OUTstages Festival
Where: The Metro Studio (1411 Quadra St.) and Intrepid Studio (2-1609 Blanshard St.)
When: Jan. 31-Feb. 11
Tickets: intrepidtheatre.com
Intrepid Theatre opened the OUTstages Festival in 2015, making it B.C.’s first dedicated queer theatre festival. It has grown exponentially since, and will celebrate its 10th year next week.
“I’m thrilled and quite a bit surprised it has gotten to 10 years,” OUTstages founder Sean Guist said. “It makes me feel a bit old.”
OUTstages had modest beginnings, and was originally timed to coincide with Victoria Pride Week. But as its popularity grew, so did the vision of Guist, who is the artistic director of Intrepid Theatre. He has tinkered with elements of the event during each passing year, and has settled on a format that pays tribute to local creators and touring artists alike.
“People just want to see queer work year round,” Guist said. “We don’t just need to see it in June and July.”
The upcoming event will run Jan. 31 until Feb. 11, with nearly double the amount of companies participating. Late night pop-up cabarets run Feb. 2-10, with free workshops set for Feb. 3-10. There’s also a free drag show at The Vicious Poodle on Feb. 5, and a queer youth cabaret on Feb. 11.
“It really feels great to be able to have local shows in the festival, and give these artists a professional festival experience. It’s art. There’s powerful stories and powerful messages.”
Intrepid Theatre commissioned Ivan Coyote’s new show, Playlist, which will have its world premiere at the festival on Feb. 1. Coyote is a world-class performer, and the word is already spreading about the piece commissioned by Intrepid Theatre. “I’ve already had presenter inquiries from across the country trying to get the show,” Guist said. “Which is what my hope was, to see queer work happen across the spectrum.”
The festival expanded in other ways this year, too. A presentation of Shion Skye Carter’s Residuals (Feb. 8-10) marks the first time Intrepid Theatre has co-presented a show at OUTstages with Dance Victoria, while Noah Lott’s ColourVision (Feb. 10) is the first drag show on Lekwungen territory written and performed by a person of colour.
It helps on the bookings front that OUTstages’ mix of drag, burlesque, comedy, and musical theatre happens around the same time as other performing arts festivals, such as Vancouver’s Push Festival and Calgary’s High Performance Rodeo. But the 12-day festival can stand on its own by this point, and has the ability to reinvent itself when needed.
Its presence on the arts and culture calendar in Victoria cannot be understated. A number of free youth OUTreach tickets are available for each show, enabling queer youth and allies under the age of 25 the opportunity to see queer theatre without a financial barrier.
“We have seen the rise of hate on the queer and trans communities, and now, more than ever, we need to see these stories on stage,” Guist said. “Celebrating them and giving them space on the main stage is really exciting. I’m hoping that inspires both audiences and artists.”
