-roll panto: Jack and the Beanstalk from Theatre Yes. And the season rounds out with Bella Luz, a co-production between SkirtsAfire and Ruby Slippers Productions. "This is me trying to leverage partnerships and create connections, and relationships, and have some funding in place we can use to have the biggest impact," Rodgers told Liz Nicholls.
Veteran busker "Breezy" Brian Gregg spoke to CBC Edmonton's Radio Active after someone threw his keyboard from the Tawatinâ Bridge into the North Saskatchewan River. "It happened even faster than I can describe it," Gregg said. "I was in such shock, for a minute, that I couldn't even figure out what happened." The keyboard is visible from the water's surface, but the surrounding mud is too deep to retrieve it at the moment.
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is marking 40 years of Symphony Under the Sky with a return to Hawrelak Park after three years at Snow Valley. This edition also marks conductor Bob Bernhardt's 20th with the baton. "One of the reasons I keep coming back is because the ESO feels like family for me," he told Postmedia. "We have so many friends now in Edmonton and in the symphony; we eagerly come back every year." The concerts run until Sept. 7.
The St. Albert Chamber Music Society announced its 18th season, opening Oct. 4 with the Gryphon Trio and continuing through April with performances by cellist Dongkyun An, the Valkyrie String Quartet, Duo Bellanota, and the newly formed Magpie Percussion.
Artists such as Mariel Buckley, Emma Frazier, Lucette, and Jody Shenkarek reflected on Dolly Parton's influence, describing her songwriting, generosity, and support for queer fans and artists. "As a country musician, Dolly is a pretty staple artist to be listening to," Buckley told Postmedia. "But she's always been synonymous with the drag community, which I'm obviously not a member of, but there's always been a lot of parroting of her looks, especially by queer people."
Visual arts
The Prospect Art Collective store at Kingsway Mall will help former AISH recipients and others get work experience in a supportive environment through Prospect's Retail Mental Health Program as Alberta's disability support system changes. "We recognized that there was going to be an awful lot of people going into an employment situation that they weren't necessarily prepared for," program manager Lorraine Henderson told Taproot. "(ADAP) was one of the reasons why we came up with this program."
Gallery@501 presents Family Traditions, a new exhibition running from Sept. 3 to Oct. 24 that features Inuit stencil printmaker Roberta Memogana and third-generation watercolour artist Emily Mosley-Delorme exploring family history through their art. A free reception with an artist talk and printmaking demonstration is on Sept. 17 as part of Alberta Culture Days.
Calgary playwright Andrew Torry compared the theatre scenes in the two big cities and wondered why Edmonton's seems stronger. "Why do many small to medium-sized companies in Calgary appear to be stagnant or struggling while most in Edmonton are largely holding steady?" he asked, citing stronger public funding, grassroots donations, and more stable ticket sales among smaller companies in Edmonton as explanations.
LitFest will open its 20th year as Canada's original nonfiction festival with an event featuring Trina Moyles in conversation with Conor Kerr. The rest of the lineup includes Vivek Shraya, Kai Cheng Thom, Nisha Patel, Kathryn Lennon, Patrick Lennox, and many others. The festival runs from Oct. 14 to 18.
The Edmonton Public Library highlighted its partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, following the icon's passing on Aug. 25. Edmonton children received more than 56,000 books from the program through the library. "Dolly Parton really wanted the program not to be perceived as the poor box or its equivalent, but at the same time she recognized it would have the greatest impact for vulnerable populations," EPL youth services manager Elaine Jones told Postmedia.
Edmonton sisters Chayla Rain and Chyana Marie Sage were eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada. They called the outcome "absolutely devastating" but said they gave the contest their all.
Utility work behind St. Albert Place, home of cultural institutions such as the Art Gallery of St. Albert, will keep its southern entrance, some parking stalls, and part of the provincial courthouse lot closed until Oct. 12.
Uplifting the legacies and livelihoods of our clients and the communities where we serve and live, is what gets ATB's team members out of bed in the morning. And after 80-plus years worth of mornings, they're still pursuing that mission with a brand of enthusiasm and authenticity you can only experience with ATB.
