Celebrating Local Queer Theatre History

House of Didi, 2016
Image courtesy Jaime Vedres Photography

As Southern Alberta’s only queer-mandated theatre company, Theatre Outré, has spent the last decade carving out space for a thriving alternative scene in the prairies. Now, we celebrate them for their iconic boundary-pushing theatrical productions, eccentric events, and unwavering devotion to Southern Alberta’s 2SLGBTQ+ community.

Theatre Outré was founded in 2013 by Lethbridge-based actors and designers Jay Whitehead, Richie Wilcox, Aaron Collier, and John DeStigter. Their goal was to create an alternative theatre company where they could create productions that served southern Alberta’s queer community, a group often considered to exist beyond the fringe of social propriety, sexual norms, and gendered expectations.

Castrati An Electro Drag Opera, 2015
Image courtesy Jaime Vedres Photography

They found a space for their newly formed company on the third floor of the Whitney building in downtown Lethbridge which they named Bordello, a reference to Lethbridge’s historic red-light district. The space was used for rehearsing, mounting productions, holding drag shows, and as a de facto community centre for queer folks and their loved ones. Bordello was a dusty cramped space, with an ever-leaking roof, but the rent was cheap, and it was a space they could call their own.

They soon outgrew Bordello and announced their intention to move to a larger space in the McFarland building a few blocks away. After a struggle with both unwelcoming neighbours and issues with their development permits, Theatre Outré was able to open in the McFarland building under a new, less risqué name, Club Didi. In 2019 the name would be changed again to Didi’s Playhaus.

Acting Out exhibition
Image courtesy the Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa

Theatre Outré is known for their outlandish, jaw-dropping theatrical productions that always push the envelope of what you expect to see in a show. With a mandate to represent the complex and diverse experiences of the queer community, Outré always aims to produce shows that challenge audiences to consider the world differently. From 333, an original play set during the 1981 bathhouse raids that devastated Toronto’s queer community, to The Sissy Duckling, an adapted children’s play that addresses homophobic bullying, Theatre Outré productions never fail to subvert expectations.

Most of all, Theatre Outré created a safe haven for Lethbridge’s 2SLGBTQ+ communities and their allies to exist in a space that allowed them to be uncompromisingly queer. No matter the location, Theatre Outré shows and events have drawn the queer community together and built up an alternative scene in the heart of southern Alberta.  In a decade of Theatre Outré, they have created a vibrant and welcoming community for unbridled queer expression on the prairies.

Learn more by visiting Acting Out: Celebrating a Decade of Theatre Outré, our latest temporary exhibition on display until February 11, 2024.