About the Plays:

HARD TO FIND BOOK, only a very limited number of copies are still available.

Staging Alternative Albertas is an anthology of experimental drama performed in Edmonton. These eight exciting one-act plays (many of which are in print for the first time), by emerging and established artists, were originally viewed by enthusiastic audiences at the Edmonton Fringe Festival or produced by out-of-the-mainstream groups. Edited by Patricia Demers and Rosalind Kerr, these plays address a fascinating range of contemporary issues in fresh, innovative ways.

The plays in Staging Alternative Albertas include:

• Surface Tension by Elyne Quan An ironic exploration of surface appearances and the tensions created by the undue importance attached to them. explored her Chinese-Canadian legacy in Surface Tension. (Premiered in 1998 at Catalyst Theatre; Cast: 1 female)

• Burnt Remains by Scott Sharplin is a story about memories and lies that probes the destructive potential of new technologies. When a software consultant arrives in a basement library with the job of scanning the books which have been carefully sheltered or hoarded by the octogenarian German librarian, uneasy discoveries about the programmer and librarian emerge. (Premiered in 2000 at the 3rd Space Cabaret Theatre; Cast: 2 female, 2 male)

• As Long As the Sun Shines is a historical drama by Christina Grant and Doug Dunn, that chronicles and dramatizes events leading up to, and during, the signing of Treaty No.8 at Lesser Slave Lake in 1899. (Premiered in 1999 before 2,500 people on an open air stage as part of a week-long commemoration event in Grouard, Alberta; Cast: 8 female, 10 male)

• Tales from the Hospital is a black comedy by Trevor Schmidt. The play is comprised of four monologues by two employees and two inmates of a large, long-term care institution that bears certain resemblances to real life stories of medical experiments and sterilization practised on unfortunate inmates under the Albertan Protection of Life Act that was in place between 1928 and 1973. (Premiered in 1998 at Arts Barns Open Space; Cast: 4 female) "Tales From The Hospital ... may well be Trevor Schmidt's best play yet." — Edmonton Journal

• Sacred Time by Brian Webb is a solo show that relates two parallel stories of predatory, brutalizing space. Profound and disturbing connections link the first story of an unlikely elk hunter, and the second one of a methodical stalker. (Premiered in 1999 at The John L. Haar stage in Grant MacEwan Community College; Cast: 1 male) "By turns odd and beautiful, Sacred Time is a curiously satisfying experience." — Edmonton Journal

• Love's Kitchen by sisters and co-creators Anne Marie Sewell and Cathy Sewell is set entirely in the kitchen of Sarah Roy. As the title suggests, it is a love-in for the departed Auntie Isobel (A.K.A. Auntie Love), a beloved matriarchal force in the lives of Roy and her sister Imogene. The fact that Auntie Love's body has been laid out in one of the most fundamental rooms of the house in a homemade coffin on wheels makes her stage presence enormously powerful and, at times, humorously grotesque. (Premiered in 1999 at the En'owkin Centre in Penticton, B.C. and at the Edmonton Fringe Festival; Cast: 2 female)

• My Perfect Heaven is a one-man show by the team of performer Jonathan Christenson and director Joey Tremblay. The touching yet tough-minded story of Barefoot Boy, a small-town prairie dreamer who escapes the brutality of his world by transforming himself into a beautiful bluebird who sings with the voice of an angel. (Premiered in 1996 and was nominated for Outstanding Fringe New Work; Cast: 1 male)

• La Maison Rouge by Manon Beudoin Rose and Rostand, sister and brother, are reunited in their family home after a long absence. Their mother is dying and the memory of Blanche, their sister who drowned 25 years earlier, haunts the surroundings and their memory. (Premiered in 1997 at Théâtre du Coyote; Cast: 3 female; 1 male)

About the Editors:

Elyne Quan is a writer, actor, dramaturg and director for theatre, film and interactive media. She began playwriting to augment the limited acting opportunities available for Asian-Canadian actors.

Patricia Demers is a Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. She is the author or editor of eleven books and over fifty articles.

Rosalind Kerr is Associate Professor of Dramatic Theory in the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta. She also has experience as a dramaturge, actor and director.