SASKATOON – Hockey is a Canadian pastime and Sum Theatre Saskatoon is encouraging everyone to lace up their skates this weekend. In a new adaptation of the classic Canadian play The Hockey Sweater, the public is invited to skate alongside actors as they perform at Saskatoon’s first Winterlude Festival.
“We believe theatre is a participatory act, not a consumer act,” said Joel Bernbaum, artistic director of Sum Theatre.
“You should be involved in the piece – not only with you mind and with your heart – but with your (own) creative skills.”
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The play runs on the hour and will be featured 13 times over the course of the weekend. There will be fire spinning, sleigh rides, snow shoeing and other events for the whole family.
Earlier in the year, the Nutana community voted for a winter festival as the best way to combine art with public life.
Sum Theatre heard the message and wasted no time answering the call.
“You don’t have step into a theatre to get theatre,” said actor Emma Thorpe. “We get the kids coming up and skating with us at some points (in the play) as we try to build a tradition of skating and interacting with each other.”
Taking place Thursday to Saturday in the park behind Ecole Victoria school, there will also be hot drinks, live music, skating drills, crafts and winter biking for people to enjoy.
“It’s going to bring something really unique,” said Winterlude Festival manager Charlie Peters. “I think people are going to experience things they’ve never had a chance to interact with before.”
For two years Sum Theatre will act as Nutana’s Artist in Residence, meaning the actors will likely hit the ice again next season.
Sum Theatre has been active in Saskatoon since 2011.
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