Theatre artists Duval Lang, Tyrell Crews, Andy Curtis and Christopher Hunt came together over a year ago with a project in mind. They wanted to put on Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. It is something that has been brewing for a while and the four artists decided it was time to make this idea a reality.
Black Radish Theatre was born. A name that actually came from the play. “I just kept harking back to one particular section, where they were talking about vegetables and they had a black radish,” Lang says. “It represents an ever changing world,” Crews adds.
They did a launch in May of last year and now are putting on Beckett’s classic at the Grand theatre. The group was lucky to secure the venue to put on their first production. “We got connected through Dave Kelly,” Lang said, “and the timing was just serendipitous.”
The new company is digging deep into Beckett’s work and has found tremendous support. “It has snowballed. The support for us and the project has left me speechless,” Crews says.
“I think there was a need for classics, with a contemporary sensibility,” Crews says about the decision to create the company. “The Chekhovs the Shaw’s haven’t been explored in the city in a long time.”
Black Radish Theatre’s inaugural production Waiting for Godot runs at the Grand Theatre until May 12th. More information is available online and the Calgary Herald review can be found here.
Photo Credit: Hugh Short