Two years ago, Carleton University students Maggie Harder and Meghan Burns took the stage in front of small-but-eager crowds at Ottawa’s Fresh Meat Theatre Festival.
Anticipation grew when the lights dimmed inside the Arts Court Theatre, as their brand-new passion project — written specifically for the theatre festival — made its world debut.
Always Because: The Adventures of Maggie and Meghan marked the first time the couple had joined forces artistically. The show explores various facets of their queer love through elements like stand-up comedy and storytelling.
“Since that Fresh Meat show … we’ve learned a lot,” Harder said. “But also, I think it fundamentally changed the course of our lives — period.”
This show was only the beginning of Burns and Harder’s artistic endeavours. Now, they continuously strive to use art to foster inclusive spaces for Ottawa’s queer community.
After performing at Fresh Meat, they brought their Always Because love story on tour across Canada, performing at the Ottawa, Edmonton and Winnipeg Fringe Festivals.
Most recently, the couple took the stage donning camp counsellor attire and silly stickers on the backs of their hands in Campfire Cabaret, which came to life at Ottawa Fringe in June.
Transporting audience members to Camp Unicorn Tits, Campfire Cabaret featured a series of cabaret-style performances by Burns, Harder and other Ottawa-based queer artists, uniting media such as music, burlesque and comedy around the campfire.
“Would highly recommend for your daily gay enjoyment,” said one review on the Ottawa Fringe website.
After connecting with so many like-minded artists in Ottawa, Campfire Cabaret was a chance for the couple to celebrate the talent that exists in the city.
“One of my favourite parts of [Campfire Cabaret] and variety shows is just seeing my talented friends do their thing, and I’m like, ‘You’re on my stage. I love you,’” Harder said.
As they work toward full-time artistry, Burns also said the past few years have been about connecting with artists and seeing how they make a living.
“I found people are just very friendly with a ‘we’re all in this together’ mindset,” Burns said. “Having those blueprints and those opportunity models has been really interesting to think about it more concretely, as somebody that has lots of things in my brain saying, ‘that’s not a real job.’”
“[Connecting with artists] has helped us counteract it — these people are doing it and having a great time, making people smile, telling stories that are really important.”
Since graduating from Carleton’s bachelor of public affairs and policy management (PAPM) in 2021, Burns has been developing their drag persona, Morgan Mercury.
Morgan Mercury was recently invited to participate on Ottawa’s Next Drag Superstar at the Lookout Bar. Despite being eliminated in the second week, Burns said it was a “phenomenal experience” to connect with other drag artists.
While dressed in drag, Burns also leads a queer history walking tour that explores prominent activist figures and the development of Ottawa’s queer nightlife. Tours are running throughout August in line with Capital Pride.
“I just try to pay homage to all the folks that have come before me and all the queer elders and ancestors that are still super present in our city,” Burns said.
Harder, who graduated from Carleton’s PAPM program in April, currently co-hosts the variety show Small Fish alongside fellow artist Glenys Marshall. Hosted at Irene’s Pub with the aim of platforming marginalized artists, the show sold out 13 times since its inception in February 2023.
“It’s just so energizing to be in this space that I think Ottawa queers have been craving very strongly for a long time,” Harder said.
Harder is also developing a new variety show series titled Fruit Cake, which introduces a brand-new format by randomly pairing artists together to create unique collaborations on stage.
“I have a trombone player and I have a hot sexy drag king, so we might see a hot sexy drag king number to whatever trombone song the musician chooses to play,” they said.
The first-ever Fruit Cake show sold out in less than 24 hours. The next show, scheduled for August 21, sold out in five hours.
“The community support we’ve received is insane,” Harder said. “If you had told me that doing Always Because was going to blossom into a small career in art, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
Burns and Harder both said they’ve found their calling building community through art and intend to continue fostering these spaces for as long as they can.
For Burns, arts and culture has become a way to bring new narratives to the community through fun and togetherness.
“I feel like it’s a direct way to combat a lot of hate and misinformation that is present, and it’s been really great to see that other people share that mindset,” Burns said. “I’m not the first person to think these things — I’m just maybe one of the first people to actually put it into action.”
Harder, who said they found their chosen family in Ottawa’s queer art scene, added that they view community building as a way to promote change and inclusivity.
“When you’re making these community events and are calling upon marginalized groups and queer folks to gather, that’s when you imagine that utopia wherein these systems of oppression have crumbled,” Harder said.
“And that’s what really makes people engaged and interested in these movements, is when they can imagine that future that we can build together.”
Featured photos provided by Maggie Harder and Meghan Burns.
