Hope everyone’s enjoying their October so far! To me, the crisp autumn weather is the most relaxing kind of weather: not too hot, not too cold and you’re able to see the change in tree leaves almost daily as it turns brown and falls from the tree. And there is no shortage of events in the Fall to attend; why not check out some of the events below?
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Benevolence
Sept. 30–Oct. 15
The Pacific Theatre is hosting a guest production from Ruby Slippers Theatre called Benevolence by Canadian playwright Fanny Britt until Oct. 15. Gilles Jean, big-time lawyer, returns to his hometown of Benevolence to try a troubling case involving the child of an old friend. But with the ghosts of his deceased brothers and father peering over his shoulder, and his mother asking after the state of his soul, homecoming is no easy thing. This pitch-black comedy (presented in a new English translation) offers a surreal reflection on our small cowardices and our great contradictions.
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An Evening with Michael Abels
Oct. 6, 7–8:30 p.m.
www.viff.org/whats-on/talks-michael-abels
Two-time Emmy-nominated composer Michael Abels is known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Nope, and Us, for which Abels won a World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination and multiple critics awards. Join us for an intimate evening of insight, creativity, and performances of Abels’ music, featuring the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, John Littlejohn and Tiffany Townsend.
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The Café
Oct. 11–22
ITSAZOO Productions and Aphotic Theatre, in partnership with PuSh, will present the hotly anticipated world premiere of The Café from Oct. 11–22 at 7 p.m. (Monday-Thursday) and 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. (Friday & Saturday) at Kafka’s (577 Great Northern Way). Directed by project creator Fay Nass and Chelsea Haberlin, the site-specific, immersive theatrical work is a day-in-the-life exploration of the cultural mosaic of a Vancouver coffee shop, welcoming audience members to bear witness to the private conversations and experiences of seven unique pairings. Featuring multilingual vignette performances created by nine diverse playwrights, The Café offers a window into the vulnerability and complexity of intimate human connection.
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Boccheriniana
Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m.
Boccheriniana celebrates one of the most delightful and original voices of the classical era, Luigi Boccherini, alongside European composers from the same era, Mozart, J.C. Bach and Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen. During this time, now known for its elegant ‘galant’ music, Boccherini championed his instrument, the cello, and played as a travelling virtuoso until he settled in Madrid as court composer. The Early Music concert showcases a variety of chamber music favourites: flute quintets, string trio and quartets. Building on a successful 2020 tour, the program of the group Accademia de’ Dissonanti reunites string players Laura Andriani, Rossella Croce, Isaac Chalk and Elinor Frey, together with the celebrated traverso player, Jan De Winne, flute professor at the Paris and Brussels conservatories.
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Sixth Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival
Oct. 14–16
Community Arts Council of Vancouver presents the annual Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival (VOAF) at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre offering visual and performing artists facing social exclusion and other barriers opportunities for exhibition and sales, performance and participation, connection and learning. VOAF is Canada’s first and only festival for Outsider Art, which is represented by significant fairs and museums globally. The artists may be self-taught or trained: they are all devoted to their creative practices, and come from a point of view that is outside the mainstream art world trends.
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19th Annual New West Cultural Crawl
Oct. 15–16, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
The New West Cultural Crawl is an annual arts & culture festival that celebrates and exhibits the vast creative talents across New Westminster. Artist studios and venues open their doors for two days to welcome thousands of visitors from across Metro Vancouver. The 19th Annual New West Cultural Crawl will take place on Oct. 15–16, from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. at venues across New Westminster. This family-friendly event invites audiences of young and old to explore the city at their own pace, and check out artworks by professional and emerging artists who reside in the city.
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35th Annual Vancouver Writers Fest
Oct. 17–23
After two roller coaster years, the Vancouver Writers Fest will be returning to Granville Island from Oct. 17–23. This year they will be hosting an almost fully in-person Festival, and for the first time, offering all youth events both on-stage and via livestream. Omar El Akkad, journalist and 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, serves as the festival’s Guest Curator. Omar curated six events with a wide range of authors from around the world to join the festival in conversations on home, identity and storytelling. The festival features 80 events, including discussions about the state of modern journalism, the loss of reproductive rights for women and a conversation about the rise of Indigenous storytelling around the world, alongside celebrations of debut novels, an ode to 80s lyrics as poems, bestselling festival favourites and more.
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Double Murder
Oct. 21–22, 8 p.m.
DanceHouse will present the Canadian premiere of Hofesh Shechter Company’s hypnotic and high-energy double bill Double Murder, on stage Oct. 21 and 22 at 8 p.m. at the Vancouver Playhouse. Created by internationally celebrated choreographer/composer Hofesh Shechter (OBE), Double Murder is a thrilling exploration of the chaotic and oppressive forces present within our modern times. The performance features two distinctly contrasting works: Clowns is a sarcastic and playful nod to our ever-growing indifference to violence, while The Fix presents a tender, fragile antidote to the omnipresent forces of aggression that press on us daily. Set to Shechter’s sweepingly cinematic, percussive score, Double Murder exposes painful truths and deep emotions.
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Sound Walk with Edzi’u
Oct. 22, 1–3 p.m.
Inspired by CAG’s current exhibitions Christine Sun Kim: Oh Me Oh My and Tanya Lukin Linklater: My mind is with the weather, innovative sound and performance artist Edzi’u will guide participants through a sound walk. Using their environment and voices, participants will explore accessible recording techniques, such as how to listen and gauge a sound for recording, how to capture what you hear and visual techniques for how close to record a sound. Attendees are asked to bring a cell phone with the capability to record sound to the workshop. Refreshments will be provided.
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Community is Collage with Rafael Zen + Khalil Alomar
Oct. 23, 30, Nov. 6, 20, 1–5 p.m.
Between October and November 2022, join Massy Arts and Vancouver-based visual artists Rafael Zen + Khalil Alomar for Community is Collage: Cutting out the stories that shaped us, a series of four collage workshops targeted to young artists (14–18 year olds) that aims to teach the artistic techniques of paper and video collage while putting into dialogue three systemic and intersectional concepts that have built and shaped contemporary societies: race, class and gender. These in-person workshops are planned for all artistic levels, and no previous experience is needed. The workshops have two different focuses (paper collage and video collage), and artists are welcome to register for more than one class.
