news | Thursday January 27, 2011

BASH'd is out!

For their 25th anniversary edition, the 2011 High Performance Rodeo is bringing back the award-winning hit, BASH’d (as well as an old Canadian classic, Billy Bishop Goes to War, that first hit Canadian stages over 30 years ago) for a second look, thus giving Calgary audiences the opportunity to finally see shows they have heard so much about.

BASH’d, the gay rap opera created by Edmonton’s Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow, has already enjoyed one successful High Performance Rodeo, the 2008 edition, where it played to sold-out crowds at the Big Secret Theatre.

In the three years since, the show went on to a successful three-month off-Broadway run in New York, a run in Dublin, and another cross-Canada tour by Craddock and Cuckow.

This event happily coincides with the arrival of the crafty text, which in spite of its innovative form derives much of its structure from poetic sources, including The Canterbury Tales and The Ancient Mariner and even The Rap Canterbury Tales. The words and lyrics are a credit to the energy and versatility to the performers, who portray not only the roles of storytellers TBAG and FEMINEM, but also several stories they are telling, including the act of telling one’s parents, the vocabulary of clubbing, the issue of gay marriage, the horror of a gay bashing, and the traumatic revenge tale it incites.

So if you are in Calgary from January 27–29, go see BASH’d.

And if you want a hilariously topical yet profound read, order a copy of BASH’d today!