Passion, skill and dedication are the main qualities Coach Joe Martin looks for on his Whitehorse Mustangs Midget Rep hockey team. No players may personify these more than 17-year-old forwards Wyatt Drift and Spencer Tomlin. There is no doubting their love of the sport. Between them they have almost 30 years of hockey experience, having …
Doing what it takes: Haines Junction’s very own Gretzky and Kurri Read More »
Anyone who has taken part in competitive cycling or running in the Yukon, in these past 20 years or so, has most likely experienced the typical post-race symptoms of excessive sweating, agonizing pain, rewarding sense of accomplishment and that one burning question: “Who is that woman?” Described by many as “The Welcoming Face at the …
She is the face at the finish: She’s a clock-watcher Read More »
George Arcand is known to many Yukoners around the ball diamond as the guy always on the go whether it is flipping burgers, cutting grass in the outfield or coaching a rep team. So it is surprising to see him so noticeably tranquil during a recent interview at the complex, especially considering in less than …
BY GEORGE MARATOS “We came up last year a bit hesitant and $4,000 in debt,” explains Robin Urquhart, as he sips on an organic juice outside a Whitehorse café. “But the response was pretty overwhelming, the audiences really appreciated the show and were very generous and the actors also felt very welcomed,” smiles the co-proprietor …
Standing in front of the large crowd of Yukoners that had gathered earlier this month at Sport Yukon for an Olympic pep rally, Greig Bell made no effort to contain his excitement. Microphone in hand and donning a black and silver long sleeved shirt with “Yukon” splashed across the front, the long time Yukoner paced …
Did you just say, “storysmithing”? “Yeah,” says Aaron Janke, his arms still stretched out in the telling of his upcoming introactive theatre project. But he wants to keep explaining the plans of his troupe and he was on a roll … and I was interrupting. Throwing out the possibility that “storysmithing” might be hyphenated, he …
Be warned: if you are travelling along the Klondike Highway on the evening of Sept. 5 or into the wee hours of Sept. 6, you may come across a 200-pound chicken. Not a real chicken of course, but rather an Alaskan donning the poultry get-up. It’s just one of the many antics that make up …
Toque: [tohk] of Celtic origin; A kind of cap worn in the 16th century, and copied in modern fashions; — called also toquet. Believe it or not, the toque is one of the most important purchases the Yukoner can make. Not only because of the warmth and comfort it provides to help get you through …
BY GEORGE MARATOS Joseph Graham was volunteering on an archaeological dig near Beaver Creek in 2003 when he first heard the story, Timber Rabbits – A Northern Mystery of Men, Madness, and Mutilation. As was customary at the end of the day, staff working at the Little John site would gather around the campfire for …
When I first came to the Yukon in the summer of 2002, I lived for free for six weeks. It was a refreshing and liberating time for me as it marked the first period in my life I was living on my own and not paying rent. Sure, I’d lived rent-free before, but that was …
Play Makers: Hello Stranger, Can You Look After My Home? Read More »
OK, be warned … in this article I will be talking about drinking. Please don’t judge me and, if offended, simply turn the page. It’s just I felt the need to not applaud but shine light on the select group of Yukoners that seem to be invincible to the hangover. While many, myself included, find …
BY GEORGE MARATOS “Whenever I saw an exploded piece of tire on the road, it reminded me of the 10 to 20 million polio survivors that are currently living around the world and are relying on these pieces of tire to pad their knees while they crawl around.” Four years ago, Ramesh Ferris sat on …
Did you ever hear the one about the guy from Toronto who would complain about the tedious 15-minute commute to work he would have to put up with on a daily basis? No? Me neither … When I was in college, every weekday morning I was faced with a 40-minute drive to school. The routine …
Colin Heath was chatting online with Eric Epstein, the artistic director of The Guild. They were playing Scrabulous at the time because they both love words. So, when Epstein typed in the invitation to Heath to come to Whitehorse to direct What the Butler Saw, Heath accepted … because he loves words. “I love the …
Talk to Yukon Squash Pro Marie Desmarais and you quickly get the sense that a perfect world for her would be one that has every Yukoner playing squash. Her eyes widen with excitement as we chat in her office, which is littered with squash racquets, autographed photos of the world’s best players and pictures of …
I’ll admit it. When I was preparing to move to the Yukon I was very naïve about what exactly Whitehorse was all about. I knew a little about the Gold Rush history, the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race and the long frigid winters, but for the most part I was very unfamiliar about this part …
June 14, 2002. That is the day I first arrived in Whitehorse. To be exact, it was the evening, 20 minutes before midnight, just me and a crammed ’88 Pathfinder. I had recently finished school and was coming North to visit relatives for the summer and work for the feds for a few months … …
Play Makers: My First Day as a Yukoner … I Remember It Well Read More »
Winterval, “It’s the new Santa Parade,” explains McFarlane “I remember … thinking, ‘This is the saddest parade I have ever seen’.”
The films are heavy, intense and, more importantly, thought provoking. Tory Russell makes no attempt to sugar coat the fact these films are “super-heavy” as we chat about the upcoming Amnesty International Film Festival that runs during the final weekend of November at The Old Fire Hall. Triage follows Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. James …
BY GEORGE MARATOS It is being described as Jack London meets Stephen King, an original northern mystery of man, murder, mutilation and mayhem. It begins innocently enough with the lights dimming and Old Knut, an elderly man close to 90, appearing on stage, spit can in hand. He moves slowly with an obvious shake, speaking …
Play Makers: The Shock and Awe That is ‘Timber Rabbits’ Read More »
BY GEORGE MARATOS On Dec. 1, art lovers are being encouraged to come to the Yukon Artists @ Work studio, 15 minutes south of Whitehorse, in the McCrae Industrial Area. It is there that an estimated 20 pieces of original artwork will be up for grabs via silent auction. It is part of the second …
Play Makers: Art for AIDS Keeps the Flame Burning Read More »
BY GEORGE MARATOS Eric Bass takes a long pause when asked how he first got his start in theatre. “High school theatre,” he eventually says, speaking at The Old Fire Hall in downtown Whitehorse. Bass is in Whitehorse to workshop a script with Sour Brides Theatre and perform his original piece, Richard 3.5. Bass’ love …
Play Makers: Puppets, Ragtime and Blood Take On Shakespeare Read More »
BY GEORGE MARATOS As a high school student in Victoria, BC, Moira Sauer dreamt of rowing for Canada’s Olympic team. So, each day she would train at Elk Lake, rowing as the sun rose, lifting weights and eating healthy. Then it all changed. “I was asked to make a penis puppet and the rest is …
Play Makers: Puppet Workshop Leads to World Domination Read More »
You know that feeling you get when you go through your old yearbook or look back at school photos from the high school glory days? I believe the scientific term is … “What Was I Thinking Phase-itus”. It usually involves big hair, big glasses and neon and results in an array of emotions from embarrassment …
“Go easy on the references to the Holocaust,” Jonathon Young says to me over the phone. “People will go into the theatre expecting it. “This play is much more about memory and how our actions affect our descendants.” The Invisible Life of Joseph Finch is, indeed, about re-creating one man’s life for the benefit of …
Yukon writers are pairing up to give a series of weekly readings at the Whitehorse Public Library starting Feb. 5. The readings begin with Al Pope and Miche Genest, on Feb. 5, followed by Patti Flather and Clea Roberts on Feb. 12. Other joint readings are by Claire Eamer and Jerome Stueart, Celia McBride and …
It is in the fall, off-season for a ski chalet, yet there is still excitement. A woman has disappeared. She returns, but it is not the same woman according to her husband. The police get involved and they are convinced she is who she says she is. “Oh boy,” is all that Pierre Gauthier will …
We are familiar with the concept of “a face only a mother could love”. Well, The Mighty Carlins has three characters that, possibly, only the playwright could … like. Collin Doyle created three absurdly foul characters for the play that is being presented March 18 to 28 at The Old Fire Hall. And he likes …
He had been in Baked Café for only one minute and had already said hi to three people, and one of them got a hug. However, “Some people see me in the street and they just wave as if I hadn’t been gone for four years,” says Michael Clark, the former artistic director of Nakai …
Being a comic from the Yukon, currently living in the “Big Smoke” in a bunk bed (the sacrifices of fame), I’ve been getting an amazing perspective on how much Toronto folk know about the Yukon. The truth is many know very little about our marvellous territory. This, although somewhat sad, is the equivalent to gold …
“Watch out, them Toronto people are cold.” Time and time again, that is what people would tell me when I informed them I was heading to Toronto for the winter to study improv and comedy. It didn’t matter who I told, either. Friends, relatives, strangers … they all had the same warning. Many would shake …
BY GEORGE MARATOS Prepare for madness and mystery from some of the Yukon’s youngest and finest performers. So says the news release regarding True Stories, the latest production involving students from the MAD (music, arts and drama) program in Whitehorse. This time, youth are collaborating with musicians from the Longest Night Ensemble, dancers from Northern …
Play Makers: Stories That Are All About Collaboration Read More »
Bringing a play from the idea stage to the big stage can be overwhelming. Where do you start? Who is there to help? What the heck is dramaturgy and why is it important? During the first part of this year, Nakai Theatre has been working through a strategic-planning process and has been confirmed that it …
Can you feel it in the air? They are coming. Not the dust, the puddles and the late-spring flurries – no – they have already been here for quite some time. What I am speaking of are the new people, the fresh faces, the Cheechakos, the individuals simply known as “the transients”. They come from …
Play Makers: The Transients are Coming! The Transients are Coming! Read More »
I consider myself to be pretty athletic. I try to stay active, whether it be playing soccer or softball or the odd game of squash, but every year at this time I can’t help but feel a little out of shape. I’m not sure exactly what triggers it. Perhaps it’s the spandex-clad individual roller-skiing – …
Andrea Simpson Fowler’s pride, passion and excitement beam throughout our half-hour interview. Even though we are speaking over the phone, the long-time managing director of Leaping Feats Creative Danceworks (LFCD) exudes a contagious enthusiasm as she lists the accomplishments of the Yukon Dance Program that is now 10 years old. There is Rodney Morgan, an …
I want to begin by saying that I don’t think Whitehorsians are hobbits. I feel obliged to clarify that. I will tell you, though, that the downtown core of this fine city is littered with what can be aptly described as “hobbit homes”. You know … the ones made famous in The Lord of the …
Play Makers: Hobbit Homes and Garage Dwellers Aplenty Read More »
BY GEORGE MARATOS “Lots of bad things happen when people drink, and driving is one of them.” Those are the sentiments of Jamie Popper. The Vanier high-school student is hoping to drive that message home to her fellow peers, and the 18-year-old is going about doing so in a unique manner. Together with fellow Grade …
Play Makers: Facebook & YouTube Deliver a Vital Message Read More »
BIt will have to be chirping birds, ripping muscles, cheering teammates and perhaps even grazing grizzly bears that make up the soundtrack for competitors in this year’s Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay (KCIBR). Organizers have made the decision to ban headphones for the 2009 race, meaning that competitors will not have the option of cranking …
The Whitehorse shopping experience is one of a kind. So much so that it really is hard to know where to even begin the dissection. Perhaps we could look at the fact that we have no IKEA, yet there are two “adult” shops within a two-block radius and within that same two-block space is an …
I’ve seen lots of strange things in my seven years of living up here in the Yukon, but one of my fondest is still the time I saw that jolly group of Americans having a barbecue outside their RV. I know what you’re thinking … “Well, that doesn’t seem too strange, you silly Greek!” The …
BY GEORGE MARATOS Jean-Francois Latour has seen his fair share of strange things while participating in the Yukon River Quest. From an oversized can of Campbell’s soup, floating in the woods, to a giant moose just standing right smack in the middle of the river. (As it turns out there was no can of soup …
BY GEORGE MARATOS George Arcand stands just beyond the pitcher’s diamond on the Takhini’s No. 5 ball field, on a sunny Monday afternoon, late last month. He is surrounded by torn-up dirt as he surveys the large trucks working vigorously behind him. It was just over a year ago that Arcand, executive director for Softball …
Play Makers: 220 Games To Be Played During Dustball Read More »
The Yukon music festival first funded by Mel Orecklin’s credit card in 1979 is set to celebrate its 35th annual event later this month and in true Frostbite Music Festival fashion the weekend promises to be as unique and eclectic as ever. “This is unlike any festival I’ve ever been to,” explains first year producer …
On August 7 and 8, Yukoners will have not one, but two opportunities to tee up for great causes. On Friday night, Special Olympics Yukon is holding its annual Golf Gala at Meadow Lakes Resort. Always popular, the event once again has a packed roster of golfers. “We are completely full,” explained an enthusiastic Serge …
BY GEORGE MARATOS “You don’t need to be wearing spandex and tons of armor to come out.” Those are the sentiments of Marsha Cameron when describing Sima Slamfest, the Yukon’s premier mountain bike event she is helping co-direct. Fresh off the success of the inaugural Sima Slamfest in 2008, the Yukon’s largest mountain bike festival …
Some very-familiar art is now on display at the Old Fire Hall in downtown Whitehorse. Art that every Yukoner can say at one point was in their home. And while it may have spent most of the time tucked away in the kitchen drawer, there is no denying its popularity. So much so that, this …
BY GEORGE MARATOS In August of 1896, three sourdoughs – George Carmack, Dawson Charlie and Skookum Jim – discovered gold in what is now called Bonanza Creek. Soon after came one of the world’s greatest gold-rush stampedes with nearly 100,000 people travelling north to strike it rich in the Klondike gold fields. Today, that famous …
Yukoners, be warned before you sell that truck and go hybrid: keep in mind that Whitehorse is a truck town. I learned that my first week here, several years ago. Everywhere I looked … big truck, little truck, medium-sized truck. Trucks with mud flaps, trucks with big wheels, trucks with roof racks, gun racks … …
This year, Nakai Theatre will not be producing any plays. David Skelton, Nakai’s artistic director, says the company will be concentrating, instead, on developing local scripts. This means that instead of spending money on a venue and staffing to produce a play, it will use some of that money to bring up DD Kugler, a …
I still remember it clearly. February 2003 and there I found myself at the airport restaurant, picking away at my hash browns as I prepared to say goodbye to some very close friends – the close acquaintances that I had shared so many great times with since first moving north to Whitehorse. Choking on decrepit …
Each and every one of us at What’s Up Yukon finds local theatre to be a fantastic entertainment value. We like to think that covering theatre in our pages shows our support and we are happy to do it. But is there something more we can do? Yes, there is. We have a lot of …
In 1962, it was shocking and titillating. Though the Pulitzer Prize committee handed it a Pulitzer, it was revoked for language, for sexual situations. When it ran an England tour, Lord Chamberlain made the playwright, Edward Albee, change the swear words, “Jesus Christ” to “Cheese God.” Half sarcastically, Albee asked, “What about saying Mary M. …
Amber Walker feels grateful for her lot in life: her husband supports her financially so she can pursue her interests as a visual artist and playwright. Over the past year, in Whitehorse, she has had many opportunities to pursue her artistic interests. David Skelton of Nakai Theatre is helping her as she develops her play. …
It is fall of 2005. I have just arrived in the Yukon. I am amazed to be accepted into an advanced playwriting course with the famous Canadian playwright, Tomson Highway. I spend a week with five other lucky writers as Tomson leads us through the steps of building the first draft of a play. I …
BY GEORGE MARATOS Glancing at the more than century-old black-and-white photos that adorn the walls of the Arts Underground Gallery, in downtown Whitehorse, the subjects look all the part of your usual Klondike stampeder: rough, with thick moustaches, long beards and icy, fearless stares. True to their nickname, however, the Mysterious 36 are anything but …
When I was a kid, one of my dream holidays was a trip to Disneyland, specifically to ride the Matterhorn, buy an oversized lollipop and get some pictures snapped with Goofy, Mickey Mouse and Snow White. And sure enough, at the age of 12, my dream came true. That dream did not include being crammed …
We have all heard the stories from our parents and grandparents – the glory days of yesteryear, the good ol’ days, the “remember when” times. I have only been calling Whitehorse “home” for a little over seven years, and already I can put together quite a list of “Remember When’s”, myself. Remember when we had …
Patti Flather is sitting at a coffee shop talking about how much fun it is to write strong roles for actors over 40. “There’s just not enough of that in theatre or film.” She sometimes wonders who tells their stories. “I love seeing actors who are a bit older grapple with dating in the same …
After presenting Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, one of the most well-known plays of the post-modern era, the Guild Theatre follows with the world premiere of Yukon writer Patti Flather’s play, The Soul Menders. This play has no theatre history, no reputation, no guide and, for Chris McGregor, the director, it has no boundaries. And …
BY GEORGE MARATOS “Quiet on the set, please … Roll sound … action … cut … nice … done …” Those are just some of the sounds heard on the set of the latest production of Anash and the Legacy of the Sun-Rock. Sitting in on a Monday evening shoot, it is hard to fathom …
Play Makers: Pool, Rock ‘n’ Roll & the Legacy of the Sun-Rock Read More »
Hockey players can craft, too. That is the message from Arlin McFarlane, artistic director for Yukon Educational Theatre’s Inzanity Wing, the backbone behind this year’s new Santa Parade “Winterval”. McFarlane is calling on hockey players and all members of the community to come down before Dec. 3 to the Old Fire Hall, in Whitehorse (before …
I was lucky enough to be able to see The Soul Menders twice. Because of travel plans, I had to miss opening night and reviewed a dress rehearsal, instead, with all the rules about certain things I couldn’t talk about. One of those taboos was talking, really, about performance. Actors still had at least three …
Finders, keepers. Right? Well, adults will likely respond with, “It depends.” OK. This is something that was obviously discarded … but it was seven meticulously cared-for photo albums of a family … but the person who found them put a lot of work into them to create a play … but the person who threw …
I am back in Toronto and a recurring thought during my near two weeks here is how good we got it in Whitehorse when it comes to getting around the city. It is one of those things we all take for granted. How often has a “Porter Creeker” been told by a “Riverdal-ite” that they …
The sexiness and sass of Varietease combined with the high energy, easy-to-dance-to rockabilly stylings of Sasquatch Prom Date. Throw in a promises-to-be-scary haunted house, bat girls hanging from the ceiling, prizes for best costume, not to mention two bars, and Halloween at the Yukon Convention Centre looks to be the place to be on Saturday, …
If the recent ski swap at the Mount McIntyre Centre is any indication the 2010/11 Whitehorse cross country ski season should be one of the most popular yet. Terms such as “flying elbows,” “aggressive mothers” and “super intense” were used by swap-goers to describe the annual event. The ski swap has taken place every October …
Play Makers: Gearing Up for the Cross Country Ski Season Read More »
As I was driving throughout Whitehorse’s downtown core recently I began to realize that things in this fine northern city are starting to change dramatically. What changes do I reference? Not the abundance of red and silver metal-sided condominiums erected in recent years, although I find the juxtaposition between the new-age condos and the crooked-cabinesque …
He calls it, “The Lenny Moment.” “I found myself frozen as music played the way I’ve never heard it before,” says Pierre Brault, a veteran Canadian playwright and actor who has performed in operas and Shakespearean and contemporary plays. He is speaking of the first time he “experienced” the music of Lenny Breau. His taste …
When I first moved to the Yukon, like many, I thought it would be temporary — a fling if you will — not a steady relationship. Sure there was a need to visit relatives and the inkling to see the real North, but I would never have guessed then that almost eight years later I …
Something terrible is happening to me. I’m not sure why, but it is, and it’s scaring me. I think it must have to do with the change of season, the end of summer, the goodbye to the midnight sun. It happens every year around this time. The mid-August to late-September funk, I guess. Call it …
Two of the world’s best women’s fast pitch teams are in Whitehorse this week to play what promises to be two highly competitive exhibition games. Team Canada and Team USA are scheduled to do battle tonight, and last night, at the Pepsi Softball Centre in Takhini in a teaser to the 2012 World Championships. High-calibre …
Play Makers: North America’s Top Female Fast Pitch Players Set to Invade Whitehorse Read More »
“It’s a boxing match for people who can’t fight but like to joke!” That is how comedian Steve Patterson describes The Debaters, the hugely successful CBC Radio comedy show now in its third season. “Think of it as a political debate that’s actually worth listening to,” says the show’s host and debate mediator. It seems …
Play Makers: CBC’s The Debaters Finds a Northern Following Read More »
Pin-striped baseball pants being worn at the slo-pitch AGM. That’s when I knew for sure that when it comes to slo-pitch, Yukoners are die-hard. No ballpark for miles but, still, ball pants being displayed proudly at the Westmark ballroom. That’s passion! With five co-ed divisions alone in Whitehorse, more than 600 league players registered, and …
Play Makers: Slo-Pitch is Serious Stuff in the North Read More »
Can one Holy Grail of a Bingo Game in Toronto be the answer to the dreams of seven women living on a reserve? Tomson Highway’s play, The Rez Sisters, asks that question as it sends seven women on a journey to seek out the Bingo Game to beat all Bingo Games. Gwaandak Theatre reads the …
Something terrible is happening to me. I’m not sure why, but it is, and it’s scaring me. I think it must have to do with the change of season, the end of summer, the goodbye to the midnight sun. It happens every year around this time. The mid-August to late-September funk, I guess. Call it …
First off, let me express sincere apologies to any cats reading this article. In no way am I meaning to disrespect to you. Walk away from the hamster cage and just pretend you never read this. I know Whitehorse has an abundance of cat lovers and with that, no doubt, a healthy dose of cat …
Late Saturday afternoon, Canada Games Centre. About 20 people of various ages, sizes and genders tumble over the boards at the Olympic-size ice oval and embark on a strange series of exercises and shooting drills. What are they up to? “It’s hockey for people who can’t skate,” says Shayne Fairman, a masters broomball player, quoting …
Play Makers: Yukon Broomballers Set to Take the World Read More »
Yukon musician Gordie Tentrees has come a long way from his first music gig. It was 2002, and the venue was Steve’s Music Store in Whitehorse. “We just wanted to have some fun,” recalls Tentrees, when speaking about his inaugural show at the tiny music shop. Steve’s Music Store has since closed; however, Tentrees’ passion …
Play Makers: Ambassador Tentrees Prepares for Northern Tour Read More »
”It’s a boxing match for people who can’t fight but like to joke!” That is how comedian Steve Patterson describes The Debaters, the hugely successful CBC Radio comedy show now in its third season. “Think of it as a political debate that’s actually worth listening to,” says the show’s host and debate mediator. It seems …
Play Makers: CBC’s The Debaters Finds a Northern Following Read More »
Eric Epstein and I are sitting in the black box — the creative centre of the Guild Theatre — the room that can become anything, which has become everything. He reflects back on his last 10 years with the Guild. As he steps out of the position, he recalls the first show he did in …
Yukoners, it seems, sure do like to blame a lot on the cold, wintery weather. Don’t get me wrong. In many cases it is fair to fill Mother Nature’s suggestion box come this time of year. I for one do not enjoy waking up to minus 40 temperatures and then, after spending 45 minutes getting …
We are in the midst of winter now. Already we have endured record snowfalls, frigid temperatures near minus 40 and, for some, the reality that our friends may have “winter plans” that we don’t quite understand. For many long-time Yukoners this is all old hat and just part of the regular slog of living in …
Sometimes when I write these articles, and I’m experiencing a little writer’s block, I start to picture life in the North through the eyes of the tourist. I like to imagine the look of confusion and dismay on their faces as they glance at a headline in one of the local newspapers about the current …
Another Christmas season is upon us and with that comes a time for each of us to give thanks for all that we have and reflect on the year that was. It is a time for Santa parades and office potlucks full of over-indulgence and sometimes regrettable, yet entertaining, moments. It is a time for …
There are two prizefighters in this ring. And they’ve been going round and round trading off the mantles of victor and victim for too many years. You have a sense that there is nothing left in their relationship but the fight. The Beauty Queen of Leenane, the award-winning play by Martin McDonagh, challenges an audience …
Wicked wits of the west spar in Irish black comedy Read More »
The following is a recap of a recent excursion to Boston. While no suntans were had, it is a trip that ranks as one of my best yet. Living in the Yukon, one doesn’t often find oneself fantasizing about a trip to the eastern United States in mid-November. Enduring an average of six months of …
After months of isolation in this frigid land north of 60, finally the much-anticipated Yukon summer is nearing. Sure, there are the obvious signs, like the longer days, kids eating ice cream and the temperatures finally warming … but that’s not how I know. In my eight years in the North, I have come up …
Katherine McCallum is sitting on the couches of the Guild Hall, the place the audience gathers before a show begins, that place of anticipation. She’s talking to me about magic. “Theatre magic. It’s why I wanted to produce in the first place. But producing happened to me. When you’re an actor in a big city, …
Artistic transitions: McCallum enters, stage left Read More »
I gave Justine Davidson, the theatre reviewer for the Whitehorse Star, a long hug at the end of The Laramie Project, the Guild Society/GALA play. Both of us were near tears. She said over my shoulder, “Does this mean it’s good when the journalists are crying?” We weren’t the only ones moved. But don’t let …
They are the strangers, the glorious strangers, who have finally arrived north from all over the world, giving the territory a jolt of excitement. Some are young adventurers who have come north to see what this Yukon is all about. Perhaps they have hitchhiked here, all their belongs crammed into one backpack. They sit atop …
Boredom can be a terrible thing. No one likes being bored. Who wakes up and says, “Today I hope I have nothing to do. Today I want my day to be empty, my schedule completely bare and my life dull”? But the fact is, it does happen from time to time. It’s how we cope …
Is the SS Klondike gone?” It’s when I find myself asking such questions that I know we are definitely earning every cent of our northern living allowance. When the ice fog is so thick you can’t even see that historic paddle wheeler and, for a moment, ponder if it may have actually vanished, you know …
It happened on the dance floor November 1, 1985. “I don’t want to spoil the story of how we met,” Brooke Johnson says of her first encounter with Pierre Elliott Trudeau, “except to say that it involved a borrowed dress and borrowed shoes that were two sizes too big, French-braided hair and toilet paper.” It …
What is it like to hear your own story told in your own words by a total stranger? Several Whitehorse residents will find out next week when Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival presents Tanya Marquardt’s work-in-progress called Fragments. The play is a pastiche of interviews Marquardt conducted with 25 local people in different locales over the …
I feel lazy. I think most of us do – at least the ones who have been following the part brave, part ridiculous winter antics that have been taking place in the territory of late. Let’s start with the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race. For those not familiar, it is the race dubbed “toughest …
With a flourishing co-ed league in place, an over-35 men’s league growing by the season and a competitive men’s league established, adding another adult soccer league in Whitehorse would seem to be an idea destined to fail. Not so. In fact the newly-formed competitive co-ed league has quickly become one of Whitehorse’s most popular. Even …
Trevor Twardocleb’s eyes light up when he recounts his own first experience at the Arctic Winter Games. It was 1980 in Fairbanks, Alaska. Twardeochleb, then a young hockey player from Faro, had managed to crack the lineup for Team Yukon. “We won the gold medal,” beams Twardochleb. “For a kid from Faro, just going to …
The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t in the playoffs, brown is once again the most popular automobile color and ambitious motorcyclists are being pelted in the face by hail. Could spring really, truly, finally have – dare I say it … sprung?! Sure the mountaintops are dusted with snow, the winter parka is at the ready …
Wash your produce. We are taught this from a very young age, but it particularly holds true up here in the North. Some of the things I’ve seen people to do in the fruits and veggies department is especially appalling. They squeeze it, they sniff it, they caress it, they poke it, and they throw …
Just in time for spring, the Guild brings us Into the Woods. Thank you. It’s a refreshing, colourful splash after a long, cold winter. This is a solid performance by a great cast. Into the Woods has a very small libretto—which makes the cast’s accomplishment even more worthy of admiration. Nearly everything is sung. They …
Guild goes ‘Into the Woods’ and gets its wish: Magic Read More »
Not everyone who enters Nakai Theatre‘s 24-hour playwriting competition is as prolific as Eva van Loon. Some writers manage to eke out nine pages or so. Others produce a respectable 28 or 30. Some miraculously manage 60 pages or more in the time allotted. In 2009, van Loon cranked out a full three-act play, called …
A few weeks ago, in a small cabin south of Whitehorse, just after 10 pm, I hugged a grown man in an emotionally charged way normally reserved only for funerals and weddings. I then danced a jig, repeatedly fist-pumped and made a sound one friend described as the noise his three-year-old son makes when he …
Dust off the Easton’s and grease up the mitts: the 2011 Yukon slo-pitch season is officially underway. Believe it or not, the inaugural game took place on a Sunday afternoon last month in one of the territory’s most northerly communities. In Dawson City, smack dab in the middle of the Yukon River. The “River Ball …
Rroy Henry was just seven years old when he first fell in love with speed skating. Today it’s his life. Literally. Up at 6 am every weekday, Henry can usually be found either at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, or in the gym. His cellphone message confirms that. “Hi, this is Troy. Sorry I missed …
Cruelty makes good comedy. There’s something fascinating and often hilarious about watching one character tear into another. And as the Song of Songs warns us, jealousy is as cruel as the grave. The Guild/Sour Bride co-production of David Mamet’s Boston Marriage brought the opening night audience to helpless laughter. I sat in the first row …
Compared to that first roundabout, the sternwheeler was far less confusing and less prone to inducing unnecessary bouts of anxiety.
Don’t expect deep truths about the human condition from the Guild Theatre’s latest offering, The Food Chain. Don’t expect a plot that’s more than paper-thin. Don’t even expect characters that are anything but stereotypes, deliberately pushed to the point of caricature by a playwright deft enough to pull it off. What you can expect, unless …
Peer Gynt tells the life story of an irresponsible young man who grows into an old man adventuring through the world. He returns home and makes an accounting of his life when faced with the prospect of death. We open on a scene with Peer’s mother, where he beguiles her with outrageous lies about his …
When siblings embark on a new life together in unfamiliar surroundings, it can often result in confusion, conflict, even betrayal. Especially if one is working hard to keep everything together and the other’s life is a mess. That’s the premise of Wake and Bake, a new play by Whitehorse playwright Dean Eyre, which is currently …
Kenneth T. Williams had never heard of his distant cousin, Lillian Dyck, until 1999, when he was asked to suggest names of suitable Saskatchewan candidates for the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement award. He first approached another cousin, a well-known writer and aboriginal historian, who told him, “No, no, no. Don’t nominate me. I …
Is Prince George nice? It’s the classic question many previous Yukon Selects rookies have asked prior to embarking on the 20-hour road trip. Along with three teammates, I have just piled into a tiny Nissan, bound for Prince George, BC. The three of us who have done the tour before and are familiar with the …
When Martin McDonagh’s play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, first emerged in 1996, the 23-year-old playwright was quickly caught up in a storm of controversy. “There were a lot of Irish who thought this was just the most offensive, stereotypical thing to come across the border since the original English invasion,” explains Clinton Walker, who …
Hazel Venzon is holed up in Porter Creek when she Skypes me. She’s been in Whitehorse since December working on her play. “Vancouver has a lot of distractions,” she says, waving her hands a bit to either side of the screen. She came up on her own dime, taking a few risks to be here. …
BY GEORGE MARATOS When Torontonian Vanessa Martin came to the Yukon in early May of this year, she never imagined that four months later she would have her own art show and be proudly displaying more than 30 original pieces. “I came here to live for the summer but I had every intention to leave …
BY GEORGE MARATOS In March 1977, a young 18-year-old from Port Coquitlam, B.C. had his right leg amputated six inches above the knee after being diagnosed with a malignant osteoscarcoma. During his chemotherapy treatments, Terry Fox experienced the harsh realities of cancer: endless vomiting, crying families, people of all ages stripped of hope, liveliness and …
BY GEORGE MARATOS Fifteen years ago, a young Yukon girl, armed with just an old broom handle, would relentlessly practise her weightlifting technique and form. A member of a weightlifting club that would train at Porter Creek Secondary School, with each push of the wooden handle the 12-year-old would envision one day lifting for her …
BY GEORGE MARATOS Jake Hanson displays a soft smile as he speaks about the Yukon side he is taking to Wasilla, Alaska next month for the Alaska State Championships. The soft-spoken Hanson is coordinating the early August soccer trip and he says the response so far from players has given him plenty of reason to …
Play Makers: Yukon Selects To Play For Alaska State Championship Read More »
BY GEORGE MARATOS Another Whitehorse men’s soccer league is underway in the capital city this summer and, for 2008, there are some noticeable changes. For one, some of the more recognizable players have decided not to lace up the cleats, with former league organizers Peter Mather and Danny MacDonald choosing to take the summer off …
Play Makers: Plenty of Changes for Whitehorse Men’s Soccer League Read More »
They have travelled from all over the world to the Yukon to participate in the 8th ISF Junior World Fast Pitch Championship. The 12 teams competing share some similarities: they all want to win and they all have been working months — even years — to reach this point. But for each country, the actual …
BY GEORGE MARATOS The pink roses fell gently from Miles Canyon Bridge and the ashes soon followed. Scattered from an empty case of 12-year-old Glenfiddich scotch, they speckled into the Yukon River and continued north through the green current. After a few seconds of quiet reflection, teary-eyed friends, family and actors raised their cups of …
Play Makers: The Untimely Demise of Volcanic Joe Read More »
BY GEORGE MARATOS It starts with a boisterous sprint down Main Street in Whitehorse and ends with an arduous paddle to the finish in Dawson City and that is just for the lucky few that manage to not withdraw. The Yukon River Quest is the longest canoe and kayak race in the world with participants …
The bike relay that begins June 21 from Haines Junction consists of more than 1,000 cyclists, 225 teams and close to 300 volunteers. For me, the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay — a race that sees competitors cycle 238 kilometres from Haines Junction to Haines, Alaska — represents everything I love about the territory: strong …
Play Makers: Kluane Chilkat: Grizzlies and Seniors and Rain (oh my!) Read More »
“My legs I guess.” That is Jeanne Lassen’s response when asked if she has any good luck charms she attributes to her on-going success in the world of weightlifting. The 27-year-old seems unperturbed as she sits back on a black folding chair in the far corner at Better Bodies Cross Training Centre, the gym she …
Alsek Music Festival, featuring some of the north’s most recognized music acts, will kick things off June 6 to 8.
BY GEORGE MARATOS Unplugging microphones, rolling cord and hauling away speakers … Steve Slade has the routine down to a tee and with good reason. The long-time Yukon musician has been involved with Arts in the Park since its inaugural season and the daily setup and takedown of equipment is just one of the many …
Play Makers: Arts in the Park Returns for Year 12 Read More »
BY GEORGE MARATOS Jonathan Torrens may be best known by Canadians for his character “J-Roc”, the foul-mouthed trailer park rapping mama’s boy he portrays on the popular television series, Trailer Park Boys. On Saturday, June 7, Torrens will be in Whitehorse busting his rhymes. This time, however, as Poet Laureate for the annual Peter Gzowski …
BY GEORGE MARATOS John Boivin‘s passion for his art is easily observed as he speaks about his latest works over lunch at a Whitehorse café. His hands flutter in excitement, his eyes widening as he shares the inspiration behind his solo exhibit, The Entire City, which opens May 2 at the Yukon Artists @ Work (YAAW) …
“Hello, my name is George … and I nod my head.” I thought I should confess that right away and get it out in the open. I think it is important to confess traits you might not be the most proud of. When I lived in Victoria, I wouldn’t dare nod my head to greet …
As cross-country skier Gary Chaplin walked through the arrival gates at Whitehorse International Airport last month, gold, silver and bronze medals hanging around his neck and bagpipes playing, it was hard to determine who was more proud: Garry himself or his older brother.
BY GEORGE MARATOS He has sung with the Whitehorse Community Choir, played the role of a southern preacher in Dark of the Moon and most recently performed as a drunken lounge singer in the Varietease burlesque show. But, now, Kyle Macdonald is ready to hone his craft at the next level. The 28-year-old is relatively …
