The 2023 edition of undercurrents takes place over two weekends starting on February 8. I recently spoke with Alain Richer, Executive Director of Ottawa Fringe and undercurrents, who revealed some insights about this contemporary annual theatre festival.
“The undercurrents festival, presented by the Ottawa Fringe, has become an important event in the Ottawa arts community,” Richer says. “It is an incubator for new and in-development works by local artists and national companies. With our very accessible pricing, it is also a wonderful opportunity for patrons to experience some of the best in contemporary theatre.”
2023’s undercurrents consists of seven shows in the Main Stage lineup and four in the Discovery series. As “entertainment for the social sphere,” the plays are short, running between 30 minutes and an hour. The festival is also affordable for most folks since tickets are priced from $5 for all shows and seats. One could attend all shows for about $55, which is unheard of in this age of inflation. This practice underscores the festival’s pluralistic identity by minimizing economic barriers.
Richer said selecting pieces for this year was a balancing act, as providing the audience with various subjects and themes is critical. They wanted to ensure that the plays would deliver contrasts rather than similarities.
To provide even more opportunities for theatre-goers to connect and be social, the festival also offers non-theatre and ancillary programming, such as a trivia night. While the focus of undercurrents might be to transport audiences outside the borders of their everyday experience through the plays, these other activities provide essential chances for mingling and thought-sharing.
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While there has already been significant coverage regarding the bilingual aspect of this year’s festival, Richer explained why he considers bilingualism imperative and what led him to this point of view. Ça Rime Avec Vinaigre and Léna are French plays with English captions, so the performances can be understood by festival-goers who are not proficient in French. For future versions of undercurrents, the goal is for more plays to have second-language captioning, thereby increasing linguistic accessibility.
This vision stems from Richer’s francophone background and his definition of bilingualism. He considers Ottawa to be a bilingual city and felt that if both languages could be represented in the texts and performances of a bilingual festival, this would enrich the vocabulary of undercurrents.
Richer says Arts Court is the perfect venue for undercurrents because it provides spaces at minimal cost thanks to support from the City of Ottawa. Artists can create a vibrant community there, and what better place to host undercurrents than a location that empowers independent art in all its forms? And speaking of independent art, the festival’s under development program sees theatre professionals mentoring actors and playwrights who have a tremendous opportunity to transition their ideas from page to stage in the spaces of Arts Court.
Arts Court, undercurrents, and Fringe allow us to observe the experimental and the indie in a place that represents equity and inclusion. The 11 featured performances in this year’s undercurrents also raise awareness about intersectionality by projecting Ottawa as a city of diverse histories and perspectives.
The undercurrents festival runs from February 8–18 at Arts Court. To learn more and purchase tickets to these must-see performances, visit undercurrentsfestival.ca.
