SASKATOON — In celebration of Pride Month, Persephone Theatre is expanding its Queermunity Theatre Festival celebrations.
“We're excited to kick off the fourth year of Queermunity at Persephone,” said Olivia Swerhone-Wick, marketing associate and co-organizer of the event.
“We look forward to creating a space for artists in our community to come together, feel joy, celebrate themselves, their identity and being visible. Here are our voices, listen.”
Queermunity has become an annual staple at Persephone Theatre, since the founding of the 48 Hour Queermunity Theatre Race in 2022, an event open to all in the Saskatoon Queer community (2SLGBTQIA+ and their allies). This year, Persephone Theatre is expanding the event into the Queermunity Festival and adding a second event to the roster – a play reading of Hurricane Diane by Madeleine George on May 31 at 7 p.m.
“I’m excited to add a play workshop for local artists to explore the complexity and nuance of plays from the queer theatre canon to our Queermunity event. I first read Hurricane Diane a few years ago and loved it - it is an incredibly exciting and provocative play about climate change, told with outrageous queer humour, that asks deep questions about how we intend to live with the choices we make as humans,” said Artistic Director Heather Cant. “I am really looking forward to sharing this play with an audience with hopes of sparking some deep discussion in our community.”
The reading of Hurricane Diane will be followed the following weekend by the fourth annual 48-hour Queermunity Theatre Race, June 5-7, 2025.
Participants for the 48 Hours Theatre Race assembled their own teams, and will receive an inspiration package before being given just 48 hours to create a 10-minute performance they will perform in front of a live audience. This year’s teams, featuring both new and returning participants, are: Theatre – I Hardly Know Her, Typical Tokens With Nothing of Note, The Chokecherries, and Shenanigays.
This year, as the MC and host of the 48-Hour Queermunity Theatre Race, Persephone welcomes local actor and singer, Kristel Harder.
“Having a local talent like Kristel host Queermunity is exciting! Many theatre patrons will know Kristel from various productions around the city and will know what an incredible talent she is,” said Kristi Friday, Artistic Associate and co-organizer of the event.
“Kristel will bring humour, heart, and charm through her music, and we're over the moon about showcasing her as part of this year’s Queermunity events,” Swerhone-Wick added.
On June 5, teams will meet to receive inspiration packages, which will contain three to five items they need to incorporate into their play. In 48 hours, they will then need to write and rehearse a 10-minute performance.
“Writing and performing a brand-new performance piece in just 48 hours helps to spur the teams into action - the adrenaline kicks in and the ideas start flowing,” said Friday. “It's really cool to watch a team find its own way of collaborating with one another. And fun is definitely had - one team last year had a sleepover and pulled an all-nighter while creating!”
The public can join in on the fun to watch he performances on June 7 at 7:30 p.m. – where the audience can experience the product of their participants’ hard work and join in the celebration of Pride Month.
Tickets to the performances are $20 in advance, with Pay What You Choose available at the door. All proceeds from tickets sales are donated to support Saskatoon Pride Home.
Pride is a celebration of the 2SLGBTQIA+ members of Saskatoon’s community. Pride is also a protest, which ensures the fight for equal rights and visibility for all genders and sexualities continues. Social stigma still impacts the lives of trans and queer people around the world and Persephone believes celebrating Pride is one way we can all work towards eradicating the stigma.
More information can be found about the 48-hour Queermunity Theatre Race at https://persephonetheatre.org/shows/play/queermunity-2025/ and about Hurricane Diane at https://persephonetheatre.org/shows/play/hurricane-diane/
