A theatre festival that celebrates the city as well as its artists

by Ghazal Baradari-Ghiami

Our closing show, Lessons in Temperament, will see the return of James L. Smith—a Belleville native and Queen’s University grad—to Kingston for two performances on August 13. After a completely sold-out run at Toronto’s 2016 SummerWorks Festival, Lessons took home the 2016 Prize for Production and is currently running in New York at Soulpepper’s Spotlight Series.

During this intimate performance, Smith tunes a piano in a Kingston living room while reflecting on his each of his older brothers’ mental illnesses: obsessive compulsive disorder, autism, and schizophrenia. As he balances the delicate temperament of his instrument, Smith’s part-memoir, part-performance offers audiences a glimpse into the lives of those living with distempered minds.

The New York Lessons director and Artistic Director of Outside the March, Mitchell Cushman says, “Watching James’s story take audiences to such vivid, unexpected places, within the evocative power of an intimate found space, epitomizes for me the exciting power of immersive theatre.”

The Kick & Push line-up features acclaimed theatre companies (kicking &) pushing the boundaries of what theatre could be. Fostering innovative and thought-provoking live entertainment, the festival is definitely a Kingston must-see this summer!