Guest festival blogger Mike Hudema shares his thoughts (and Haikus!) on Action Hero‘s A Western at Workshop West‘s 2013 Canoe Theatre Festival.
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A Western Haiku:
This is the old west
Imagination ketchup
The blood on your hands
Walking into New City one hardly knows what to expect from two theatre artists from England and their play known simply as ‘A Western.’ The audience sits scattered throughout the dankly lit bar. On the stage sits a table and a bottle of ketchup. Next to the bar sits a small mountain bike. And with that the play begins.
The play is composed of a series of well-crafted vignettes. Each one taking the audience through the stereotyped scenes that comprise almost every western ever made. The audience is not immune to this romp but instead is an integral part of it. The play is shaped by their reaction and participation and by the end all shall have blood on their hands.
On a scale of one to John Wayne, A Western is a big YEEEEEEEEEEE-HAWWWW!
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About Mike:
Mike Hudema is a long time member of the Canadian progressive scene. He was part of a motley band of activists that took to the streets of Quebec City for the FTAA protests, slept on the steps of the legislature to protest rising tuition rates when he was President of the University of Alberta Students’ Union, and occupied Anne McLellan’s office to defeat Canada’s anti-terrorism legislation. In his spare time he used to co-host CJSR’s alternative news program Rise Up: Radio Free Edmonton and co-wrote books like the recently published “An Action a Day Keeps Global Capitalism Away”.
Mike worked in San Francisco for 3 years for the Peace and Human Right organization Global Exchange on a corporate campaign with the Ruckus Society and the Rainforest Action Network targeting the auto industry. He currently works for Greenpeace as the Climate and Energy Campaigner focusing on stopping the tar sands, the largest industrial project on the face of the planet and bringing about a green job future. He is also a climb trainer with the Ruckus Society.