Opening night at Ottawa’s Fresh Meat theatre festival set an exciting tone for the remaining three days, playing host to six world premieres which look to challenge the confines of traditional theatre.
Running from Oct. 15 through Oct. 18, Fresh Meat is a place for artists of all backgrounds to experiment with something new. It’s a formula that has filled seats at Ottawa’s Arts Court for years as this year marks Fresh Meat’s 14th annual iteration. Here performers are encouraged to take their most innovative ideas to the stage, where the festival brings them to life with professional lighting and effects. For fresh performances, Fresh Meat is a welcoming starting point and possibly even a launch pad beyond the festival.
A launch pad is just what Quest, the first show of the night, is looking for. Created by Ian McMullen and Sarah McKay, two local stage actors who said they hoped to bring the rarely staged fantasy genre to the theatre.
“It’s a festival like this that invites you to experiment,” McMullen said. “It’s a very friendly audience, so take the risks and if something doesn’t really work out, people are still going to appreciate what you do and that’s the sort of space that invites this style of work.”
With just McKay and McMullen on stage alongside a handful of props and some well-planned effects, Quest masterfully piques the audience’s imagination to transport them through a fantasy-inspired world.
“It’s great to have space to play and create without the traditional format being an expectation,” McKay said. “The idea is that you’re pushing boundaries, that you’re trying something different, that you’re taking a risk.”
The two are aiming to make Quest the inaugural show for a new local theatre company called Owlbear Productions, which focuses on telling fantasy stories in the theatre.
“If you choose to come with us on this journey, you can expect to feel like your 10-year-old self,” McMullen said. “And that was always my goal for this show.
“I wanted to make a show that 10-year-old Ian would love.”
Four more premieres landed on this year’s Fresh Meat lineup. Long Journey of Healing is a touching experience by singer/songwriter Vivian Sollows, who tells stories through her music while living with severe vision loss. Next is DANCE. DANCE. REVITALIZE, a show where a mysterious dance arcade machine transports protagonist Melody back in time, where she would have to make a critical choice. Pandora’s Briefcase is a bizarre and fervently funny commentary on modern work culture. Finally, Are You There Rod? It’s Me, Bigfoot is a unique riot of puppeteering and topical humour.
But in line with Fresh Meat’s mandate of expanding beyond the traditional rules of theatre, not every show took place on stage. In the hallway just outside the theatre, attendees could experience Corinne Viau’s immersive installation called Chimera, which lets you physically step inside the mind of Rowan, a young person suffering from depression.
“This piece is very close to my heart so it’s an interesting experience to really bleed my heart in this installation and let people bleed on paper and put it on the wall,” Viau said. “My goal with this piece was to make an immersive piece of theatre that is focused on ambient horror.”
Viau said Fresh Meat gave them an opportunity to experiment with an atmospheric installation like Chimera, which is a shift from their usual stage-based work.
“Maybe I would have come to it eventually, but Fresh Meat really gave me the opportunity to blossom and to explore that medium with a lot of freedom,” Viau said. ”And I’m really, really grateful for that.”