This weekend’s lineup includes TONS of music (Shivering Songs), four separate theatre shows, a gallery hop and more.
Friday
Shivering Songs Festival – Full details on all performances can be found at shiveringsongs.com
Theatre St. Thomas presents Shakespeare’s As You Like It in the Black Box Theatre (Friday and Saturday). Will love conquer all, or is it merely a madness? Ilkay Silk is back at Theatre St. Thomas, directing more than 30 students in this playful and passionate version of Shakespeare’s much-loved romantic comedy, As You Like It. Rosalind is banished and with her best friend, Celia by her side, she journeys to a world of exile—but not before catching the eye of love-struck Orlando who is also forced from The Court into the Forest. What ensues is a riotous combination of a feisty cross-dressing heroine, a tartan-clad fool, melodic songs, questionable poetry and laughs aplenty. Nightly at 7:30 p.m. and Feb 1 at 2 p.m.
Theatre UNB presents The 39 Steps at Memorial Hall (Friday and Saturday). Theatre UNB presents the highly energetic and wonderfully silly spy-parody by Patrick Barlow. After a chance encounter at the theatre, Richard Hannay suddenly finds his boring life filled with espionage and intrigue. Soon, a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt. Chock full of hilarious spy antics and wildly inventive stagecraft, The 39 Steps straddles the line between Hitchcock film and Monty Python comedy. With a cast of four actors playing 50+ characters, this farce is a true theatrical spectacle not to be missed! Nightly at 7:30 p.m.
FROSTival Gallery Hop (various venues). Head to the heart of the city and stroll from gallery to gallery to discover world-class exhibitions and get up close and personal with great art! Enjoy live artists and entertainment featured in intimate gallery settings. Participating galleries include Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Gallery 78, Gallery on Queen, George Fry Gallery (NBCCD), Charlotte Glencross and Penny Galleries (CSAC), Connexion ARC and NBCCD/Created Here Gallery. 5-8 p.m.
Indigenous Film Festival: Short FIlms in the Ted Daigle Auditorium. An evening of short films from Maritime Indigenous filmmakers. The Indigenous Film Festival is a three-day event hosted by the Senate Committee on Reconciliation. A full festival schedule can be found HERE.
The Art of Speaking Deceitfully in Ancient Sumer at The Provincial Archives. The Archaeological Institute of America New Brunswick Society invites the Fredericton community to a fascinating illustrated lecture by Dr. Kathryn Kelley from the Department of Continuing Education, Oxford University, and UNB College of Extended Learning.
A little over 150 years after the decipherment of the ancient cuneiform script, hundreds of thousands of clay tablets found in archaeological excavations from the Middle East remain on shelves in museums worldwide, ready to be translated and studied. The small number of specialists in this field has meant that the world of ancient Mesopotamia has come to light slowly and incrementally, revealing a rich intellectual history that developed between 3200 BC and the 2nd century AD. Dr Kelley will highlight what a mythological text called Inana and Enki can tell us about the features that ancient Sumerians saw as fundamental to their civilization–and the list may be surprising. 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Shivering Songs Festival – Full details on all performances can be found at shiveringsongs.com
The Dreamboats at The Playhouse. Great balls of fire! The Dreamboats are bringing back good ol’ fashioned Rock n’ Roll with a sound that is equal parts Chuck Berry and The Wonders. This quartet of handsome young Mississauga boys delivers a high energy, nostalgic show that has audiences dancing and singing the night away. The Dreamboats capture this era at live shows through their angelic harmonies, rockin’ guitars, matching uniforms, and contagious dance steps! 7:30 p.m.
TNB Young Company (theatre for young audiences). Enjoy two performances for young audiences at the Open Space Theatre beginning at 3 p.m. Catch both this year’s TNB Young Company productions – Boys, Girls and Other Mythological Creatures (elementary) and It’s A Girl! (middle and high school) – before they hit the road for two monthsof touring to New Brunswick schools. Free.
Sunday
Shivering Songs Festival – Full details on all performances can be found at shiveringsongs.com
Strings in the Woods with Atlantic Sinfonia at Memorial Hall. Over the centuries, composers have looked to nature for musical inspiration. Rivers, mountains, valleys, and more have been popular themes composers use in their music. Through the music of Antonin Dvorak and Edward McDowell, trees and woodlands will be explored in this performance. Atlantic Sinfonia has also commissioned a new piece from composer Michael Miller for the occasion. 7:30 p.m.
New Piano Celebration Concert at Christ Church Parish Church. The Fredericton Music Teachers’ Association is delighted to announce a celebration concert in honour of its recently purchased Yamaha grand piano. The concert will include young pianists and other instrumentalists as well as singers. The featured performer is rising star Adèle Leblanc, now studying piano at Université de Moncton. Our snow date will be February 9. Admission is free. 2 p.m.
This Week in Fredericton was created with notes from the Fredericton Arts Alliance‘s weekly newsletter as well as Music Runs Through It‘s weekly Fredericton music update. We encourage you to visit both these valuable community resources for more detailed information on these and other events happening This Week in Fredericton.
