{"id":484736,"date":"2026-02-19T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/484736\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T07:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:00:09","slug":"fiery-play-coming-to-calgary-aims-to-inspire-audiences-to-stand-up-for-what-they-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/484736\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiery play coming to Calgary aims to inspire audiences to stand up for what they love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Calgary is host to amazing arts and theatre <a href=\"https:\/\/dailyhive.com\/calgary\/listed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">events<\/a> all year round, and the Downstage is presenting a thrilling new show in town next month.<\/p>\n<p>The award-winning theatre company located at the Werklund Centre in downtown Calgary presents Botticelli in the Fire from March 4 to 14 at The Big Secret Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>According to Clare Preuss, Downstage Artistic Director, the irreverent, cathartic work is a reminder for everyone to stand up for what we love.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Botticelli in the Fire\" title=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"726\" height=\"1024\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2245222\" style=\"color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Botticelli-in-the-Fire-726x1024.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2245222\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Downstage<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFull of art, music, and fashion, yet eerily relevant, Botticelli in the Fire reminds us that progress isn\u2019t guaranteed, and standing up for what we love is more urgent than ever,\u201d said Preuss to Daily Hive.<\/p>\n<p>Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill links High Renaissance Florence to what Downstage describes as our \u201cdeeply polarized present.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt confronts the destructive force of political extremism and censorship while urging audiences to stand up for what they love most,\u201d added Preuss.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not as easy to tell when you\u2019re on the precipice as you might think.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Botticelli in the Fire\" title=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"674\" height=\"1024\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2245224\" style=\"color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Botticelli-in-the-Fire-1-674x1024.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2245224\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Downstage<\/p>\n<p>The play is directed by Preuss and contains scenes with nudity, sex and violence. It is recommended for ages 16 and up and features a stand-out cast.<\/p>\n<p>Bringing Botticelli in the Fire to life are actors Kris Alvarez, Joel Cochrane, Christopher Hunt, Zachary Parsons-Lozinski, Ethan Vasquez Taylor, Eric Wigston, and Sydney Williams.<\/p>\n<p>Tannahill is one of Canada\u2019s top writers and directors, with his novels and plays being translated into 12 languages and being honoured with two Governor General\u2019s Literary Awards.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s shaping up to be a busy spring for Downstage as the company is also gearing up for the Stage It Festival in May at the Werklund Centre.<\/p>\n<p>More information about all of Downstage\u2019s shows can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/downstage.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When: March 4 to 14, 2026<br \/>Time: 7:30 p.m. (2 p.m. on March 8)<br \/>Where: The Big Secret Theatre, Werklund Centre \u2014 205 8th Ave. SE, Calgary<br \/>Cost: $30, pay-what-you-can preview and pay-it-forward tickets also available. Purchase <a href=\"https:\/\/downstage.ca\/show\/botticelli-in-the-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calgary is host to amazing arts and theatre events all year round, and the Downstage is presenting a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":["post-484736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}