Full Circle Theatre premieres triple bill ‘30 Minutes or Less’
Posted Jun 9, 2026 11:17 am.
If your taste is eclectic, and/or your attention span is limited, Full Circle Theatre’s 30 Minutes or Less, may be right up your alley.
The triple feature presentation with all scripts by local playwright AJ Pearce invites audiences into three completely seperate storylines.
The first piece, May 99, drops audiences into a very specific moment in time.
Set in the aftermath of the Columbine shooting, it follows a teenager grappling with their emotions.
“It’s really about fear more than gun violence,” Pierce says. “It’s about fear being 18.”
Pierce points to 1999 as a turning point culturally and technologically.
“The way the world is now kind of started in 99,” he says.
The second play, The Critic, pivots to more of a dark comedy tones.
It follows a local playwright who receives a brutal review — and decides to confront the critic behind it.
Even with the tonal shift, Pierce says humour runs through everything he writes.
“I always do dramedy. There’s always a bit of humour in everything.”
The third piece, Lady Jane Waiting, goes back in time to the age of arctic expedition. It tells the story of Lady Jane Franklin, wife of explorer Sir John Franklin, who disappeared during his 19th-century expedition.
“It’s her story of just waiting… not knowing when he’s coming back and never giving up the search,” Pierce says.
He says the piece blends historical fiction with a touch of absurdity. It’s staged as a one-woman show, with an added performer stepping in to play multiple roles.
At the One Act Festival, performer Ciorstaidh Reid earned an outstanding performance award for the role.
30 Minutes or Less is on stage at the Awaken Church in Bowness with performances from June
Tickets and more information at https://www.fullcircletheatre.ca/
