Michelle Hart wants to keep Nelson weird.
"I’m trying to create the community I want to live in, and for me that means bringing weird art and comedy to Nelson in a way that feels authentic, fresh, and quite frankly a little scary," she says.
Her upcoming Nelson Sketch Comedy Revue at the Capitol Theatre on Nov. 7 will invite Nelson to laugh at itself.
"We're poking fun at the town, but through a lens of love," says the actor and writer who, over the past year, has directed the 20/40 sketch comedy events at the Royal in Nelson.
The Capitol Theatre show will, she says, be more tightly written, carefully directed, and "less chaotic" than the Royal events.
Hart and her group of six actors will perform 20 original unrelated sketches in 90 minutes.
The short Nelson stories will be a mix of the individual actors' ideas and a group workshopping process.
"I have a whole process where I say, 'These are some emotions I would like to hit. Come up with ideas to portray these emotions.' Then we come up with the show together."
She wants that variety of emotions to avoid a one-note show and to impact the audience in ever-changing ways. She knows that we all have different humour preferences, and she wants to hit as many of them as possible.
She is also mindful of the individual identities of her actors, and wants them to be showcased on stage in a way that they feel represented.
"Emma Hill is just solid and is a chameleon that can transform into anything. Jackie Atkins is a person who (because a sketch can be so chaotic) can come in and balance it in an unexpected way that brings it to life.
"Kait Hundt-Lippett is someone who has such good energy and she'll make eye contact with you, and you feel special. Shelby Sanford is someone who enters the room and you look towards them. There's someone that you want to listen to.
"Ruth Krulitsky is the person that brings so much kindness on stage and charisma that you you want Ruth to be in more things. Jaymes Bowman, they are the most ridiculous character on stage, and you're always looking forward to when they're being a character again."
Hart says her past comedy work in Nelson also includes parts in filmmaker Amy Bohigian's Southern Interior, a television series of local sketch comedy currently in production. She also has a solid resume of training, teaching and performing across North America including working as a cast member of The Second City.
The Capitol Theatre is her biggest live venue yet.
"This is new for me, and I'm finding that I'm learning as a director, and I'm making mistakes, but I'm also getting better. So it's exciting."
As for Nelson, she has no time for people who complain that Nelson is not what it used to be.
"I think after COVID happened, and everyone kind of blank-slated, and they're like, well, what do I want Nelson to be like? What community do I want to live in? ... Nelson's a place where if you want it, you gotta build it."
Tickets are $28. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
The Capitol Theatre website states that the event is recommended for audiences 16-plus. All are welcome but viewer discretion is advised.
