National Elevator Project

Rumble Theatre was thrilled to be one of the companies participating in Theatre Yes’s National Elevator Project, which featured short plays written for and performed in working elevators. Rumble commissioned Peter Boychuk, a local playwright and Rumble’s Interim Managing Producer, to adapt Dante’s Inferno for a five-minute elevator ride. The play, entitled #abandonhope, was a madcap tour through the Inferno, the most sought-after postal code in the afterlife. Written in the same rhyme scheme as the Inferno, the play featured, among other things, an undead tabloid journalist, an indoor hurricane, and a fistfight between Jesus and John Lennon.

Part One of the project, which featured plays by Catherine Banks, Meghan Coles, Rick Chafe, Ryan Griffiths, Greg MacArthur, Kenneth T. Williams and Vancouver’s own Kendra Fanconi, was produced in elevators around Edmonton from October 16 – 27, 2013.

Part Two of the project, which included #abandonhope, was performed in Edmonton from January 23 – February 2, 2014 during Workshop West’s Canoe Festival.