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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of online migration for many art forms, temporarily or permanently. Theatre is also trying new ways to keep its spirit alive while adhering to safety requirements. Red Phone and Plays2Perform@Home, two innovative theatre projects developed by theatre company Boca del Lupo, are blurring the line between audience and performer. Red…
As people are staying home to contain the spreading of COVID-19, many entertainment options have been restricted to activities that can be done at home. Keeping ourselves, and especially children, amused during the pandemic has been quite a challenge. Two of the most common entertainment options, television and the internet, can provide relaxing moments, but…
“It’s not ideology that separates us as people, it’s language,” says Ian Carney, co-creator of Lightwire theatre along with Corbin Popp. “When you speak the language that everyone speaks, the language of dance, everyone understands what you’re saying.” Through the use of Electroluminescent wire (EL wire), Carney found a way to combine all of his…
A contemporary conspiracy thriller, the world premiere of Cipher is underway at the Arts Club’s Granville Island Stage. Running until Mar. 7, the show looks to subvert iconic tropes of the noir genre, with a cold case that examines some modern social issues. Neo-noir Cipher centers around a long unsolved murder mystery, a fictional Vancouver Island case inspired by…
God’s Lake Narrows is a small Indigenous community located approximately 550 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. This isolated fly-in community is only accessed by way of plane, boat or winter ice roads. Certain lives within this community will be explored in the upcoming verbatim theatre production, God’s Lake, hosted by Presentation House Theatre. It runs from…
Unikkaaqtuat shows for the first time on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations from Jan. 22–25 at the Vancouver Playhouse. For Vancouver, this has been one of the few productions featuring Inuit theatre and artists, and people are anticipating its arrival. “From what I’ve been hearing back from…
Explore the external representation of the inner turmoil of exile when Electric Company Theatre brings Anywhere But Here to the Vancouver Playhouse Feb. 4–8 and 11–15. Raised in exile following her parents’ revolutionary efforts against the 1973 Chilean coup, writer Carmen Aguirre says Anywhere But Here was inspired by a series of dreams she had while attending theatre school…
“The Shoplifters is a comedy,” says Agnes Tong, an actor in the play. “There are underlying political themes but it’s not a social activism play.” The play will be going on tour across the lower mainland from Jan. 9–Feb. 9, 2020. Art makes an impact “Art is a way to challenge systems and to challenge…
A story of isolation, family ties, and virtual reality is set to hit the stage in Tetsuro Shigematsu’s play, Kuroko. This new play is directed by Amiel Gladstone and the world premiere will take place Nov. 6–17 at the Cultch Historic Theatre. Shigematsu is the visionary behind Kuroko and many other successful plays like Empire of the Son, which had…
For their annual Halloween celebration of ghouls and ghosts, Stage 43 Theatrical Society has a new show that offers a comedic spin on spooky classics. The Creature Creeps!, the first show of Stage 43’s 2019–2020 season, is halfway through its run at Coquitlam’s Evergreen Cultural Centre, with four more shows from Oct. 23–26. Written by…
“We’re looking down at our phones so often that we rarely look up. This bus tour is a way of looking up and engaging with your city in a completely new way,” says the Mexican luchador known as El Jaguar. He will be hosting the El Jaguar Fiesta Bus Tour taking place in Vancouver from Oct. 18–20 as part…
In some ways the modern world has created a universal diaspora as people move and settle in new places, all the while hoping for better opportunities or more fertile beginnings for their children. As people grow and face the conflicting natures of their homeland’s culture (kept close through the efforts of parents or the individuals…
Youth sharing their voices with a community is very important for Elaine Carol and Miscellaneous Productions, which showcases real issues from actual youth performers in their production AWAY with HOME. The original play, a collection of compelling stories from all walks of life, will be presented at the Scotiabank Dance Centre Sept. 27 and 28. “The…
