10 years after its initial success at the Edmonton Fringe Festival, Human Loser Theatre’s dark high school dramedy Cheerleader! by Morgan Smith returns to the stage as part of Theatre Network’s Roxy Performance Series. Cheerleader! is the story of small-town cheerleaders and football players as they struggle with bullying, sexual orientation, family pressures and of course, cheerleading and football. Think being a cheerleader is easy? Try keeping your boyfriend the star quarterback sober and out of jail. Try keeping your best friend from holding your hand in the locker room. Try keeping the jealous wide receiver from ruining EVERYTHING.
Smith’s fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek text addresses the plays tough issues -- just as relevant a decade later, if not more so -- with humour and brutal honesty, turning on a dime between the two. For the 2014 edition, Clinton Carew (Three Sisters, Assassins) directs a sexy young cast, featuring some of Edmonton’s most exciting actors, including Lianna Makuch (This is the Truth, Memorandum), Sterling Nominee Patrick Lundeen (Kill Me Now, SIA), Joleen Ballendine (Rapid Fire Theatre, Dot Dot Dot) and Calgary’s Matt McKinney (ATP’s The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, Speech and Debate). Tessa Stamp (designer for HROSES, Monstrosities) choreographs the show’s high-energy, football-inspired movement sequences, and Kevin Green (SIA) designs.
**** "...incredibly memorable. With all the vulgarity, naivete, and sexism that exemplify the teenage years... it’s fun, powerful..." --VUE Weekly
"...both cleverly funny and uncomfortably painful (in a good way), while still sissing, booming, rah-ing from kickoff to the final play." --The Edmonton Sun
Human Loser Theatre was founded by Morgan Smith and Ryan Hughes in 2002
for the production of Cheerleader! at the Edmonton Fringe Festival. Its mandate has been to create and produce work that finds intersections between classical themes and popular culture, while exploring humanist philosophies.
Human Loser Theatre
Presented as part of the Roxy Performance Series at Theatre Network Cheerleader!
written by Morgan Smith
directed by Clinton Carew
featuring Joleen Ballendine, Patrick Lundeen, Lianna Makuch and Matt McKinney
choreography by Tessa Stamp
set design by Kevin Green
stage managed by Erin Valentine
Previews January 13th and 14th
Runs January 15th-25th
The Roxy Theatre - 10708 124 St, Edmonton AB, T5M 0H1
Performances:
Tues - Sat @ 8pm
Sun @ 2pm
Prices: $13 to $30
For tickets, and more information visit www.theatrenetwork.ca or call the Theatre Network box office at (780) 453-2440. Check out Human Loser Theatre on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HumanLoserTheatre.
