With Bells On

James is thrilled to be a making his Theatre Network debut with such a fantastic gang! A co-founder of the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes award-winning theatre company, the Bedlam Theatre Concern, James has appeared in shows like the Fringe hit, Nighthawk Rules, Northern Light Theatre’s Silence, and Workshop West’s The Mighty Carlins for both of which he received a Sterling nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor. Other notable onstage appearances include; Diamond Dog (Panties Republic), The Lonesome West (Atlas Theatre), God’s Favoured Child- A Rant (Azimuth Theatre), White Mice (E&EO Productions), The Play I Did At Last Year’s Fringe (Schnook Productions). James is also a playwright whose works include: The Amaze-o-nauts Must Die, Center of Attention, The Hole in My Head (all for Bedlam Theatre Concern). He is also a frequent contributor to Northern Light Theatre’s Urban Tales reading series.

Darrin Hagen is the Artistic Director of Guys In Disguise, which is celebrating over three decades of creating drag comedies that have toured across North America. He has received 7 Sterling awards for his work in the Edmonton theatre scene, and over 40 Sterling nominations. His writing debut in 1996 was the award-winning THE EDMONTON QUEEN (transformed into book length and published by Brindle & Glass Publishing). Other plays by Darrin include WITCH HUNT AT THE STRAND (nominated for Outstanding New Play); BUDDY (nominated for Outstanding New Play); With Bells On (nominated for Outstanding New Play); BITCHSLAP!; THE NEO-NANCIES: HITLER’S KICKLINE!; TORNADO MAGNET: A SALUTE TO TRAILER COURT WOMEN (published by Brindle & Glass); as well as TYPHOON JUDY (co-written with Christopher Peterson); and PILEDRIVER! (co-written with Wes Borg). His plays have been produced across Canada, in the U.S. and as far away as Ireland.

With his creative partner Trevor Schmidt, he has co-created the hit musical KLONDYKES (nominated for 5 Sterling awards); FLORA & FAWNA’S FIELD TRIP (Sterling Award for Outstanding New Fringe Work); PREPARE FOR THE WORST! (Sterling Nominee for Outstanding New Fringe Work); PUCK BUNNIES (Sterling Nominee for Outstanding New Fringe Work); DON’T FROWN AT THE GOWN; PSYCHOBABBLE; DRAGULA and the children’s musical MY OTHER MOTHER.

He has been inducted into the Q Hall of Fame Canada and the Edmonton Queer Hall of Fame. In 2005 he was named one of 100 Edmontonians of the Century, and last year was named one of Alberta’s 25 Most Influential Artists in the last 25 years. To the best of his knowledge, he’s the only drag queen on that list. He was one of the official Cultural Ambassadors of Canada’s 150 Celebrations, and was appointed as the Writer In Residence for Edmonton Public Libraries for 2018. Most recently, he was one of the recipients of the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund.