What was supposed to be a one-time spirit-raising fundraiser in support of regional cancer care is returning for the fourth year, and this time it’s throwing a bigger punch than ever before.
Branded as an “uplifting evening of song, story, and solidarity,” Cancer Takedown is returning for two dates this year to gather more people and raise more proceeds for cancer care at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC). The two shows will be staged at Flato Academy Theatre in Lindsay on Tuesday, November 4 and Market Hall Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday, November 5.
“We took the lead from the community response,” says Cancer Takedown co-founder Amy Kemp. “People are reacting well to the event itself and the ambition of talking about mental health as it relates to cancer, and it feels like there’s a need for it, so the next natural step for us was to bring it to more people and more communities.”
Amy founded Cancer Takedown in 2022 alongside her husband Rick Kemp, who has his own firsthand experience with the disease. Rick was treated at PRHC following two cancer diagnoses — metastatic kidney cancer and, later, CNS lymphoma — and, after years of treatment including a stem cell transplant, he felt inspired to find a way to give back to the community.
Cancer Takedown was created with the goal of bringing to light the mental and emotional burden that comes with cancer.
“In our personal experience, it was a bit of a surprise,” Amy says of that burden. “You realize that this is happening and it’s going to take its toll mentally, but I don’t think we realized the extent to which that happened.”
“There’s a lot of positivity around cancer and a lot of ‘you can do it’ and battle cries and rally cries, and that’s all very important. But there’s also such a roller coaster of emotions and a really dark side to that journey. In our experience, when we’ve shared that with people and when people have felt comfortable enough to talk about it, it’s very healing and it’s necessary.”
The goal of Cancer Takedown, Amy says, is to create more inviting and comfortable places for people to talk about these burdens more “openly and freely.”
“It’s healing for the people who it affects directly and it’s helpful for the people that are indirectly affected, like friends and family members,” she says. “It helps you realize this is the human side of cancer.”
Both shows will see the return of music from the likes of local musicians Melissa Payne, Kate Suhr, The Weber Brothers, Nicholas Campbell, Anthony Bastianon, and more.
Though all past shows have been co-hosted by Megan Murphy and Linda Kash, prior obligations have left Kash unavailable to lend her talents this year. Fortunately, another comedic powerhouse, Denise Oucharek, who previously performed for the fundraiser, will step into her velour tracksuit to host alongside Murphy.
On both evenings, three women who all heard the words “you have cancer” before the age of 40 will be sharing their stories and speaking to the mental and emotional challenges they faced and overcame.
“Cancer is becoming more and more prevalent among younger people,” says Amy. “These women have all been diagnosed at a relatively young age. It came as a complete shock, and they all have careers and young kids. Navigating that is overwhelming to say the least. We thought we would share stories from that angle this year.”
Audiences at the Lindsay show will also hear from special guest and breast cancer survivor Jeanne Beker, a Toronto-based trailblazing journalist, media personality, writer, and fashion icon. Also harbouring a soft spot for Lindsay since she got her golden doodle Hamish from Lakewood Ranch, Beker has always been vocal and used her platform to normalize conversations around cancer.
“The most precious gift that we can give one another are our own personal stories,” she said in a 2022 interview with Etalk about her 2022 diagnosis and subsequent decision to make public her journey.
While the goal of Cancer Takedown is to explore stories of cancer and to highlight the mental burden that goes along with it, as a “spirit raiser” there will still be lots of lighthearted moments of joy and laughter.
“Because the contents can be so heavy obviously, we thought ‘How do we bring some lightness to this and make it fun and funny and set a tone for Cancer Takedown?’,” Amy recalls of the inaugural show.
“How do you fuel spirits? We do it through music, which is incredibly powerful and healing; we do it through storytelling, which is the same; and we do it through the comradery in the room. For that to happen, the right tone has to be set. It was intentionally meant to take a humorous and lighthearted approach and meet it with the realistic roller coaster that is cancer and hopefully that resonates with people. So far it has.”
Amy says it’s “shocking” that so many audience members have come up to them to thank them for organizing Cancer Takedown over the years.
“We’ve had some strong positive reaction from absolute strangers,” says Amy. “Cancer is so prevalent that there are so many other people going through this mental and emotional battle with cancer and the more we can bring attention to it, the more helpful it will be for a wider group of people.”
VIDEO: Cancer Takedown 2023
When they launched the inaugural event in 2022, the Kemps couldn’t have imagined it would have touched as many people as it has or that it would turn into what it has, now expanding into two shows in two communities and still garnering the same interest from musicians, storytellers, and audiences.
“It’s really the community around us that has kept it going,” says Amy. “It’s become an important part of our own healing and coping and processing. The fact that the community’s involved and we can rally people at the same time is awesome. It’s huge.”
Tickets for the Lindsay show are $42 including fees and can be purchased at www.flatoacademytheatre.com. For the Peterborough show, tickets are $44 including fees ($54 including fees for cabaret table seating) and can purchased at www.markethall.org.
