This year, everything is happening online — even Shakespeare. With the COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings continuing through the summer, Theatre Calgary was unable to present their annual summer tradition Shakespeare by the Bow on Prince’s Island Park. Rather than put an end to the 32-year tradition, however, they reimagined it, presenting Romeo and Juliet online, in association with The Shakespeare Company and Hit + Myth Productions. And, while many aspects of online platforms may see

“Creating the illusion of life is no different than a magic trick,” says Ken Walker, a three-time world champion taxidermist — and Albertan — in the opening minutes of the documentary film Big Fur. “Ken has magic in his hands,” a fellow taxidermist chimes in a bit later, doubling down on the magical metaphor and confirming that what we’re about to see is something very unique. Big Fur is a lot of stories rolled into one. On the surface, it’s about a Bigfoot-obsessed taxidermist who takes the ar

Alberta Ballet, under the visionary artistic direction of Jean Grand-Maître, wrapped up its final performance of Frankenstein in Edmonton last weekend. The production ran from Oct. 23–26 in Calgary and in Edmonton from Oct. 31–Nov. 2. Against the seemingly ballet-averse backdrops of a blood-spattered lab and a meteorological station beset by a fierce blizzard, Grand-Maître brought Frankenstein to life with a mixture of both contemporary and classical ballet styles. This isn’t Alberta Ballet’s

JoJo Mason might just be the coolest guy in country music, and it’s only a matter of time before he’s a household name. Nominated for the Canadian Country Music Association’s Rising Star award, Mason’s single “Better On You” has been streamed more than a million times. Now living in Vancouver, Mason chatted with the Gauntlet from a parking lot, taking a quick break to guide another driver into a stall. “You’ve got lots of room — I believe in you,” he says. “You got it. Keep going. I gotcha. Th

Canada’s One Bad Son has shared billing with some of rock and roll’s best — Judas Priest, Def Leppard, The Rolling Stones — and they’re set to do it again this summer at Chaos Alberta, playing alongside the likes of Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Slayer and Disturbed. Famous colleagues notwithstanding, One Bad Son is a hell of a rock band in their own right. Singer Shane Volk spoke to the Gauntlet about persistence, the state of Canadian rock and roll and the importance of giving back. One Ba

It’s hard to pin down just what kind of music A New Ground plays. Billed as Celtic Folk, the Ontario-based duo — made up of Claryssa Webb and Ryan Dugal — is scheduled to play back-to-back shows in Calgary this summer. Dugal says categorizing A New Ground is no easy task, and something the artistic side of him isn’t keen to do. “I understand the importance of needing to categorize things,” he says. “But when you’re an artist it’s really hard because you don’t want to do that — at least I d

In the final act of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, during the epic battle scene between Laertes and the titular Danish prince, Laertes cries out, “Ouch, my nards!” Sound like the Shakespeare you read in high school? Definitely not. But, it’s the Shakespeare that was on display during the High Performance Rodeo performance of Hammered Hamlet. The production, put on by Calgary’s The Shakespeare Company and Hit & Myth Productions, featured five actors presenting the Elizabethan classic. Two of the actor

“The play’s the thing,” says William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a famous soliloquy. This year, the play will be four very different things, as Haysam Kadri, artistic director of The Shakespeare Company, brings the Danish prince to life on stage in four creative presentations of one of Shakespeare’s most famous works. The season is being co-produced by Hit & Myth productions. The season, dubbed Madness in Great Ones, offers a lot to be excited about. Though theatres have staged productions of Haml