It’s day 8 in Saskatoon.

I’m here for a production of a brand new play called “Edmund” by award winning playwright Matt Alden.

It’s a brand new work that  my castmates (Adam Cope & Jamie Cavanagh) and I workshoped on its feet during an incredibly fast and fun rehearsal process with director Murray Utas from Edmonton’s Azimuth Theatre and assistant director / stage manager /  theatre-extraordinaire Liz Hobbs. After Saskatoon we take our show back to the Edmonton Fringe Festival for a six show run.

After 4 shows we  got our review and Cam Fuller, the arts & life editor of Saskatoon’s Star Pheonix gave us 5 stars: “Smart, witty, funny… Out of Edmonton comes a pretty much perfect little fringe play.”

Needless to say I’m incredibly happy. One of the main reasons for coming to the Sasktoon Fringe was to get press before heading back to Edmonton where we have a hometown advantage and the crowds are generally larger. Coming to Saskatoon has paid off. We all knew before we even left that coming to Saskatoon we wouldn’t make much money, if any, but the opportunity to test run the show in front of an audience and work out the kinks before heading back to Edmonton is an invaluable experience. I’m personally a huge fan of out-of-town trails & this has definitely helped shape the show into a cohesive whole.

It’s been a little bit of a stressful time working on Edmund, but any project worthwhile has to make you pull your hair out at some point in time. There was definitely a period about a week before the last couple rehearsals where I was almost ready to pull the plug on my involvement in the show. I was worried about the script, the timeline and honestly making a complete fool out of myself on a stage in a strange city, when I could be at home preparing for my next adventure. However, I believe that the success of a show is based 90% on who you are working with and 10% on the actual script/technical elements etc., and I definitely forgot this a bit while working on “Edmund.” Thankfully I had great colleagues around that believed in the project and easily brought me back to seeing the brilliant work that we were creating in the rehearsal hall and when push came to shove, we created a fantastic little piece that is gut wrenchingly funny & heartbreaking at the same time.
Now we have two shows left & a whole run in Edmonton that I am incredibly excited to start. The only drawback is that while the run isEDMUND-Edmonton happening I’ll have to spend all of my extra time organizing and packing for my move to England. Not really the most ideal situation – having to perform & move at the same time – but one that is necessary.

If idle hands really are the devils playground than I should be canonized… if I wasn’t so arrogant that is…

Living the dream.

J.