The Upstage Interview: Johanna Nutter on My Pregnant Brother (Zoofest)

I can quite clearly say that it’s not for me to answer trans-gender questions...I can tell you what it’s like to be the sister of a trans-gendered person.

Upstage Host Eric Sukhu spoke with Playwright/Performer Johanna Nutter about My Pregnant Brother presented as part of Zoofest.

UPSTAGE:   There’s likely many people who haven’t seen it yet. Tell us about it.

NUTTER:  It played in English at Centaur, and at La Licorne in French. Often I had to explain to people - I know it sounds like a stand up show but it’s not. Now I have to do the opposite because it’s in the Just For Laughs Festival and Zoofest.

My Pregnant Brother might sound like a Howie Mandel routine. But it’s not. It’s a true story about me and my family. My brother is trans-gendered. He used to be my sister. In 2006 he stopped taking his hormone injections and during that time he got pregnant. He decided to keep the baby and was hoping that I would join him and the three of us would become a family together.

Review: Scottish Sperm (Zoofest)

What's In a Name?

Zoofest features good ol' Scots spunk!

by Chris Lane

Scottish Sperm isn’t actually about Scots. Well, maybe one of them. I’m not quite sure. There were a lot of things in this play that I didn’t quite get a handle on. That being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed this sharp and amiable little work.

The play is written by New York’s Jacqueline McLaren and was originally performed for last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Its three characters are Robert, a writer who’s given up writing; Emma, a teacher with a fondness for alcohol and a total inability to make so much as a sandwich; and Sarah, a saucy blonde photographer who has no furniture in her apartment across the hall. Sarah’s roommate Amy, and her not-boyfriend Elliott, somehow manage to be significant characters as well, both in the play itself and in Robert’s writing. Robert says early on in one of his monologues that he likes to tell stories that may or may not be true, which sets the stage for a very non-linear play that occasionally contradicts itself. He writes about the people in his life, and the play blurs the lines between what he is writing about the characters and what they actually do.

Review: Phone Whore (Zoofest)

Story Mistress

Cameryn Moore doesn't phone it in

by Rebecca Ugolini

Sit in on the graveyard shift of the phone sex operator beat in Cameryn Moore’s Phone Whore, a one-woman show that has “Larissa” sitting at home in her pyjamas, taking calls, getting sexy, and talking shop. 

Although “Larissa” is a pseudonym, Moore’s own experiences as a phone sex operator inspire the script, contributing to Phone Whore’s earnest and unquestionably real quality. It’s clear why Moore’s clients, as she testified in the Q&A session which followed opening night, keep coming back: Moore is a masterful storyteller, and she transforms seemingly effortlessly from one persona to another as she takes each new call.

Review: About Freakin' Time (Zoofest)

The Adorable Unknown

It jumps from topic to topic, from trash talking two-year-olds to the pros and cons of lesbian relationships...

by Valerie Cardinal

DeAnne Smith had me charmed when she climbed onstage at Underworld with an old-fashioned alarm clock around her neck, and completely won me over when she pulled out a ukulele. I love my comedy neurotic, energetic and slightly self-deprecating, and Smith’s About Freakin’ Time delivered just that. She finds just the right balance between a comedian’s ego and insecurity, managing to relate to the audience all while twisting the familiar into something unexpected. Smith is already a pretty well-known local performer, having been listed as best comedian #3 on the Mirror’s Best of Montreal list this year, but I had never heard of her before. I left this show wondering how in the world I hadn’t.

Review: Basic Training (Zoofest)

One Man’s Show of Many Talents

Beyond the mesmerizing technical aspects of Ashanti’s performance, the content of “Basic Training” itself is far from ordinary.

by Émilie Charlebois

The only thing basic about Kahlil Ashanti’s “Basic Training” is the actor’s costume. The black workout outfit he wears throughout his performance truly serves as a canvas for the spectrum of personalities that cross the stage in it.  This may have been a one man show, but this wizard of a performer effortlessly slips in and out of no less than 14 characters, without ever skipping a beat or running out of breath…even when he is literally running on stage and simulating drill training exercises. 

The Upstage Interview: Kahlil Ashanti

Photo credit Peter Prior artvisage.co.UK 

Basic Training is a story about family; about my relationship with my mother.

Upstage Host Eric Sukhu spoke with writer/performer Kahlil Ashanti about  Basic Training, presented as part of Zoofest. Below is an abridged version of the interview, edited by Estelle Rosen, CharPo Editor-in-Chief.

UPSTAGE

Is this the first time you’re presenting Basic Training?

ASHANTI

First time at Zoofest but not the first time in Montreal. Sold out performance at Centaur in 2004; also set ticket sales record in 2004 Fringe Festival. Good to be coming back to Montreal.

UPSTAGE

Has it changed much since then?

ASHANTI

Yes. We’ve played Broadway and have continued to refine it. The show you’re getting is the best version.