Every Thursday, we publish live music and performance events at pubs and clubs in Peterborough and The Kawarthas based on information that venues provide to us directly or post on their website or social media channels. Here are the listings for the week of Thursday, September 20 to Wednesday, September 26.

If you’re a pub or club owner and want to be included in our weekly listings, please email our Nightlife Editor at nightlife@kawarthanow.com.

There are those who back down from a challenge and there are those who embrace the most daunting of tasks. To the great benefit of the Peterborough arts community, and by extension the community at large, Su Ditta stands firmly with the latter.

Better still she’s not alone, as a member of the like-minded team bringing Artsweek back to the city from Friday, September 21st to Sunday, September 30th. The arts festival was officially launched at an event held Wednesday (September 19) at 418 George Street in downtown Peterborough, a space donated by project sponsor ünicity to serve as the festival’s headquarters.

With the theme ‘Art In Unexpected Places’, the biennial showcase of new work by more than 100 local artists will see more than 40 events staged at various locations. Millennium Park, The Canadian Canoe Museum, Peterborough Square, the Downtown Farmers’ Market, and Riverview Park and Zoo are among the venues.

VIDEO: The Artsweek Song

Equally varied is the art form menu that includes dance, theatre, poetry, visual arts, film, puppetry and live music. Admission is free to all events, a full listing and description of which can be found at artsweekptbo.com.

“There’s nothing like Artsweek in any other community our size,” says Ditta, Artsweek’s executive producer.

“I was really lucky to work with Liz Bierk on the first Artsweek in 2005,” Ditta recalls. “I keep thinking at the beginning (of each Artsweek planning process) that I’m going to be bored with it and then I just get more and more excited. This year, Gloria Proctor Bennett did these (promotional) videos. A whole bunch of them came in a batch. I watched them and I started to cry. I was so happy. I thought ‘Oh yes, this is what it’s about and it’s so good.'”

“The work gets better every year, the promotion gets better every year and, with the number of partners increasing, we know we’re on the right track. It’s a win-win for everybody. It’s something that’s socially important to do and imaginatively important.”

In 2005, when the City marked its 100th anniversary as an incorporated municipality, then mayor Sylvia Sutherland appointed a committee to organize a year-long series of projects and events. The theme of the 2005 Centennial Celebrations was ‘Imagine Peterborough’ and most of the activities focused on cultivating an investment in, and recognition of, Peterborough as a creative city.

Ditta, along with Bierk, was on that committee, charged with coming up with ideas to create designated legacy projects in the arts. From that effort, Artsweek, an annual event, was born.

There things stood until late 2014 when responsibility for Artsweek was assumed by the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), Peterborough’s newly formed municipal arts, culture, and heritage organization. After Artsweek was staged in 2016, the decision was made to present the event every two years moving forward. That, said Ditta, simply made good sense.

“Going biennial was an absolutely correct decision,” she said. “It was something that was recommended by a focus group that we held. It brought together people that were coming to Artsweek events and also those who weren’t. We heard ‘Fewer projects, please’ and ‘More money invested in every project’ and ‘More opportunities to see each project.'”

“We knew we needed more time to plan the festival and give artists more time to do their work, and to get our fundraising strategies in place, so we approached the City and asked if we could do that. They were giving us $25,000 a year. That money still comes but now we have $50,000 to invest at the start of each festival.”

VIDEO: “Imaginarium” test by Lester Alfonso at the Peterborough Public Library

A major player in the formation of this year’s Artsweek schedule is Hannah Keating. She says serving as the event’s artistic producer is “an honour” that has her more excited as the Friday, September 21st Artsweek kick-off nears — featuring the world premiere of filmmaker Lester Alphonso’s new film Imaginarium, which will projected on the Peterborough Public Library’s 16 front windows.

“It’s balancing so many projects, so many artists and so many locations,” says Keating of Artsweek’s logistical challenge.

“But so many locations in Peterborough have said ‘Please come here’ or, when we approach them, ‘We would love to have you.’ It makes those partnerships really easy when community organizations are willing and happy and able to welcome our projects in.”

“We really made a strong effort this time around to do a lot of outreach leading up to the festival. All through the summer we were at various events spreading the word and reaching out to specific partners, like the Council for Persons with Disabilities, the New Canadians’ Centre, and Peterborough Pride.”

When all is said and done, success, adds Keating, will show itself in various ways.

“It will be a real success if we get good numbers out to all of the events and we’re reaching new people. I think success is also the artists feeling great about the work that they’ve done. Most of works are brand new pieces. I think that’s one of the things we should be most proud of. If the artists feel gratified and fulfilled, that’s a huge success.”

For all the fine tuning that has occurred since 2005, Keating notes one Artsweek staple remains sacred: presenting artistic performances and work in public spaces where people typically gather. Ditta concurs, noting Artsweek remains a work in progress in terms of things learned and applied, year to year.

“There are things that we learned in 2016, everything from volunteer management to what we need on site,” Ditta says.

“This year we’re really proud that we have one performance designated as a relaxed performance that’s more welcoming to people with autism or uber sensory stimulation. The incredible people at the Council for Persons with Disabilities went to every single site with Hannah to see what we couldn’t do and what we could do to make them more accessible.

“And I think things went more smoothly with the artists than ever just because we learned through experience how much we need to know up front, when to push people, what kind of deadlines to set. We sought as much information about a piece as we could because we want to attract the biggest audience possible to see their work.”

Ditta adds the very fact that Artsweek is staged successfully in Peterborough is a huge credit to the artists involved.

“(Trent University president) Leo Groarke, whenever he’s talking about what it’s like to live in Peterborough, talks about the arts community and mentions that within three months of being here, he really could feel the arts community here punch way above its weight, as he put it,” she says.

“Bill Lockington is the chair of Community foundations Canada. He travels a lot. He says as soon as he goes anywhere and says he’s from Peterborough, the first thing people say is ‘Wow…there’s a great arts community there.’ It’s extraordinary because although we have a Cultural Studies program at Trent University, we don’t have a Fine Arts program. Typically you wouldn’t see this level of artistic practice in a city without a fine arts program.

“It’s a very supportive community for emerging artists. Senior artists helping starting artists without any question.”

kawarthaNOW.com — whose predecessor quidnovis.com provided the first online presence for Artsweek back in 2006 — is proud to be a project sponsor of Artsweek 2018, along with Bell Media, ünicity, and LLF Lawyers.

Artists sponsors are Jo Pillon of Royal LePage Frank Real Estate and Ashburnham Realty, and event sponsors are Laridae Communications and Lett Architects. Artsweek Muses are Core Chiropractic, Collins Barrow, Locks Salon and Spa, Sherbrooke Heights Animal Hospital, Farquharson Pineiro Law Office, Bryston, Peterborough Square, and Cherney Properties.

On Sunday, September 23rd, New Stages Theatre Company opens its 2018-19 season by bringing popular comedian Deborah Kimmett back to the Market Hall stage with her show The Year of the Suddenly.

Based on Deborah’s true-life experience, The Year of the Suddenly is directed by Linda Kash and features musician Nichol Robertson.

In The Year of the Suddenly, Deborah explores her relationship with her younger brother Kevin, who she only finally got to know when he was diagnosed with cancer.

She has toured the show, described as part comic monologue and part eulogy, throughout Ontario since its debut at Toronto’s Second City in June 2017.

“The Year of the Suddenly fits the sensibility of New Stages,” says New Stages artistic director Randy Read. “The subject matter at its core is very serious, but it’s handled with a great deal of humour. There’s a wonderful balance of humour and the reality of humanity. I believe that balance is in the best plays. The humour is there to understand the tragedy of it.”

“Also, people respond to Deb,” adds Randy, who last brought Deb to Peterborough for his Hits and Misses Cabaret last December. “I had a lot of feedback from people, who loved her. People will enjoy what she will bring to the stage.”

This is the second time Deborah will perform The Year of the Suddenly in Peterborough. The first time was only days after its debut in Toronto, when sheh performed the show at the former Catalina’s in downtown Peterborough for a one-night-only performance.

“I brought the show to Catalina’s after its debut because I didn’t want to do it in Napanee and Kingston where we grew up, because I thought in Peterborough nobody I knew would come,” Deborah says. “But half the people in Catalina’s that night drove in from Napanee. But they loved it.

“I’ve had every relative come and see it now, so I have no fears. You always wonder if you’ve said something offensive. I know it was hard the first few productions. In Kingston, it was everybody I knew and they were okay with it. My Mom came — and that was the hardest because I was worried that she’d be too upset to watch it — but she really liked it.”

Raised in a large Catholic family, Deborah was the oldest of six children, while her brother Kevin was the middle child.

“Kevin really wasn’t in the inner circle of the family,” Deborah says. “I was the oldest and the leader and I thought I was amazing, and he, of course, didn’t think that all the time.”

Although they knew each other their entire lives, for the most part Deborah and Kevin were virtual strangers — until he got ill, where an unlikely relationship between the two siblings grew.

“When my brother was ill I found out how interesting and talented he was,” she admits. “And, for the first time in my life, he became interested in me as well.”

Through their visits together, Deborah began to draft the first version of The Year of the Suddenly.

“I wrote down the story of my brother through the course of the time that he was sick,” she explains. “We weren’t as close until he was sick, and at that time we had a lot of conversations and I learned a lot about him. He was very smart and extremely funny.”

While Kevin’s illness is an important part of the narrative of the show, Deborah stresses that it is only a plot point and not the theme of The Year of the Suddenly.

“It’s not a show about cancer,” Deb says. “It’s about a brother and a sister. It’s a family relationship. It’s all about family and how we treat each other.

“I have this line that says ‘You don’t update your files on family for forty years.’ You can be the nicest person in the world, but your family doesn’t realize that you’ve changed since you were six. This whole story is nothing about cancer, but updating the files on a brother and sister relationship.

“A brother and sister treat each other different than, say, a sister treats a sister. There were always little factions in the family and groups you could hang out with. My two sisters and I were close, and my two brothers were close, and Kevin was in the middle and I just didn’t know him well growing up.

“We went to family gatherings, but the boys would be in the living room yelling about politics, and the women would be in the kitchen yelling about women’s rights, and we never really knew each other. The boys loved us, but they never really did anything with us. We never really talked to each other. So we went to these family events, and we’d get stuck into these roles.”

Although Kevin’s illness was a difficult time for Deborah and her family, she has been able to find the comedy amongst the tragedy for her show.

“When somebody is really ill, a lot of comedy comes out of human error,” she explains. “I always wanted to be a great sister, and I wanted to help out, but I’d blow it a lot. Even if you start out wanting to be a saint, at the end of it you realize that you weren’t as friendly as you thought you were. The humour comes out of our mistakes as people. I never mock his illness.”

“I also think comedy is all about falling down as a person,” she adds. “You go in with high ideas of yourself, and failing at those high ideas is where the humour comes from. So I walked in thinking I could be a nurse or a kind person, and all of that, and then my foibles as a human being failed me.”

Deborah has been performing The Year of the Suddenly for over a year, and since her Catalina’s performance the show has managed to change and evolve. One of the most obvious changes is the addition of musician Nichol Robertson to the show.

“My brother loved country and western music, and Nichol is this amazing guitar player,” she says. “He really can play any type of music. He does this thing where he dresses like a country gentleman and he’s got a great sense of humour. We’ve really rehearsed him into the show and he’s brought a lot into the piece. Music is used to tell the story. He really is an integral part of the show.”

Another change in the show is the emotional context for Deborah’s performance, now that some time has passed since her brother’s death from his illness.

“When I first wrote it, it was very raw and emotional because I had just gone through my brother having died,” she explains. “But lately it feels like we’ve included the audience more. The audience sings, and I dance with them, and eventually it became like a communal celebration of life. It’s emotional for the audience, but I’m not as emotional doing it.”

Still, with each performance, Deborah continues to keep her commitment to her brother’s memory alive when she goes on stage.

“I want to make sure that there was nothing I say in the show that would upset Kevin if he were alive,” she says. “I treated the material very carefully. I always say a little commitment to him before I go on stage, that he’ll be good with what I’ve written, and to also honour him.”

The Year of the Suddenly is a perfect way to open New Stages’ upcoming season of thought-provoking and often hard-hitting shows. Randy Read always brings the best talent to Peterborough for everything he produces, and Deborah Kimmett is no exception. She is a funny woman with a magnetic stage presence that goes right to the soul of the audience, and it is a true gift to have her perform at the Market Hall.

The Year of the Suddenly will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 23rd at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough. Genearl admission tickets are $30 ($15 for students, art workers, and the underwaged) and are available in person at the Market Hall Box Office or by phone at 705-749-1146 (12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday) or online anytime at markethall.org.