Get Hed at the Pumphouse Theatre

Written for The New West

John Cameron Mitchell’s high-voltage tale “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” has gained accolades and a cult following in the ten years since it premiered off-Broadway. Now glam-rocker Hedwig and her mighty band, The Angry Inch, have come to tear up Calgary in a campy performance you will never forget. Hedwig regales you with the story of her life, from humble beginnings as Hansel, a young boy born on the wrong side of the Wall, to her reincarnation as an internationally ignored songstress.

Let it be said that I am not the biggest fan of musicals in the world. There is something so unnatural about breaking out into song in the middle of a dramatic moment which has never really quite done it for me. Every once in a while though—when they are done well—musicals can be fun, entertaining and hilarious. Using music as a form of expression to narrate the story of one’s life is nothing new, but Hedwig delivers her story with so much flair and energy that it somehow makes it seem less contrived.

Who doesn’t already have the soundtrack to his or her own life mapped out in their heads? What would the opening track to your life be? Although I’m guessing that ‘Wig in a Box’ or ‘Sugar Daddy’ might not make it into your Top Ten Songs of My Life, I would Hedge a bet that there is something for everyone in this play, mostly because it addresses some universal themes about love, identity and the quest for fulfillment. And the music, which hearkens the likes of David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, is played adeptly by Calgarian musicians Brendan McGuigan, Tom Gunvordahl, Trevor Rueger and Joel Oliver. It is bound to draw you in and make you want to get up and dance.

Mention has to be made of the phenomenal and heady performance by Geoffrey Ewert who plays Hedwig. He really lets it all hang out and evokes the transsexual punk rock goddess in us all. He also wears the hell out of a chain belt and delivers his sharp one-liners with an over-the-top performance that you can’t help but enjoy. And Jamie Konchak, who plays Yitzhak is quietly and remarkably hostile in her role as Drag-King, once again playing with the fluidity of gender.

But the question remains, can one search for meaning in a musical? At the risk of sounding entirely too staid, don’t we all wear masks in our lives to disguise our true selves? Isn’t there some part of us that we are covering up? So why not do so with a wig and some high heels? The play’s true heart lays in Hedwig’s search for her better half. You may think you have nothing in common with a glam-rock transvestite from East Berlin, but you can’t help but get pulled in by her energy and relate to her plight.

Laurel Lepine, one of the audience members said “I love the idea that we are all searching for our other halves. None of us are completely female or completely male. That’s all part of being human, and of being whole.”

Cameron Falkenhagen, the play’s program designer said if he were to sum the play up in one word, it would be “Identity.” “I feel it is strange how the play spoke to me.” So even if you have nothing in common with Hedwig, you can relate. You will have fun, you will laugh at her sharp dialogue and punny repartee and you may even envy her those fishnet stockings and all that glitter eye shadow.