It’s the end of an era for a Lethbridge theatre group.
After around a decade performing at its venue in downtown Lethbridge, Theatre Outré is moving on. The group announced the move late last month.
“After much discussion we have made the difficult decision to bid a fond farewell to our long-time home at Didi’s Playhaus at the end of June,” a May 30 statement posted to Facebook read.
“This will help ensure that Theatre Outré can continue to tell stories that need to get told, to push boundaries, and to assist in findings ways (to) pay fair wages to all the artists we contract.”
The company added it plans on continuing to perform without being tied to one single venue.
Later this week, audiences will witness the stage’s final play entitled “Strange/Familiar”, written by Liam Monaghan.
According to Monaghan, the story is based on his own experience as a person who grew up queer and adopted, with some creative fictional liberties.
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He’s joined on stage by Graham Mothersill and Kathy Zaborsky to tell the story of finding family.
“It’s written using a method called autofiction,” Monaghan explained. “It takes some facts from my real life, (and) it fictionalizes a scenario around it.”
Monaghan, who grew up in southern Alberta but has been away for a while, said his first play was held at Didi’s Playhaus in 2014. Returning to put on the venue’s final show is a bittersweet moment.
“It’s been really kind of surreal to come back to this space,” he said.
“This space and the theatre, and the artists that have been running it for all these years have been so integral to the queer community in Lethbridge, and also to the arts and theatre communities.”
Brett Dahl, director of “Strange/Familiar” and artistic associate with Theatre Outré, said the location also has a special place in his heart.
“It’s kind of a full-circle moment for all the artists involved,” Dahl said.
“When it began about 10 years ago, there was no other spaces like this and it was a lot more risky to be producing queer work,” he said, adding the first-ever performance was delayed due to prejudice against the LGBTQ2 community.
“To see Lethbridge come so far in the last decade means so much.”
The show runs June 15-17. All three days have a 7:30 p.m. start, with a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Saturday.