Multidisciplinary artist Charlie Petch is coming home to Peterborough to perform their new one-person play No One’s Special at the Hot Dog Cart for one night only at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24th, as the final presentation of Public Energy Performing Arts’ 2023-24 season.
The play, which premiered in a sold-out run at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille in March in a co-production with Erroneous Productions the Toronto Star called “a compassionate, moving piece of theatre,” draws on true stories from Petch’s past as a 911 operator, hospital bed allocater, emergency room clerk, street worker, and — as the play’s title implies — a hot dog vendor.
“Everything I needed to know about emergency health care, I learned as a teenage hot dog vendor in downtown Toronto,” Petch says in a line from the play.
Through spoken word and musical storytelling, Petch shares tales of survival and kindness as a witness to life on the street, as well as the de-escalation techniques Petch has honed over the years.
“I think there would be much less fear if people knew how to stay safe when interacting with people who are having trouble with their emotions,” says Petch in a media release. “In reality, we also need to learn how to de-escalate ourselves.”
Inspired by Toronto street culture in the 1990s and the aforementioned de-escalation practices, Petch began writing No One’s Special at the Hot Dog Cart during the pandemic as an exploration of the negative perceptions around homelessness and mental health. As the pandemic continued and social and economic divides widened even more, that exploration became increasingly topical and urgent for the artist.
VIDEO: “No One’s Special At The Hot Dog Cart” trailer – Charlie Petch
“I am hoping that giving audiences tools and knowledge about emergency response procedures will help them interact with others better, and that will empower them to resist a system that tells us homeless people deserve police abuse, that street culture is heartless and not a community, and that poverty is a crime,” Petch explains.
No One’s Special at the Hot Dog Cart is directed by Autumn Smith — who will also be directing the world premiere of Alison Lawrence’s Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes at 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook in July — with dramturgy by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, stage management by Flavia Martin, set design by Joel Richardson, and lighting design by Joel Richardson. Fully ASL interpreted, the show features Deaf performer Jaideep Goray from Phoenix The Fire.
Sold on a sliding pay-what-you-can scale from $5 to $50, tickets are available in person at the Market Hall box office (140 Charlotte St, Peterborough), by phone at 705-775-1503, or online at markethall.org.
In addition to performing the play, Petch — a certified instructor in non-violent crisis intervention — will be hosting a workshop on de-escalation techniques from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 27th at The Theatre On King. Sold on a sliding pay-what-you-can scale from $5 to $20, tickets are available at eventbrite.ca/e/873425006707 or by contacting Public Energy at admin@publicenergy.ca or 705-745-1788.
A self-described disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist, Petch was born in Peterborough. Their family moved to Toronto when Petch was only six, but Petch returned in 1992 at the age of 19 to attend Trent University’s cultural studies program, mainly because Trent was described as the “bisexual university.”
However, Petch soon dropped out to pursue a career in the arts, initially working at the Union Theatre — Peterborough’s former experimental theatre venue — where Petch won a play-writing contest with Napalm Queen, described as an early precursor to No One’s Special at the Hot Dog Cart. Petch also performed as a stripper in Janet Fiendel’s A Particular Class of Women, a role described as being well-suited to the bawdy side of their nature.
During this time, Petch was also learning the technical side of theatre, becoming the house technician at the Gordon Best Theatre when it first opened before landing a paid lighting gig at the Market Hall.
Also a musician, Petch performed in several bands, most notably Wine With Everything and the Silver Hearts, with the latter showcasing their unique talents on the musical saw.
While Petch left Peterborough again in 1996 to pursue an artistic career in Toronto, they have frequently returned to Peterborough to perform plays and poetry, including as a featured performer at the 2017 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.
Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Golden Beret lifetime achievement in spoken word with The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it’s a Queer Slam.
Their debut poetry collection Why I Was Late (Brick Books) was named “Best of 2021” by The Walrus and won the 2022 ReLit Award. Petch was also long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021.
A touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator, Petch’s film with Opera QTO, Medusa’s Children, premièred in 2022. Petch is the current writer in residence for Berton House.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a long-time media sponsor of Public Energy Performing Arts.
