Verb Theatre

Theatre company based in Calgary Alberta, founded by Jamie Dunsdan in 2008, currently co-artistic director. Artistic associates Col Cseke and Jessica Robertshaw joined in 2009, and Col Cseke became co-artistic director in 2010. Verb Theatre Society was incorporated as a not-for-profit society on May 29, 2009. Its mandate is to connect with diverse communities, and to tell their stories. It partners with community associations in the production of new works. It also works with at-risk youth groups in the construction of theatre for young people.

In October 2010, Verb Theatre produced John and Beatrice by Carole Fréchette. In 2011, it produced Marg Szkaluba (Pissy’s Wife) by Ron Chambers with Sharon Pollock as the battered wife who learns to survive through sheer determination. Productions for the 2011-12 season included: Noise by Jamie Dunsdan, Jim Forgetting by Col Cseke, and A Thousand and One Calgarian Nights for the Calgary International Children’s Festival. In 2013 and 2014, Verb Theatre mounted The Dandelion Project by Cseke, a docu-drama about assisted suicide, in which one actor plays twelve characters. The 2015/16 season included Lungs by British playwright Duncan MacMillan.

In March 2018, Verb Theatre premiered Easter Island, a newly commissioned solo performance piece by David van Belle, which explores the damage we do and the scars we leave as we strive for excellence. It traces the possible salvation of three characters navigating a world-gone-wrong and coming to terms with their involvement in its creation and inevitable destruction (Website).

Verb Theatre returned to live performances in 2021, after a hiatus necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic with a production of A More Sparkling Version of Ourselves and by bringing back its production of Bliss (the birthday party play)!, presented by One Yellow Rabbit at the Big Secret Theatre in Calgary's Arts Commons.

Web site: http://www.verbtheatre.com

Last updated 2021-10-27

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