Tarotism: Live on Public Access

Created and Performed by: Euan Wheaton

Featuring the voices of: Canda-Leigh Habonimana, Benjamin Haile, Thandizo Joy, Llewyn Mckenna, Ainslie Moors, Amelia Pelley, and Jarrett Stoll

The Tarot-reading sensation of small town Ontario is live in Ottawa for the very first time! Bring your questions and join his livestream. He can read any deck you bring him. He’s got just one question for you: Am I Doomed?

Genesis of the Show:

I have always been fascinated by shows about the nature of talent and failure. I think the question of "why constitutes success" is pretty endemic to any artist who spends any period of time trying to make something worthy of their ambitions, but especially in places like Ottawa where, as lovely as we are, fame and fortune don't quite seem to agglomerate at a pace that matches our wildest hopes and dreams. The rough idea of using Tarot as an improv tool has been with me a few years. When I applied to the lotto for Fringe 2026 (9th on the waitlist, darn) I had many ideas but one of them was Irwin Burle: The Tarot Unfurled--the idea of a small town cartomancer who might have a lot of struggles with making his show live up to his own expectations. I wanted to highlight a contrast between what his humble project meant to himself and how it worked for others. I'd come off a year of noticing how seemingly-simple projects could have impacts larger than I credited them for. As I was going around Ottawa Fringe I continued to have a desire to apply some of what I saw: improv, spontaneity, heart, ecclecticism. I saw how much success could be achieved with a firmly-defined idea and a willingness to play with the audience. Then came the mechanical plot element of wanting to contrast the encyclopedic nature of knowledge of tarot cards with the improvisational character of real readings. Using the cards for improv games and back and forth felt so fun as an idea. As I was working to apply to fresh meat, more of a story came together. Not all of it can be told in the installation format, but the core of it can. How do you get past the knowledge hoarding stage of creation and just put your work forth? How do you step outside your self-seriousness? How do you embody the faith others have in you rather than all the doubts you have in your self?

About the Artists

Euan Wheaton

Euan has been attempting to clamber up various ladders in the nebulous, moreso off-again than on-again world of Ottawa theatre. Though he has always been attracted to performing in musicals, since the pandemic he has been fortunate to also find opportunities to write, direct, and dramaturg. His most recent original work was Girls Can Do Anything (Except That) for Ottawa Fringe 2025, and he was thrilled to work as Co-Director and Dramaturg for A Little Death by Thandizo Joy at Ottawa Fringe 2026. He has recently appeared in New Life (Lost Baggage Musical Theatre) as Gerald, in The Rocky Horror Show (TotoToo Theatre) as Dr Scott, and in Sweeney Todd (Paper Moon Productions) as Pirelli. This spring, he will be directing The Drowsy Chaperone for Lost Baggage at the Arts Court theatre. If you ask him nicely, he will definitely write a fringe show for you.

Instagram: @who_are_you

Premiering October 28-31, 2026.