A quick run through some of the events happening this week in the world of art, music and film.
Monday
Monday Night Film Series: Before You Know It
Stage manager Rachel Gurner still lives in her childhood apartment – along with her off-kilter actress sister, Jackie; eccentric playwright father Mel; and deadpan preteen niece Dodge—above the tiny theatre they own and operate. Level-headed and turtleneck-wearing Rachel is the only thing standing between her family and utter chaos. Then, in the wake of a sudden family tragedy, Rachel and Jackie learn their presumeddeceased mother is actually alive and thriving as a soap-opera star. Now the sisters’ already-precarious balance turns upside down, and Rachel must figure out how to liberate herself from this surreal imbroglio.
Before You Know It| Monday Night Film Series | Tilley Hall, Room 102, UNB Campus | February 3, 2020 – 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Open Mic Night at The Capital. Dylan Ward hosts this weekly event at The Capital. If you are a duo, or a band, stop by and try out a new tune in front of a very encouraging crowd. 9 p.m. No cover.
Cold Reads at the Tipsy Muse Café. This is a monthly live reading event where writers have submitted their work to be read live by actors. If you are an actor and want a chance to read, just let us know at the event that you want to go on the reading list before 6:30pm. We try to be as environmentally friendly as possible, so please bring a device to read on if you are cast to read (we will have a couple copies just in case). Writers who want to submit their work can email fredcoldreads@gmail.com. 6 p.m.
Wednesday
Fredericton SLAM! At the Tipsy Muse Café. New look, same slam! This marks round four of Fredericton Slam. We were packed last time, so be there early for the open mic and competitive slam. Sign up on site! This event is free (though the donation hat will be circulating). 7 p.m.
Rachel Beck & Alicia Toner in Concert at 41 River Front Way. After several successful years as part of the award-winning Beck Sisters, Prince Edward Island songwriter, Rachel Beck launched her solo career with her self-titled debut record in March of 2018. Her upcoming release, scheduled for June this year, Stronger Than You Know, is a celebration of strength and resilience. Alicia Toner is a Fredericton native who now resides on PEI. Alicia is a classically trained violinist, and spent a number of years with the prestigious New Brunswick Youth Orchestra with whom she played Carnegie Hall. She continued on to study theatre in Toronto and for the past 10 years has had a successful acting career including shows produced by Mirvish Productions and Soulpepper Theatre. The cost is $30 per person, payable in cash or cheque at the door. To reserve your seat, call 457-0826 or email Paul McDonnell at pmm56@me.com. 7:15 p.m.
W.C. Desmond Pacey Memorial Lecture at Tilley Hall, Room 102. This lecture, entitled Who Becomes a Jihadi Terrorist, How & Why?, will be presented by Professor Lorne L. Dawson from the University of Waterloo. The threat of domestic terrorism is a new and ever-present reality, even in Canada. Countering this threat is difficult for many reasons. Counter-intuitively, research consistently suggests that most of the young men, and some women, involved in jihadist terrorist plots and attacks in the West are “remarkably ordinary.” Yet these largely indistinguishable individuals engage in extraordinary acts of indiscriminate violence and self-sacrifice. Decades of challenging research into aspects of the process of radicalization leading to violence is beginning to reveal how this transformation happens, with some specificity in the case of jihadists. This lecture highlights some of the key findings, delineating the complex array of factors that interact in diverse ways, and to differing degrees, to influence the choice to become a violent extremist. The lecture, organized by the Faculty of Arts at UNB’s Fredericton campus, is free and open to the public. 5:30 p.m.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in the Black Box (Feb. 19-23). STU Musical Theatre presents Stephen Sondheim’s dark tale of love and revenge. Tickets $20 for general and $15 for students. Saturday matinee at 2 p.m.
Thursday
Screening of City Dreamers at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. This film is about our changing urban environment and four trailblazing women architects who have been working, observing and thinking about the transformations shaping the cities of today and tomorrow for over 70 years. This event is free and no tickets are required. 7 p.m.
Black History Month: Make Africa Proud Dance Event in Ted Daigle Auditorium. The M.A.P. (Make Africa Proud) dance group will be on campus for an interactive and educational performance including drums, dancing, and an information session. 6 p.m.
Artist Talk: Rachel MacGillivray at Fredericton Public Library. Rachel MacGillivray (Multi-Disciplinary Textile Artist) in the Fredericton Public Library’s Chickadee Room. These weekly talks are part of a series designed as a platform for the advancement and presentation of professional artists, designers, fine craft practitioners, and time for dialogue about ideas and opportunities, in the fields of contemporary practice. The purpose of this series is to model successful contemporary practice to our students and to inform, inspire and ignite art and design dialogue and engagement in the greater public community. 12 p.m.
Movie Night at NB Library of Craft & Design. We’ll make the popcorn – you bring a craft or art project you’re working on. Tonight’s film: Toy Story 4. 5:30 p.m.
The Underground Railroad to New Brunswick and the Search for Black Graves at Government House. The February presentation in the York Sunbury Historical Society Speaker series features Joe Gee of the Tomlinson Lake Hike to Freedom who will speak about the Underground Railroad to New Brunswick and the search for black graves. This is a free event, and everyone is welcome to attend; refreshments will be served. For further information, please contact the Fredericton Region Museum at 455-6041 or by email at frederictonregionmuseum@gmail.com. 7 p.m.
The Ghost of Paul Revere at The Capital. The result is a sound that the Portland, Maine-based band describes as “holler folk,” not because it involves a lot of hollering, per se, but because it invokes the rich communal tradition of field hollers, with their call-and-response melodies, sing-along hooks, and densely layered harmonies. 9 p.m.
Theatre UNB Presents Some Girl(s) by Neil LaBute in Memorial Hall (Feb. 20-22). In a series of five compelling scenes, five women are unexpectedly reunited with man they once dated whom they thought they’d never speak to again. As Guy looks to right the wrongs of previous relationships and put his past behind him before finally tying the knot with his current partner, five meetings in five hotel rooms produce awkward silences, comic misunderstandings, and unforgettable truths. As critic Jacques le Sourd writes, LaBute’s “view of modern men and women is unsparing… *He+ is holding up a pitiless mirror to ourselves. We may not like what we see, but we can’t deny that – if only in some dark corner of our souls – it is there.” Directed and produced by senior UNB Drama students Austin Thomas, Brennan Garnett, and Lucas Tapley. Tickets are $14 regular, $10 seniors/underemployed, and for $8 students, and are available at the door. For more information, email somegirlstunb@outlook.com or call (506) 653-7899. 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Art & Craft (brew!) at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. A new 19+ event series that brings together your favourite local craft breweries with your favourite local art gallery for an evening of live music and drinks! Picaroons are the featured craft brewery this month. The event admission includes one drink ticket to be used at the sponsor bar or house bar, access to the exhibitions at the Gallery and live music by local favourite Stephen Lewis. $25 tickets are available on Eventbrite. Call 458-2028. 7 p.m.
Nipawistamasowin: We Will Stand Up at UNB’s Faculty of Law (41 Dineen Dr.) Directed by filmmaker Tasha Hubbard, this award-winning National Film Board documentary follows the family of the late Colten Boushie as they demand justice from Canada’s legal system. This is a joint event hosted by Andre Loiselle, Dean of Humanities at Saint Thomas University, Dr. Elizabeth Mancke, CRC Atlantic Canada Studies and Nicole O’Byrne, UNB Faculty of Law. Everyone is welcome! 5:30 p.m.
Derek Seguin’s Live & Uncensored Comedy Tour at The Playhouse. Derek Seguin is back with his third one-man show and will be touring the Maritimes just in time to pull us out of our winter depression! Best known as Canada’s Top Comic (2015) and an all-time favourite on CBC’s The Debaters, Derek’s show is one you won’t want to miss. The world is changing, and in this show he muses on ways as only he can…things like Greta Thunberg, cancel culture, his own kids’ progress, and anything else that may have happened to him this past week. Never the same and always hysterical, don’t miss this one-of-a-kind, truly Canadian standup comedian. Please be advised that this performance contains frequent use of strong language, and is intended for mature audiences. 7:30 p.m.
The Nine Muses & Sottobosco: The Forest Floor at Gallery 78. Opening on Friday, February 21, at Gallery 78 are two alluring exhibitions celebrating the unique vision of female artists. The Nine Muses is a group exhibition, comprising of new works by Jessie Babin, Lori Doody, Alexandrya Eaton, Danielle Hogan, Victoria Moon Joyce, Marilyn McAvoy, Sonya Mahnic, Susan Paterson, and Cathy Ross, with the title inspired by the venerable number 9 in mythologies around the world. Sottobosco: The Forest Floor by Barbara Safran de Niverville explores the fragile ecosystem of undisturbed Atlantic Canadian forest floors in a striking style of colour against black, accentuating plants such as Lady’s Slippers, ferns, and lichen. On display until March 22.
Dead Levee & Stonemasons at Grimross Brewing Co. Dead Levee is known for their crazy stage antics and roots to 60s-80s rock! 8 p.m.
Alexander and the Great Ones at the Tipsy Muse Café. An evening of acoustic music at the Muse. 7 p.m.
Home Bass – Fredericton at The Capital. A full evening of electronic music featuring KDZ, Fractal Code, NatBeast and others. 10 p.m.
Saturday
Graeme Kennedy at the Tipsy Muse Café. Graeme is a special kind of songwriter. The kind that chooses his words carefully, and weaves vivid tales of desperate souls, doomed romance, and life’s wrong turns. He also remains the only guy on record to ever write a song about Lincoln, NB. 7 p.m.
Violet Hill – A tribute to Coldplay at Grimross Brewing Co. A tribute to Coldplay’s incredible catalog of music spanning two decades. 8 p.m.
Goth Night at The Capital. Ad·ver·sary (Ontario) and Dillon Ryan & The Dream Romantic (Miramichi) will carry you through an evening of electronic and post-punk inspired jams. 10 p.m.
NB Country Showcase at The Playhouse. Don’t miss The Best Country Songs of the 1980’s Part I, featuring Mallory Parsons, Sean Fillmore, Dominique Jean, Noel Nason, Paula Waddell, Steve Knox, Jessica McLaughlin, Natalie Thibodeau, Dan O’Brien, Marty Hall, Harmonix and the Showcase Band. Tickets are available at www.theplayhouse.ca, or by calling 458-8344. 7:30 p.m.
Sunday
Cat Leblanc’s Blue to Blue Album Release Party at Grimross Brewing Co. Join Cat LeBlanc at her release Party for her debut album Blue to Blue. Joining Cat will be her Samsonites Bryan Mcdaniel, Colin Fowlie, Jeff Patch, Joshua Sangster and Olivier LeBlanc. 2 p.m.
Kidstage Series presents The Joshua Show at The Playhouse. Spend an afternoon with the charming Joshua Holden and his musical sidekick Alex Knapp as they share a heart-warming story about friendship, confidence, and the value of being yourself. How do you cheer up when life gets you down? Find out in this whimsical production featuring puppetry, live music, physical comedy, and tap dancing! Note: Tickets are by phone or in person only; maximum of 6 tickets. 2 p.m.
Organ Recital in Memory of David Drinkell at St. Paul’s United Church. A Sunday afternoon organ recital in memory of David Drinkell, past organist at Christ Church Cathedral, will be held and will feature Dr. Sharon Pond, organist. Dr. Pond will be playing an eclectic program featuring the works of JS Bach, Stanford, Callahan and Payne. The program, sponsored by the Fredericton Organists’ Association, will establish a music scholarship in David’s name, through donations received at the door. Please join us for a celebration of David’s life through the organ music he so loved. 3 p.m.
Indigo Speaks presents Shannon Webb-Campbell at Chapters. Shannon Webb-Campbell will be the guest speaker at our first event. Come out to share your creative work for a chance to win an Indigo Gift Card! To enter, participants will pay five dollars at the door. We encourage everyone to come out and join us and share their work as creative writers, meet new people, bounce ideas off one another, and most of all have fun! 5:30 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.
