Doubt: A Parable, image by Swamp Rat Experience
FORT McMURRAY — Swamp Rat Experience is preparing for its sixth season of community theatre, with productions, cabarets and programs planned through the summer of 2027.
The Fort McMurray non-profit theatre company says the upcoming season will build on its expansion into community productions, artistic development and theatre programming for children, teens and technical participants.
The season begins during Alberta Culture Days with the fifth annual Play In A Day, which challenges families, friends, theatre groups and individual artists to create an original play within 24 hours.
The theme will be revealed Sept. 11, followed by a showcase Sept. 12 at King Street Theatre.
Chaos Cabaret, formerly known as Miscast Musical Cabaret, follows Sept. 26 at King Street Theatre. The event encourages performers to take on characters, genres and vocal styles outside the roles in which they would traditionally be cast.
Swamp Rat Experience will move to Keyano Theatre from Nov. 5 to 7 for a production of Nigerian playwright Ola Rotimi’s comedy “Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again.”
The play follows Major Lejoka-Brown, a former military officer who enters politics and attempts to apply his military experience to a political world he struggles to understand.
The production will be directed by emerging local director Lola Taiwo, who made her Swamp Rat Experience directorial debut earlier this year with a sold-out run of “The Lion and the Jewel.”
“I’m incredibly excited to direct Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again and humbled to introduce audiences to one of Africa’s most beloved comedies,” Taiwo said.
Auditions are scheduled for Aug. 29 at King Street Theatre.
The season will eventually lead into a summer 2027 production of “Ride The Cyclone: The Musical,” created by Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond.
The Canadian musical centres on six teenage choir members and uses dark comedy and music to explore adolescence, memory and the meaning of a life well lived. Professional theatre artist Steph Link will lead the production, which will also incorporate pre-show performances and collaborations with local artists.
Swamp Rat Experience says its sixth season will also include Theatre Club and summer drama camps for children and youth, workshops and master classes for developing artists, and a Pride Cabaret in June 2027.
The organization is a registered non-profit theatre society focused on community productions, education and accessible performing arts in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo.
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