Jan 12, 2008Quickie Link: Queer as a Hip-Hop Opera
By vanrozenheim
(Canada) - Before our story begins, a shout-out to Ralph Klein. The former Alberta premier is not exactly what you'd call a Gay icon, but he has inspired the queerest theatrical project to come out of Western Canada ever. Bash'd, a two-person Gay hip-hop opera, written and performed by Edmonton's Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow, grew out of a spike in Gay bashings in the province in 2005 that coincided with Klein's last-ditch battle to stop Gay marriage in Alberta. Klein's reign is one for the history books now, the bashings are mere statistics in the hate-crime folder and same-sex marriages have been legal in Alberta since July, 2005, but ever since it premiered in Edmonton in October, 2006, Bash'd has been unstoppable.
