If Kevin Smith and View Askew productions (Dogma, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back)  produced an action film, the result would be something like local action film “Hoodoo Voodoo,” which has been screened at the university over the past week and which concludes tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

The premiere last Thursday, Sept. 21, was sold out and featured most of the cast and crew in the audience, who cheered wildly as every name flashed across the screen.

Hoodoo Voodoo, produced by Rambunxious Skuter Productions Inc.,  directed by Aaron Kurmey and written with star Ryan Hatt and Kevin Johnson,  starts simply enough with a stakeout which is followed by a multiple shooting at the hands of a pair of corrupt cops, who are likable, yet homicidal policemen, who trade Tarantino meets Kevin Smith style  dialogue.

Unfortunately the murders are witnessed by a washed up detective, played by New West Theatre veteran Scott Carpenter, which is where things start to get bloody as the detective records the incident.
Cut to the badlands, and this is where the action begins.

While there is no justifications for the original murders, that doesn’t matter, it’s the action that counts.

For many years, Theatre XTra  has been an outlet for students who want to put on their own plays, however,  to begin their season this semester, they will actually be putting on a play one of the students wrote themselves.

“Muse Control,” written by James Wade, won first prize  in the University of Lethbridge Plays and Prose Competition, March 18, will take the stage at the David Spinks Theatre, Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” said  Wade.

“I just like the concept of  the muse. The Greeks used them pretty seriously,” he continued adding we don’t hear much about muses inspiring  art and music in modern times.

“It’s a pretty simple concept — a muse who inspires creativity. I thought if I made the muse an actual creature, it would make for a pretty funny play,” he continued.

Director Katheryn Smith, wanted to direct the play as soon as she read it.

“Basically it’s about a struggling artist named Roy who is in his  early 20s whose best friend is an artist who gets all of his inspiration for creativity  from a  creature called a muse,” Smith said  as actors Brett Gortley, Devon Brayne and Camille Pavlenko ( who also appears in locally shot films, “Dilemma” and “Hoodoo Voodoo”) run through a scene.

“He goes in search of his muse, which changes his life, mostly for the worse,” she continued, adding it will be her debut directing a performance.

If you recognize actor Marek  Czuma as  the lead bad guy in local action film Hoodoo Voodoo, playing at the University of Lethbridge this week, you might be surprised to see his more tender side in New West Theatre’s new two person production of Michel Tremblay’s comedy “For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again” which runs at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre, Sept. 30-Oct. 9.

“I get to play a good guy in this one,” said Czuma who is no stranger to New West Theatre as he was in last year’s production of “Sitting  On Paradise.”

“It (For The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again) is about an artist, an autobiography of author Michel Tremblay who wanted to bring his mother back from the grave because she was his biggest inspiration and supporter when he was trying to become a playwrite,” described, who earned his MFA from the University of British Columbia and has been acting for the past 20 years in a variety of projects on the West Coast.

“She was a wonderful person and a great storyteller. It’s a very heartwarming photo album of events in his life,” he continued adding he is glad to be back with New West Theatre.

“I love the folks here. I like working with New West. They are very warm and kind people. And there’s no pressure,” he continued.

Director Grahame Renyk, who is usually  the witty and affable MC of New West’s summer music/ comedy revues, took the Fall off from his day job, as a drama professor at Queen’s University in Kingston to direct “For The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again.”

“It’s been a delightful experience because these are two really great parts for actors,” Renyk said.