Raes Calvert in REDPATCH.| Photo by Ian Jackson, Epic Photography.
The end of the winter season is upon us! Soon there will be plenty of outdoor events, which I can and will recommend to you. But it is still winter and still pretty cold, so below are a bunch of indoor events for March for your consideration. I’ll see you all in the spring, which starts on
March 20!
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14th Vancouver International Women in Film Festival
Mar. 5–10
Vancity Theatre, Vancouver
The Vancouver International Women in Film Festival is a showcase of films created by women and a celebration of women filmmakers from around the world. Films screened at the festival represent a diversity of films that cover a wide range of genres, lengths, characters, themes and topics. Running for six days in early March, VIWFF will be screening 49 films from 19 different countries around the world, including 18 local filmmakers. As well as film screenings, the festival offers a variety of ancillary programming including workshops, pitch sessions, panel discussions, artist talks, receptions, an awards ceremony and more. Please check out the festival’s website for a list of shows.
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REDPATCH
Mar. 7–31
Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre, Vancouver
This March, the Arts Club will be presenting showings of REDPATCH, a historical drama that focuses on the contributions made by Aboriginal soldiers and their communities for Canada during the First World War. Between 1914 and 1918, over four thousand Indigenous men volunteered to fight and die for Canada in WW1. The play tells a part of this story through the eyes of a soldier from the Nuu-chah-nulth nation of Vancouver Island. From his childhood home to the battlefields of France, follow him as he endures the horrors of the Great War in a play that uses dance, myth and mask to tell both a universal and a personal tale. For tickets and showtimes, check out the Arts Club website.
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Advancing Women in STEAM
Mar. 8, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Anvil Centre, New Westminster
International Women’s Day is March 8 and the City of New Westminster will feature a keynote event at Anvil Centre celebrating women in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). This full day conversation will highlight ways to advance women in technical and scientific fields. The modern economy is increasingly being driven by innovation sectors like science, technology and engineering, and while their demographics are changing, women remain underrepresented in many of the key fields, which are the new engines for growth and innovation.
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Cuba Vibra!
Mar. 8, 7:30 p.m.
Massey Theatre, New Westminster
On Mar. 8, Cuba will sing, dance and live at the Massey Theatre. Dance company Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba’s Cuba Vibra! highlights in an attractive, colourful and dynamic way, a tour of Cuba – its roots, its dances and its music. Protagonists of the precise movement and the incalculable cadence: bulerías, seguidilla, chachachá, mambo, rumba, conga, bolero, feeling, all the rhythms that make the heart vibrate and fill the soul. For tickets and showtimes, please check out the Massey Theatre’s website.
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Dairakudakan: Pseudo human/Super human
Mar. 8–9, 8 p.m.
Vancouver Playhouse
The Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF) will present the triumphant return of the highly provocative Japan–based butoh ensemble Dairakudakan, showcasing their latest theatrical extravaganza with the explosive Canadian premiere of Pseudo human/Super human on Mar. 8 and 9 at 8 p.m. at the Vancouver Playhouse. The beloved butoh troupe returns with a freshly exotic exposition on the fragility of the pursuit of happiness and prosperity through technology, choreographed by the company’s award-winning director Akaji Maro. Check out the festival’s website for more details.
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Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival
Mar. 8–17
Various venues around Vancouver
Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival is Room Magazine’s annual literary festival, a celebration of diverse Canadian writers and artists, which takes place every March on the traditional, unceded and ancestral territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish peoples. The festival will feature over 100 authors in over 50 events, including workshops, manuscript consultations, panels, readings, an opening night dance party and a closing keynote by award-winning writer Canisia Lubrin. Check out the magazine’s website for a complete list of events.
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B.C. Tech Summit
Mar. 11–13
Vancouver Convention Centre
From AI and machine learning to virtual and augmented reality, technology is revolutionizing every part of our economy. Attend this year’s BC Tech Summit to hear from business leaders who are successfully navigating the uncharted terrain of this new digital age and pushing the boundaries of innovation. How will we use emerging technologies – from AI to Robotics, Quantum to Clean-tech, Blockchain to AR/VR – to solve the biggest challenges facing B.C. and the world today? Check out the summit’s website to register and to learn more.
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Metamorphosis
Mar. 13, 7:30 p.m.
Surrey City Hall Centre Stage
www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/27590.aspx
This imaginative and poignant series of vignettes created and performed by Iceland’s famed master puppeteer Bernd Ogrodnik is a poetic – and often hilarious – exploration of the nature of our existence. Metamorphosis brings a delightfully eclectic cast of characters to life, ranging from intricate, hand-carved marionettes and rod puppets to unusual characters created simply from silk scarves or Ogrodnik’s own hands and feet. Mostly presented in mesmerizing silence, three stories are set to an eclectic mix of musical accompaniment including Gabriel Faure’s In Paradise and Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World, as well as instrumental melodies composed and performed live by Ogrodnik.
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Gross Misconduct
Mar. 14–23
Gateway Theatre, Richmond
Richmond’s Gateway Theatre will present a riveting tale of revenge and redemption, Gross Misconduct, by Canadian writer and actress Meghan Gardiner, this March. Now in his early fifties, Deke has been in Millhaven Prison without a cellmate for the past twenty years. He is surprised and annoyed when Corey, a 20-something rich kid, joins him in his cell. As a complicated bond slowly forms between the two unlikely cellmates, tensions rise as they debate the nature of their crimes. The men must re-evaluate how they see each other after the true nature of their respective crimes is revealed. As Corey begs Deke for protection inside the prison, Deke is faced with a moral dilemma and is brought face-to-face with a decision he made 20 years ago. Visit Gateway Theatre’s website for tickets and more information.
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Celtic Fest at Surrey Museum
Mar. 16, 1–4 p.m.
Museum of Surrey
www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/28439.aspx
St. Patrick’s Day is on Mar. 17 and there are many Saint Paddy’s Day events going on throughout Metro Vancouver, some for the entire family. There will be a family-friendly event on Mar. 16 at the Museum of Surrey, where visitors will explore the rich Irish culture with Celtic-inspired games and take-home crafts such as Loch Ness monster puppets and salt dough shamrocks. Be entertained by Irish fiddlers and Scottish accordion music. Or even get your feet moving with Irish jigs courtesy of the Steele School of Irish Dance. Kids can get creative with Celtic crafts and try their Irish luck with a scavenger hunt in the galleries
