Forget The Box

SAVING THE SAFEST STAGE

For years, Frenchy Jones has turned The Wiggle Room into an essential safe space, community hub, and beacon for Montreal’s Q***r and marginalized performance scenes. Now, after a devastating winter of broken heating units and canceled shows, the iconic Saint-Laurent cabaret needs our collective help to get back on its feet. This Sunday, Mina Minou produces a star-studded fundraiser show featuring top-tier local talent like .shoots and to help hit their $3000 repair goal. If you’ve ever found a home or a night of pure joy inside the walls of The Wiggle Room, now is the time to show up.

VIBE: Burlesque 💋 Community 🫂 Urgent 🚨 Fundraiser 💸

Featuring:
Produced by:

Cover Photo by Gorsky

🔗 Hit the link in our bio to read the full Wire, and find out how to grab a ticket or donate to the GoFundMe!



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The digital magazine cover for Forget The Box(.ca), dated 6 June 2026, featuring a photograph of a crowded, dimly lit indoor venue washed in a warm red hue. Patrons are gathered closely together, talking and drinking in a lively cabaret setting. Overlaid text in a bold, white sans-serif font reads: “Saving The Safest Stage” by Sophia Tanicha. The top right corner displays the “FORGET THE BOX” masthead and date, while the bottom right corner features a minimalist square logo.

🎭 FringeMTL 2026 Venue Accessibility Guide ♿

Independent theatre spaces are the lifeblood of our arts scene, but navigating them can be a massive barrier if you are dealing with mobility issues, chronic pain, or disability.

Because accessibility details can be INCREDIBLY hard to find, the Forget The Box(.ca) team has put together a quick, straightforward physical-reality guide to the FringeMTL and OFF venues in this year's festival. We’ve mapped out the vital stats you actually need to know before you book your tickets:

🔹Stairs and Ramps: Which spaces require a climb, which have ramp access, or if they are entirely ground level.
🔹Wheelchair Accessible Washrooms: A clear, direct yes or no for every single location.
🔹Seating Types: From plush theatre chairs to hard vinyl and folding seats, so you know what to expect for your physical comfort.
🔹Extras: Additional layout details, like if the venue is ground level, or has an elevator.

Swipe through to check out the quick-reference slides for each venue so you can plan your festival run with confidence.

📌 SAVE this post so you can pull it up easily while booking tickets or heading out to shows!

📢 SHARE this post to help your friends navigate the festival circuit safely and comfortably.

Art should be for everyone. Let's make sure we can all get through the door. 🎟️✨

Bookmark Forget The Box(.ca) and keep checking back all festival long! And make sure to FOLLOW US for live updates when reviews drop! 🐝

Feature Friday returns with award-winning NDG poet and children’s author Gillian Sze. Gillian shares how her early love for language began with a worn yellow children's dictionary, her habit of drafting university theses surrounded by the permanent collection at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, and the long, "accretive" six-year journey behind her upcoming picture book, Ah Ma's Home. Read this week’s Feature Friday to learn how she draws inspiration from morning kitchen light, the changing seasons, and the fluid, community-oriented nature of Montreal’s literary history.

https://www.forgetthebox.ca/features/feature-friday-gillian-sze

AS WE STUMBLE ALONG

We tend to look at legendary artists and assume they were born perfect, fresh out of the box and onto the stage. This week, Dawn McSweeney dismantles the myth of overnight genius, reminding us that even Ringo Starr had to start as an apprentice machinist before he could invent a whole new way of playing. From Vera Wang's late bloom to Grandma Moses pivoting at 78, Dawn dives into the necessity of messy experimentation, the value of treating mistakes as pure data, and why the absolute best time to start changing your path is right now.

https://www.forgetthebox.ca/features/mcsweeneys-list-172

McSweeney’s List drops every Wednesday with the best events, workshops, and more, each week in Montreal! Submit your event NOW!

SIBLING RIVALRY AND SUDDEN GRIEF
By Andrew Jamieson

Born on a Raft Theatre makes an unforgettable debut with Daniel MacIvor’s The Best Brothers at White Wall Studio. Directed by Trevor Barrette, actors Sam Beaton and Thom Niles deliver spectacular chemistry as opposite brothers navigating the sharp, raw edges of sudden grief and sibling rivalry. Stripped-down, functional, and backed by a live violin score, this production is exactly the kind of uncompromising, fiercely independent work Montreal’s struggling Anglo and Q***r theatre scenes need right now.

VIBE : Q***r 🏳️‍🌈 - Raw❤️‍🔥- Intimate 🫂 - Minimalist ◽

Featuring: Born on a Raft Theatre

Cover photo by: Mai DaSilva

https://www.forgetthebox.ca/wires/thebestbrothers-review

***rTheatre

DON'T GIVE AWAY THE HOUSE

Are you running yourself ragged trying to save everyone else, only to realize you’re completely running on empty? This week, Dawn McSweeney tackles the hidden trap of "Toxic Empathy", the exact moment where our self-sacrifice stops being noble and starts destroying our boundaries. Through a series of brilliant thought experiments (from trading your cows for beans to literally giving away the house), Dawn reminds us that real, productive kindness requires strict lane markers. It's time to stop pouring into people, emptying your cup for people, causes, and corporations that will gladly take it all.

https://www.forgetthebox.ca/arts/mcsweeneys-list-171

McSweeney’s List drops every Wednesday with the best events, workshops, and more, each week in Montreal! Submit your event NOW!

ANSWERING THE CALL: Le Club DD’s Reclaims the Dancefloor for Montreal's Q***r Community

By Maggie Caroddo

Behind a maroon-painted exterior at the intersection of Saint Laurent and Duluth lies Le Club DD’s, the newest fixture in Montreal’s q***r nightlife scene. In our latest MTL Venue Feature, Maggie Caroddo traces how a team of local filmmakers, musicians, and nightlife workers transformed a historic space into an unapologetically q***r sanctuary. From "Quiet Riots" for neurodivergent mingling to high-energy dancefloors underneath a gleaming disco ball, DD's is answering a decades-long call for permanent, sapphic-leaning spaces in the city.

https://www.forgetthebox.ca/arts/leclub-dds

***rMontreal

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A digital magazine cover for FORGET THE BOX featuring a vibrant photograph of four smiling staff members standing together behind a bar under red and blue neon lighting. The bold title "ANSWERING THE CALL" is layered across the center in large white text, followed by the subtitle "Le Club DD’s Reclaims the Dancefloor for Montreal's Q***r Community" and the byline "by Maggie Caroddo." The bottom right corner displays the date "25 MAY 2026," with the edge of a Pabst Blue Ribbon bar mat visible along the bottom frame.

THE NEW (OLD) NORMAL IS NOT OK

Are you holding your breath over the latest headlines, or are you secretly whispering, “Yeah, I could use another lockdown”? This week, Dawn McSweeney dives into the surreal nostalgia for the days of sourdough and tight bubbles, dissecting how quickly we rushed back into the exhausting treadmills of the "Old Normal." From bedbug-infested government cubicles to forgetting the essential workers we once clapped for, it’s a sharp reminder that if we don't learn to slow down on our own terms, the Universe might just find a way to do it for us.

https://www.forgetthebox.ca/arts/mcsweeneys-list-170

McSweeney’s List drops every Wednesday with the best events, workshops, and more, each week in Montreal! Submit your event NOW!

GROW WITH US: Call for Writers 📝

If you are obsessed with Montreal's music, dance, or visual art scenes, we want to give you the platform, and the tools, to write about it. 🎨✨

Forget The Box(.ca) is Montreal's most devoted online arts magazine, covering and amplifying ground level, underground, and marginalized art. We are the main project of Forget The Box Media, a federally incorporated not-for-profit organization. 🏛️

We are looking for people who are passionate about Montreal's arts community and want to develop their voice. Whether you're a seasoned journalist, an aspiring critic, or an artist who wants to pivot to writing, we provide the support to help you shape your ideas, alongside a dedicated platform to get your work published and read by the local community. 🫂

As we expand our coverage, we're looking to recruit writers interested in three vital sectors: music 🎸 everything from DIY loft shows and underground releases to local indie labels pushing boundaries; dance 💃 everything from street and contemporary, to experimental movement that defines Montreal's physical spaces; and visual art 🖼️ highlighting the indie galleries, street art, and artist-run centres that make up our city's creative ecosystem.

Forget The Box(.ca) offers writers:

💰 Honorariums
🧠 Writing Workshops
👥 One-on-one mentorship
🎟️ Access to local art events
📣 A Platform
🤝 Community
🚀 Open doors to larger publications

You don't need a big portfolio to start. If you have thoughts on local music, dance, or visual art, and want to spotlight some of the great work of local artists, reach out to us! 👋

How to Apply: 📬
To get started, send an email to our Editor-in-Chief, Candice Ann, at [email protected]. Tell us a bit about yourself, why you want to cover the scene, any relevant experience you might have, and send us a writing sample (if you have!). 📩



📷 First photo: Provided by at
📷 Second photo: Provided by , taken by@susanmossphotography, featuring performers Rémy Saminadin, Nindy Banks, and Marie-Reine Kabasha
📷 Third photo: Provided by .works, featuring work by