There will be plenty to celebrate when the women of Girls Nite Out return to the stage at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough on Friday, January 16. Not only will the comedy troupe be kicking off their 20th anniversary year, but they will also be marking a milestone birthday for special guest performer Linda Kash.

Featuring an all-star lineup of Elvira Kurt, Jennine Profeta, Diana Frances, Karen Parker, and musical accompanist Jordan Armstrong, Girls Nite Out is an all-female comedy ensemble that was originally conceived by Profeta — a Second City alumna and Bobcaygeon resident — and Sarah Quick, artistic director of Bobcaygeon’s Globus Theatre, where the show was first performed during the professional theatre company’s second season.

Since then, Girls Nite Out has toured across Canada — including regular annual performances at Globus Theatre — with a revolving cast of Canadian Comedy Award Winners and CBC comedy regulars, including Profeta and most recently Kurt, Frances, and Parker.

Profeta found that, early in her career, she would frequently be asked if women could be funny — despite a long tradition of acclaimed female comedians beginning with the likes of Ethel Merman, Lucille Ball, Carol Channing, Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, and Carol Burnett.

“We don’t have to answer that question anymore, but (Girls Nite Out) is what happens when you have a room full of mostly women and you take away the element of the guys — because comedy is historically very patriarchal,” says Profeta.

“It’s different, but I think what we’ve discovered is just more loving and there’s more heart to it when we remove that element of making it very male-centric. The guys are welcome to come, but they have to join us on our ride rather than us hitching on to theirs.”

Over 20 years of doing Girls Nite Out, the women have toured across Canada to much acclaim. Though the show has taken on various formats over the years, it now follows a structure with Kurt doing a stand-up routine to warm up the crowd before she is joined by the other women for various improv games. In the second half, Kurt hosts a “talk show” inviting audience members to share their stories.

“I think we very quickly learned that people love the improv, and they love when they can see themselves on stage,” Profeta says. “That’s something we definitely gravitated towards and have shone more of a spotlight on.”

With the whimsical and spontaneous audience participation, no two shows have been the same over the past two decades. This, Profeta says, is one of the reasons for the show’s longevity and why audiences return again and again.

“The people that come out and the stories they share — they’re the ones that make it interesting and dynamic every time,” Profeta says. “We just love our audience. We love the women that tend to come out to this thing. A lot of times we get people that we wouldn’t expect to be so open and sharing, but I guess a glass of wine will do that for you.”

Though the women of Girls Nite Out have acted out improvised versions of humorous audience anecdotes, they have also heard intimate stories of grief and illness from audience members.

“I think for a lot of people that come and join us on stage, there is a bit of a therapeutic element,” Profeta explains. “We’ve had a lot of women on stage that have been recently widowed, and it’s their first time out of the house and they just want to talk.”

While the goal is to find humour and make people laugh, Profeta notes Kurt always takes “such good care of people” when they join the comedians on stage.

“It’s really wonderful to be sitting on the other side of the stage and just watching her sit with people and having a moment, acknowledging them and what they’re going through, and still finding the funny in a way that is not offensive or alarming. It’s just very healing — it’s very healing for all of us.”

Though Profeta knows some audience members may be anxious about being “picked on” during a stand-up comedy show, there’s nothing to fear when it comes to Girls Nite Out.

“We poke fun, but it’s not about making fun of anybody or making somebody look bad,” Profeta says. “When people come to the show, they want the spotlight on them and they know we’re going to take good care of them.”

“It’s great to have that element of fear just removed from the equation. Our comedy can be something very different. It’s not about being mean — it’s being positive and celebratory as opposed to taking people down.”

For their official 20th anniversary celebration, Girls Nite Out will be returning once again to Bobcaygeon to kick off Globus Theatre’s 2026 professional theatre season on Friday, May 8. While details are still being finalized, Profeta says there are some very special surprises in the works for that show.

“I’ve always wanted to extend an invite to anybody who’s ever performed under the Girls Nite Out banner to come and join us, so we’re putting the word out,” she says. “We’re not sure how many or who (will respond), because a lot of our performers have gone on to work in Los Angeles or abroad.”

Among others, past performers include comedian, actress, and musician Lauren Ash, who is best known for the role of Dina Fox in Superstore, Ashley Botting, who writes for This Hour has 22 Minutes, and Kristeen Von Hagen, who is a comedy writer with credentials including writing for Michael Bublé at the Juno Awards.

Profeta adds that her own husband Dave Pearce — a comedian, writer, and improv artist known for co-founding Slap Happy Improv and writing for CBC and who is a regular performer at Globus Theatre — likes to point out that he was also a Girls Nite Out performer, when he stepped in for a scheduled female comedian when she was unable to go onstage at the last minute.

Well in advance of the spring show at Globus Theatre, Girls Nite Out will present “Winter Extravaganza!” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 16 at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough.

Along with being the first show of their 20th anniversary year, “Winter Extravaganza!” will also mark the January 17 milestone birthday of acclaimed Peterborough actor, director, comedian, and improv educator Linda Kash, who has been a regular Girls Nite Out special guest over the years.

“We love Linda, and we know Peterborough loves Linda,” Profeta says. “She’s such a great performer and teacher and she gives so much to the community that we wanted to have an opportunity to celebrate her on stage as well.”

“She’s just such a great person and she’s such a great community builder, so she just fits in really well with all of us and it just makes it so much more fun and more special to have her here.”

Tickets for the January 16th Girls Nite Out comedy show at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre are on sale for $39 ($29 for seniors and $24 for students) and can be purchased online at www.markethall.org.

VIDEO: Girls Nite Out 2025/26 Promo

“Artistic expression in the service of truth that can be so magical and so impactful.”

That’s how Eryn Lidster of the ReFrame Film Festival describes documentary film, adding that viewing documentaries is a “powerful experience” everyone should have.

“I think its power comes from exploring the fuzzy line between creativity and reality,” Lidster says. “When engaging with documentaries, you are creating space for an experience to change your life.”

As ReFrame’s creative director, Lidster played an important role — alongside the festival’s volunteer programming advisory committee — in curating the lineup of more than 40 international documentaries that will be screened when the festival returns to downtown Nogojiwanong/Peterborough from January 30 to February 1, with in-person screenings at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre and Showplace Performance Centre, and virtually across Canada from February 3 to 8.

“The programming advisory committee is meant to be a reflection of the ReFrame community, so nothing is off the table when it comes to their reactions to the films, and everyone is coming to the conversations from a different perspective, with different interests and experience,” says Lidster.

“Of course, we talk about things like the filmmaking and whether the content is informative, but I think the most important thing we consider is how the films make us feel. I think that is the best indicator of the impact a film can have for our community and impact is always the goal.”

Lidster says the benefit of having a dedicated programming advisory committee means there is always someone to offer support because the films “can be so emotionally overwhelming.” Focused on social and environmental justice, each film can confront inequalities, spotlight harsh realities, and celebrate resilience.

“Just like during the festival, community is so important to maintaining our capacity to take action,” Lidster says. “The committee is like a mini ReFrame in a lot of ways. We bring different ideas and opinions to our conversations around the films — sometimes we disagree, we try to take on a new perspective, and we learn a lot.”

According to Lidster, the support that committee members show for one another is important when choosing films for the festival, because “When we feel held by a community, we often make the braver choice.”

Along with selecting the lineup, the committee also helps audiences find the films they might be interested in by dividing the lineup into collections based on subject matter or style. Lidster says the titles for these collections emerge as the committee notes the connections and themes of the films.

“There are some themes and subjects that will always be core to ReFrame as a social and environmental justice festival — like art and climate change — but they take on a slightly different flavour every season,” Lidster explains. “Finding the words to articulate those particular connections is one of my favourite parts of the programming process.”

The first collection, called “A Thousand Words,” explores the ways in which text and image connect us, divide us, and shape how we see the world. It includes films like The Librarians, which spotlights the unlikely defenders who fight for intellectual freedom sparked by book banning in Texas, and The Longer You Bleed, a film exploring how war becomes spectacle in the age of endless scrolling through the eyes of displaced Ukrainians in Berlin.

VIDEO: “Woolly” trailer

The “Art Beat” collection highlights growth and resistance powered by art. This theme is explored across social justice issues like aging in Silver Screamers, which follows a group of seniors who defy stereotypes by creating a horror film, and human rights, as seen in Queer as Punk, a film about a trans man and his punk band who plays gigs and protest on the street of Malaysia where being LGBT is criminalized.

“Flora & Fauna” dives into stories about relationships developed with fellow living beings, like Woolly, a film about life on a Norwegian sheep farm as it’s passed on to the next generation, and Yanuni, which tells the story of an Indigenous leader who confronts the personal cost of resistance during a fight to save the Amazon.

The collection “Sharp Angles” is made up of films whose documentary craft invites a new perspective on people, events, and experiences. Each to Their Own World offers intimate insight into the lives of deaf people who were raised with spoken English, while Wind’s Heritage follows 68-year-old Mohammad Wali Gandami, the last living craftsman who knows the techniques of building and repairing Iran’s ancient windmills.

“Windows In” features human stories that peek into intimate communities to share expanded viewpoints. Included in the collection are Agatha’s Almanac, about a 90-year-old woman who defies modernity by maintaining a solitary existence on an ancestral farm where she cultivates heirloom seeds, and Night Watches Us, an exploration of the tragic death of 23-year-old Nicholas Gibbs, a Black Montreal man who fell victim to police brutality.

Lastly, the “Women Everywhere” collection is a series of films showcasing women speaking out, sharing their stories, and standing up for their rights, freedoms, and each other. The collection includes Zurawski V Texas, about a group of women who band together to sue the state of Texas after being denied abortions, and Writing Hawa, about three generations of Hazara women from an Afghanistan family who aspire to emancipate themselves from patriarchal traditions.

“By the time we have narrowed down the program from the hundreds of films we consider every year, I truly love all the films in the lineup for different reasons,” says Lidster, noting it’s one of their “favourite things” to recommend a film based on a person’s interests.

VIDEO: “Silver Screamers” trailer

“If you care deeply about bodily autonomy, don’t miss Zurawski V Texas,” Lidster says. “If you’re into the mood for something light-hearted, you’ve got to see Silver Screamers.”

For those who have “stood on the picket line,” Lidster recommends a documentary made by Ottawa-based historian and filmmaker Lauren Stoyles, who grew up in Peterborough.

A short film about the 80 women of Fleck Manufacturing in Huron Park in southwestern Ontario who walked off the job in 1978 to fight for better wages, safer working conditions, and unions security, They Called It the Butcher Shop: The Fleck Strike in Images is one of several films made by local filmmakers.

These local films complement the national and international films screening at the festival that also share stories and experiences of resilience.

“Aside from the vitality for the arts community, that connection between local, national, and international filmmaking communities provides education, collaboration, and inspiration,” says Lidster. “I think it is also vitally important that we stay connected with communities featured in these international films, especially those experiencing violence.”

Lidster points out that, by bringing together documentaries from around the world on common themes, ReFrame reflects the interest in environmental and social justice that people share no matter where they live.

VIDEO: “The Longer you Bleed” trailer

“Within the context of the climate crisis, these folks are our neighbours too, they are affected by our action and inaction,” Lidster explains. “Add to this the direct connections to people here, our physical neighbours, through personal experiences, family and friends, shared history and culture, and the similarities in fights for justice happening everywhere — these stories are not as far away as they may seem.”

Whether you’re watching a local film or one made on the other side of the world, whether you’re watching stories about human rights or climate justice, or whether you’re attending a film in person or watching it from your own home, Lidster hopes you feel “empowered” after every screening.

“Whether it’s feeling enraged or inspired or just that you are not alone, I hope the festival gives us all what we need to face the challenges that come our way,” Lidster reflects. “I hope we all take action, small or large, throughout the year until we are back together again.”

VIDEO: “Yanuni” trailer

There are four festival pass options currently on sale, including a $145 hybrid pass that allows access to all in-person and online film screenings, a $120 all-access in-person pass, a $75 watch-with-a-friend virtual pass, and a $60 single virtual pass. The hybrid and in-person passes also provide access to all ancillary performances, workshops, exhibits, discussion panels, and Q&As related to this year’s lineup.

Tickets for individual films, both in person and online, are also available for $15 or pay what you can. They can be purchased in advance online or, for in-person screenings, at the door at Market Hall or Showplace 15 minutes prior to each screening.

For festival passes and tickets and to see the full lineup for the 2026 ReFrame Film Festival, visit reframefilmfestival.ca.

VIDEO: “Wind’s Heritage” trailer

kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of the 2026 ReFrame Film Festival.