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“As the Chinese government puts more measures and efforts into silencing its people in Hong Kong or elsewhere, we over here have the privilege to speak up and with this privilege we have a responsibility to keep the story alive,” says Derek Chan, writer and director of yellow objects, a play inspired by the pro-democracy movement…
Zee Zee Theatre presents Virtual Humanity, this year’s online edition of their annual Human Library project, from Mar. 6–28, which involves seeking out storytellers with a diversity of personal and cultural backgrounds, and ensuring said conversations flow smoothly. “I truly believe that this project is playing a role in our future. Communicating experience-based stories and…
WhyNot Theatre continues making life better through art by premiering A Brimful of Asha online Jan. 15–31. Keeping this experience COVID-friendly, the show is a recording of a 2014 performance; and further making this a more interactive streamed session, the Surrey Arts Center has organized a chat after the Jan. 15 show with Ravi Jain. Toronto-based actor…
Set to premiere in Vancouver in 2021, Santiago Farías Calderón’s translation of Mexican playwright Edgar Chías looks at different forms of abuse towards women as it invites the audience to understand sexism as a form of violence. Calderón’s translation of the play El Cielo en La Piel, by Chías, shows that discussions written more than…
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…
