Play the Fool Theatre Festival

06/09/2026

Call for Acts – Q2Q: Clown Shorts at Play the Fool Festival!

In collaboration with Fringe Theatre Adventures, Q2Q: Clown Shorts invites submissions from Q***r established and emerging clowns, physical comedians, and comedic character performers for an evening of Q***r Clown! This curated evening of Q***r performance celebrates the risk-taking, virtuosity, and strangeness that make up physical comedy.

We’re looking for polished, surprising, and skillful 12–15 minute acts. All forms of physical comedy are welcome—red nose, bouffon, slapstick, drag, absurdist character pieces, puppetry, dance-theatre hybrids, comedy burlesque, mask, and anything that defies easy categorization. Solo artists and duos are both welcome.

Q2Q: Clown Shorts is a platform for physical theatre/clown work by Q***r artists, either emerging or established, who have a performance-ready set to share! We are only accepting artists based in Edmonton.

Deadline to apply: July 20th
Visit https://playthefool.ca for more details

Huge thank you to Edmonton Fringe Theatre for supporting this project!

05/28/2026

Rookie Cabaret deadline is THIS SATURDAY, May 30th!

Play the Fool Festival’s Rookie Cabaret Mentorship Program is for emerging physical comedy artists and students of any age.

This FREE program trains emerging artists on the process of developing a new work through intensive, individualized coaching from award-winning clown educators and specialists.

To apply, visit our website https://playthefool.ca/

This program is supported by Edmonton Fringe Theatre & Grindstone Theatre School

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

05/19/2026

Rookie Cabaret deadline: May 30th!

Play the Fool Festival’s Rookie Cabaret Mentorship Program is for emerging physical comedy artists and students of any age.

This FREE program trains emerging artists on the process of developing a new work through intensive, individualized coaching from award-winning clown educators and specialists.

To apply, visit https://playthefool.ca/about/the-rookie-cabaret/

This program is supported by Edmonton Fringe Theatre & Grindstone Theatre School

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

05/03/2026

ROOKIE CABARET 2026 APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!

Festival favourite - The Rookie Cabaret- is back in September 2026!

Play the Fool Festival’s Rookie Cabaret Mentorship Program is for emerging physical comedy artists and students of any age. Artists may be creating their very first piece outside of the classroom, or they might be experienced performing artists new to clowning or physical comedy.

This FREE program trains emerging artists on the process of developing a new work through intensive, individualized coaching from award-winning clown educators and specialists. The Rookie Program provides artists with key educational experiences as part of the development of their process for creating work. Over several weeks, participants work with program director Christine Lesiak and other clown experts to take their idea from concept to stage. Artists create and rehearse an original short work, which is performed at Play the Fool in the The Rookie Cabaret show, always a festival highlight!

Deadline to apply is Saturday, May 30th at midnight MDT.

For more info on how to apply, visit our website: https://playthefool.ca/about/the-rookie-cabaret/



We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

10/01/2025

A HUGE thank you from all of us at Play the Fool for attending this year's festival!

Thank you to our artists, volunteers, staff, donors, supporters, and everyone that helps makes the festival possible each year! Many thanks to festival partner Fringe Theatre Adventures!

The Play the Fool Festival is supported by the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton.

Play the Fool is supported by the Province of Alberta.

Hit That Jive is supported by the Province of Alberta through Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

See you next year!

09/28/2025

Our FREE discussion panel is happening in just a few minutes! Watch it live here:

https://www.youtube.com/live/6c26FV2TSUo

It will also be recorded if you'd like to check it out at a later time.

Clown and physical theatre thrive on the electricity of live interaction — but how do artists craft experiences that feel authentic, transformative, and more...

09/28/2025

Start your day with a FREE online panel at 1pm MDT!

This year we'll talk about Audience Engagement in Clown & Physical Theatre, with featured artists Katie Yoner, Isaac Kessler, and Jay Flair.

Moderated by Jake Tkaczyk
Live Captioning by Tamara Kremer

Watch live at https://www.youtube.com/live/6c26FV2TSUo

This evening join us for the all new Chaos Cabaret at 7pm, and festival favourite The Rookie Cabaret at 9pm.

More details at https://playthefool.ca

09/27/2025

TONIGHT! Join us as we kick off Play the Fool with late-night shenanigans at The Spectacular Cabaret!

10:30pm at The Westbury Theatre, Edmonton Fringe Theatre. Tickets available online at playthefool.ca or on-site at the Fringe box office.

See you there!

The Play the Fool Festival is supported by the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton.

Play the Fool is supported by the Province of Alberta.

Hit That Jive is supported by the Province of Alberta through Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Huge thank you to festival partner Fringe Theatre Adventures!

09/26/2025

Planning your weekend?

Join us tomorrow night as we kick off this year's Play the Fool Festival with The Spectacular Cabaret!

All shows are at The Westbury Theatre! And join us online on Sunday for our FREE discussion panel.

Tickets on sale at https://playthefool.ca

09/24/2025

If you’re in Toronto this weekend, check out our sister fest What The Festival !

🗓️FRIDAY! 🗓️

🦝THE SHINIEST PIECE OF TRAILER TRASH - Fri, Sept. 26th @ 7:30pm
📍Sweet Action Theatre

Tickets are HAWT‼️

In the crummiest small town, in the crummiest trailer park lives the crummiest little raccoon. This Winner of the 2024 Staff Pick of the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, has one dream: to become a HUMAN BEING!

Written and Performed by Meegan Sweet


🎟️ Purchase your tickets now! Link in our bio