With spring just around the corner, theatre loyalists are looking forward to the upcoming season that celebrates new life when buds begin to sprout from gardens and trees.

One such enthusiast getting a head start on things is playwright/actor Damien Atkins who is breathing new life into Real Live Girl which returns for a one night only performance at Buddies in Bad Times. The event marks the company’s second annual fundraising initiative.

It’s never an easy exercise for a performer to revisit a body of work from yesteryear and source the same zeal that infused their very being when it was first written. Artistic perception and creative evolution inevitably alters an artist’s outlook as time moves forward.

Damien Atkins remains proud as a peacock when looking back on the show that garnered him two Dora Awards in 2003. Not only does Real Live Girl embrace three distinct storytelling devices—song, monologue, and autobiography—it serves as a fast moving entertainment vehicle that goes beyond gender pre-occupation. The end game assists men in appreciating all the moving parts that exist inside including both masculine and feminine channels.

The always playful Alberta native takes 5 to enlighten audiences about the story’s past and present.