Abby Theatre Fest 2021

Ponty Potts

By Andrew Potts

Runtime: 12:38

Pontificus Potts, Private Eye is in the doldrums of a missing person investigation. A tip from his source at the local pool hall sends him to a few uncomfortable places. Will his perseverance pay off? This mini-musical disguised as a detective story explores themes of mystery and faith.

Introductions

By Julia Martens

Runtime: 7:58

Julia Martens is an artist and illustrator striving to tell her stories and find her purpose as a young artist. Follow the journey of her childhood creations to her art endeavours now, and keep your eyes open to watch the story unfold and see what is hidden in each piece.

Henchmen

By Aaron Dawson

Runtime: 8:01

Content Advisory: some coarse language

Two henchmen discuss the pros and cons of being a professional henchman during some down time on the job.

When the Lake Was Drained Away

By Amanda Eve Slattery

Runtime: 14:21

This set of four original songs explores themes of Truth and Reconciliation including excerpts from a Sumas Lake song cycle (tracing the draining of Sumas Lake in the 1920s) and a song of mourning for residential school victims & survivors.

Talking Trees

By Joel Brandt

Runtime: 8:08

Content Advisory: explicit and very strong language

Two disillusioned revolutionaries mourn the death of their inspiring leader and make a surprising new friend in this short film based off of "The Walk to Emmaus" story found in Luke 24:13-35. Expectations and interpretations of death and life, gender, spirit, and species are toyed with and by the end of it all it feels like maybe, just maybe, things are going to be okay.

Art - An Unexpected Vocation

By Michael Antonakos & Mike Klemak

Runtime: 9:26

'Art - An Unexpected Vocation' is the story of an artist who is so focused on attaining success that he loses everything, and is left destitute and homeless. It's on the streets that he finds redemption and inspiration from the unlikeliest of people: another homeless man named Louie. From Louie, he learns how to seize each moment and find happiness in all things, which is what ironically leads him to the success he always desired.

A Typical Fairytale

By Annette Reilly

Runtime: 10:30

Content Advisory: mature content

Sherry and Larry, a young 20 something couple, find each other one night in a bar. Their love, it was magic! The two have a romance fit for a storybook - told entirely in rhyme. They seem to live happily ever after when one day Sherry is visited by what she thinks is a crazed woman who informs Sherry of her impending pregnancy and its result: a son! The couple do have a child. Not a boy, but a girl who only adds to the perfect life they’ve built...until she doesn’t. She begins acting out; diverging from the classic happily ever after, until at 10 years of age, she admits that she is not a she at all! The parents are left reeling from the confession, feeling as though they’ve lost their child. Will they find the bravery to leave the classic narrative and write a new story? One of love and acceptance?

Birds of a Feather: The Thong Scene

By Linda McRae

Runtime: 9:27

Birds of a Feather is a tale of the resilient bonds of love and family, fraught with hilarious misunderstandings, steep generational gaps, debilitating secrets and deep rooted hurts between 4 generations of women in one family. “The Thong Scene” video is a reading based on a true account of a comical misunderstanding between 3 of those generations.

The Waste Land

By Adriel Brandt

Runtime: 25:50

Content Advisory: Some violence and strong language

A group of survivors struggle with morality and hope in an apocalyptic wasteland.

The Rougarou

By Emmett Hanly

Runtime: 10:50

Content Advisory: some scenes may frighten audiences

Late one night, after making a terrible revelation, a young man is haunted by three odd spirits with dubious intentions. A surreal journey through the mind awaits in this abstract exploration of anxiety and bloodletting.

Kuri - An Empire

By Aaron Dawson

Runtime: 3:16

A music video featuring musical artist, Scott Currie.

Motherhood and Being a Sandwich or the Best Laid Plans

Otherside

By Sue Backs

Runtime: 13:59

Psst....psst, yes you. No not them, you.

I want to share something with you.

A little confession, things I learned the hard way maybe.

Things about my family, but we're all family aren't we?

Please don't tell anyone. You're a peach.