Get ready to have a Wicked good time with Stratford-Perth Pride

 Editor’s note: Sydney Goodwin is the program coordinator for the Stratford-Perth Pride Centre. 

Stratford-Perth Pride (SPP) has been putting together local get togethers since the summer, hosting an event the first Sunday of each month to socialize with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community as well as allies, and they’re getting ready for their next event: a theatre viewing of Wicked: For Good on Dec. 7 at 1 p.m.  

Since its move, SPP has been working on its visibility within the city, making sure it is known that there is a safe space for queer individuals and allies to come and spend some time learning, meeting new people, reading, or even just needing a rest. A big way it is doing this is by starting community social outings; from a picnic in the park to a game night hosted in the centre, SPP has been providing a fun event the first Sunday of every month for people to meet others and maybe step out of their comfort zones. 

As the colder weather approaches, centre staff have been thinking about ways to continue to provide these social events, adapting to the cold weather and the earlier sunset. The idea of a movie night was thought of while these events were first being planned, but there wasn’t a set idea of what movie they would watch, it needed to be something that would catch a lot of people’s attention, something that a majority of people are excited about and would want to go to see; that was when the idea came to them: Wicked: For Good.  

Wicked: For Good is a highly anticipated movie, many waiting excitedly since the first movie came out Nov. 21 of last year. This musical-turned movie is widely considered a queer story for it’s LGBT themes ever since it’s stage debut back in 2003, due to the storyline of the main character, Elphaba, as she goes through life being labeled an outcast, wrong, evil and a mistake – words that ring familiar for many of those within the queer community.

The show’s biggest song “Defying Gravity” gives great light to this, as it’s about Elphaba being sick of living how others expect her to live, that she’s through with hiding who she is for the comfort of those around her. These similarities to the LGBT experience is something that many queer viewers notice and is one of the main reasons why so many hold the story so close to their hearts, using Elphaba as their strength for living their truth, no matter what.