The Alberta Queer Calendar Project

After months of grieving, Andrea’s finally found peace now that her deceased best friend Cassady’s soul has returned to her. Jill, Andrea’s mother, wants Andrea to seek help. Cassady wants to stay forever. Andrea wants to be left alone. A metaphysical audio play that blurs the lines of reality and memory, grief and love. What role does the past play in defining our future?

Without You contains trigger/content warnings for: death, mention of masturbation, and mention of suicidal ideation.

Writer: Elena Belyea

Featuring: Caleigh Crow, Nadien Chu, Kiana Wu

Director: Christine Brubaker

Sound Designer/Production Coordinator: Tori Morrison

Make sure to listen to Part 1 of this episode first!

Presented with the generous support of Sage Theatre.

Aspiring historian Maxine is researching Canadian social policy when she discovers the story of Everett Klippert—the last Canadian man jailed simply for being gay. Maxine becomes fascinated with Everett’s case and with discovering the man beyond the headlines, a beloved Calgary bus driver on the downtown route who took care to brighten the day of his passengers, who played on the family baseball team and was everyone’s favourite uncle, and who, when he was confronted by police about his sexuality, refused to lie.Inspired and captivated, Maxine interviews people who knew Everett Klippert. She connects with a senior at a local assisted living facility she knows only as Handsome, one of Klippert’s lovers and perhaps the only person who can truly illuminate the past. At the same time, Maxine is navigating her own new relationship with Métis comedian Tonya. This absorbing, heartwarming play weaves together past and present in a multi-generational exploration of queer love. It tells the near-forgotten story of one of Canada’s quiet heroes and reminds us all that the past must be remembered as we work together for a better future.

Writer: Natalie Meisner

Featuring: Jenn Forgie, Matt McKinney, Kevin Rothery, and Kathy Zaborsky.

Director/Production Coordinator: Jason Mehmel

Sound Designer: K.P. Smith

Presented with the generous support of Sage Theatre.

Aspiring historian Maxine is researching Canadian social policy when she discovers the story of Everett Klippert—the last Canadian man jailed simply for being gay. Maxine becomes fascinated with Everett’s case and with discovering the man beyond the headlines, a beloved Calgary bus driver on the downtown route who took care to brighten the day of his passengers, who played on the family baseball team and was everyone’s favourite uncle, and who, when he was confronted by police about his sexuality, refused to lie.Inspired and captivated, Maxine interviews people who knew Everett Klippert. She connects with a senior at a local assisted living facility she knows only as Handsome, one of Klippert’s lovers and perhaps the only person who can truly illuminate the past. At the same time, Maxine is navigating her own new relationship with Métis comedian Tonya. This absorbing, heartwarming play weaves together past and present in a multi-generational exploration of queer love. It tells the near-forgotten story of one of Canada’s quiet heroes and reminds us all that the past must be remembered as we work together for a better future.

Writer: Natalie Meisner

Featuring: Jenn Forgie, Matt McKinney, Kevin Rothery, and Kathy Zaborsky.

Director/Production Coordinator: Jason Mehmel

Sound Designer: K.P. Smith

In this second bonus feature for The Alberta Queer Calendar Project, Taylor Chadwick of What It Is Productions chats with (almost) the whole team of September’s episode, My Boyfriend’s Boyfriend by Jamie Price including: Jamie Price, Émanuel Dubbeldam, Candice Stollery, Daniel Belland, Andi Molloy, Matthew Oliver van Diepen, Mirabel Sirois, and Brian Bergum.

Spoiler alert: Make sure to check out My Boyfriend’s Boyfriend (episode #9) beforehand if you want a spoiler-free listening experience.

In this bonus feature for The Alberta Queer Calendar Project, Taylor Chadwick of What It Is Productions chats with playwrights Liam Salmon (January: Local Diva), Émanuel Dubbeldam (février: À vendre), and Hayley Moorhouse (March: Suspension) as well as Harley Morison of Cardiac Theatre.

Spoiler alert: Make sure to check out each of the above episodes (#1-3) beforehand if you want a spoiler-free listening experience.

Jade Wong needs a vacation, so it’s perfect timing when she accepts a cheap, all-inclusive cruise to Alaska. She flies to Vancouver, only to discover it’s a lesbian cruise, and her cabin-mate is a lesbian. Find out what else Jade discovers on board, and about herself in Ai Yah! Face the Facts.

Writer: Dale Lee Kwong

Director/Dramaturge: Trevor Rueger

Sound Designer: Kathryn P. Smith

Production Coordinator: Michael Luong

Jade: Selina Wong

Jennifer/Jenny: Lara Schmitz

Charlie/Chuck: Mike Tan

Lillian/Sue: Pat Chan

Robby/Bellhop: Ben Wong

Captain’s VO: Dale Lee Kwong

Featuring musical performances by: Seb’s Sibs

Being Gay makes you a liar. A fraud. Actually. Because we are taught to hide our identity from a young age and we grow up using these lies to protect our true selves from the world and the world from our true self. Some people would say being Gay is a parasite …

Meet ‘Guy’ – He’s just been diagnosed with a rare enteric parasite that is eating away at his gut – eating him from the inside out. He got it because he is Gay – whatever that means. He also neglected to tell his partner. 

Meet ‘Ken’ – He’s the perfect boyfriend. He’s got the best body. The best dick. But that’s not good enough because he doesn’t know how to use it. He’s caught between the pursuit for a perfect persona and holding onto a deteriorating relationship.

You could say being Gay forces you into deception. Or you could say society has taught Gay people to be experts at lying. Or perhaps ‘our existence is an act of resilience.’ -Alexander Leon

Writer/Director: Brett Dahl

Guy: Silverius Materi

Ken: Austin Halarewich

Doc: Jay Whitehead

Nurse: Mia van Leeuwen

Sound Designer/Composer: Allison Lynch

Production Coordinator: Deonie Hudson

Content Warnings: Pretty Ugly contains discussions of infection and diseases, homophobia within the healthcare system, and graphic depictions of parasites, sex, the body, and self harm.