North America’s longest running solo theatre festival will again feature some recognizable local names, but the main buzz is coming from the direction of a work-in-progress by Juno-winning Eastern Canadian musician Hawksley Workman. Workman’s developing theatrical cabaret The God That Comes is one of 14 solo performances at the 15th annual Uno Festival, which runs May 24 to June 3 at the Metro Studio and Intrepid Theatre Club.
“We’re honored to be able to present a performer of Hawksley Workman’s caliber and give Victoria a first glimpse at this new work-in-progress,” says Uno’s artistic director Janet Munsil. “There definitely seems to be a lot of excitement building about this show amongst our audiences and fans of Hawksley’s music. The tickets have just gone on sale, but I think that The God that Comes will be one of the most popular shows this year and hopefully a chance for music audiences to experience a whole new kind of live show than what they are used to.”
Other Uno Fest highlights this year include a fifth performance of festival favourite Jake’s Gift, as well as Canterbury Cocktails, winner of best spoken word performance at last year’s Fringe Festival. Uno also features plays by locals Dave Morris (Phone Photo Booth), Michael Delamont (God Is a Scottish Drag Queen), and Andrew Bailey (The Adversary), among others, continuing the Uno tradition of nurturing local theatre talent.
“An important part of Uno Fest is presenting new work by local, emerging artists alongside the work of Canada’s most established performance artists,” explains Munsil. “We have an excellent batch of local talent in the festival this year as well as some exciting UnoWorks shows… UnoWorks has become an important vehicle for fostering new work development in Victoria and has also given UnoWorks artists an opportunity to premiere their finished works the next year at the festival.”
Speaking of homegrown performance artists, Uno will see the launch of Press>Play, a series of four site-specific audio monologues commissioned by Intrepid Theatre as part of the Victoria 150 Anniversary Celebrations.
Other Uno Fest performers hail from Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, and Australia. Tickets for Uno Fest range from $16-$25 per show, or $65 for a five-show pass. Check out intrepidtheatre.com/uno-fest-2012 for more information and a complete schedule.