The Firehall Arts Centre is playing host to a guest presentation of The Judge’s Daughter October 24 – 29, 2023. The production tackles questioning the actions of our BC Supreme Court Judges. There are two ways the verdict could go and the final scene hinges on the judgment of you, the audience.
The play takes place in the Whistler ski cabins of brilliant lawyer, Judge Kelly Saint Patrick and her lawyer husband James Brown. Young love blooms for their daughter, Erin, and her activist boyfriend. When a sudden death occurs, it raises the morality of jailing anti-pipeline protesters, family relationships and professional reputations are threatened. It’s time for judgment and the audience is the jury. Tickets are now available online and range between $30 – $50. To purchase tickets, visit the Firehall Arts Centre.
The Cultch presents Fairview, from Vancouver’s The Search Party in partnership with Toronto’s b current Performing Arts, running at the Historic Theatre from September 27 until October 8, 2023.
The Frasier family are getting ready for Grandma’s birthday party but things keep going wrong. Beverly wants everything to be perfect, but nobody is cooperating. Her sister Jasmine won’t help, her husband Dayton is more interested in the game and isn’t paying attention to her, her brother Tyrone is MIA, and Keisha—well, her daughter is a teenager. And while everything is falling apart around Beverly … maybe nothing is what it seems in the first place!
Jackie Sibblies Drury’s hard-hitting examination of race and surveillance premiered June 17, 2018, at Soho Repertory Theatre in New York Theatre. The response was immediate and substantial. Audiences were stirred up, and the show quickly gained momentum as it began gaining accolade after accolade. It went on to win the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was also nominated for six 2019 Drama Desk Awards. Since then it has been produced all over the world.
For Fairview’s Western Canada premiere, Vancouver’s award-winning company The Search Party is partnering with Toronto’s b current Performing Arts. Toronto’s Kwaku Okyere, a Ghanaian-Canadian director, will be joining The Search Party’s Artistic Director Mindy Parfitt to bring Fairview to the Historic Stage. “Often conversations about race can happen in silos with people who have similar lived experiences rather than cross-culturally,” says Okyere and Parfitt. “Our collaboration aims to model what the play is doing, which is to ignite conversation across differences.” For tickets, visit The Cultch.
The Still Moon Arts Society is gearing up for the 21st Annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival. This free festival celebrates the Harvest Moon, Autumn Equinox, Still Creek, local art and diverse cultural traditions of the Renfrew-Collingwood Neighbourhood. This year’s theme is Water’s Wisdom. The signature events include the annual Harvest Fair, Lost Streams Parade and Streamside Lantern Installation which features live music, dance, shadow puppets and eco-arts. We’ve set out below where and when the main events take place.
Equinox Ceremony Quantum Care Moon Music & Labyrinth Walk September 21, 2023 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
You are invited to an evening of mindful walking meditation while listening to healing frequencies of earth-based instruments.
Harvest Fair, Twilight Lantern Procession & Streamside Lantern Installation September 23. 2023 4:00 pm – 9:30 pm Slocan Park + Renfrew Community Park
The Harvest Fair is an all ages family friendly event that kicks off at 4:00 pm on Saturday, September 21st in Slocan Park. You can expect music, local artists, eco-arts workshops, games and community booths. At twilight (approx.. 7:10 pm), a procession walk will begin taking the route of the Lost Streams that once flowed throughout the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood. The lantern procession will take you to the Streamside Lantern Installation at Renfrew Community Park. This space is filled with beautiful lanterns and illuminated art and live music.
To learn more about the events and workshops offered during the 21st Annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, visit Still Moon Arts Society.
In advance of this year’s Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, the Still Moon Arts Society is hosting a pretty cool workshop. Two creatives, Brittney Appleby and Rea Saxena, will be leading this beginner friendly workshop in which you will create a Botanical Cyantope Lantern. Brittney and Rea will help you create the lanterns using natural plant materials sourced locally, or you can bring your own elements. You will have the opportunity to show off your creative lantern marking skills at the Twilight Lantern Procession being held on September 23rd which is the big finale of the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival. The lantern workshop will take place on Sunday, September 10th from Noon to 3:00 pm at the Slocan Community Hall. To learn more, or to register, visit Still Moon Arts Society.
Eastside Arts Societywill be hosting a fun summer art-making event CREATE! Arts Festivalon July 22nd and July 23rd. This 2 day festival will take place in Strathcona Park on Saturday, July 22nd and in various locations on the East Side on Sunday, July 23, 2023.
You are invited to explore, learn, and create art at a wide variety of visual and performing arts workshops taught by more than 15 local artists. Adults and youth are invited to learn about watercolour painting, needle felting, indigo dying, pottery, glass fusing, photography, ukulele, Salish singing, storytelling, and much more. General admission is also available for the CREATE! Art Zone, which will feature public participation art, art demos, Festival Art Shop, food trucks, beer + wine, and so much more. In addition to a variety of art workshops, demonstrations, and public participation art installations, they are introducing a Festival Art Shop which will feature a curated selection of arts and crafts made by local artists. There will lots to see and do over the course of the 2 day arts festival. For more information on all the events happening, visit www.createartsfestival.ca.
After 3 years of being postponed the Briefs Factory is finally bringing their larger than life show Dirty Laundry to the York Theatre June 9 – 25, 2023. Dirty Laundry is a new show from the world-renowned Australian cabaret collective Briefs Factory. You can expect a mix of circus, drag, dance, burlesque, music and comedy. Led by Briefs Factory director and co-founder Fez Faanana, the show is performed by a collective of talented performers from many disciplines. This is a sexy ensemble that is perfect for a night out for men and women alike. The Cultch’s Executive Director Heather Redfern says “Dirty Laundry is a show that will really heat up everyone’s summer!” To grab your tickets for this sizzling show, visit The Cultch.
What others around the world are saying about their shows:
★★★★★ “The perfect blend of flesh, acrobats, dance, boylesque and brilliance.” FRINGEWORLD 2019
★★★★★ “Briefs is the drag party you always wish you’d be invited to!” Glam Adelaide
The Still Moon Arts Society is looking artists for their 21st Annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival this September. The Festival has become a significant anchor of community creativity and collective neighbourhood identity. It has raised awareness of the history of the Still Creek watershed, resulting in ongoing community stewardship, and the return of salmon to the ravine.
This is an amazing community event that celebrates the full moon, Autumnal Equinox as well as Renfrew-Collingwood’s diverse community and natural environment through interdisciplinary arts events. This year’s theme is Water’s Wisdom. Still Moon is now recruiting artists, musicians and performers for the Harvest Fair and Streamside Lantern Installation. The festival includes live music, ecological arts, shadow puppets, workshops and much more. So if you are a musician, dance group, stilt walker, clown, balloon artist, puppeteer, storyteller or any other performance artist, you are invited to apply to participate in the Moon Festival which takes place on September 23, 2023. To learn more about the event, or to complete an application, we invite you to visit Still Moon Arts Society.
Are you looking to take in some of the beautiful murals and street art in Vancouver? If yes, you may wish to check out the Strathcona Street Art And Mural Tours that start April 29th. This is a 90 minute walking tour of the East End of Vancouver that features local art work along with some history and great stories. Vancouver DeTours is hosting the tours that start at 812 Cordova Street at 11:00 am. The tour is free to book, but payment is based on tipping with a suggested amount being $25. The request is that you pay what you feel the tour was worth. If you can’t make the tour April 29th, not to worry, they will be running the tours monthly throughout the summer. To book a tour, visit Eventbrite.
The Firehall Arts Centre and Savage Society present the remount of Taran Kootenhayoo’s White Noise from Saturday, April 15 to Sunday, May 7, 2023 as part of The Firehall’s 40th anniversary season.
This is a comedy about two families who have dinner together for the first time during Truth and Reconciliation week. White Noise explores what it means to live in Canada from two different paradigms and asks us to consider: How do we deal with internalized racism? Do we keep pushing it away and pretend to live safely in our day-to-day?
“It is so exciting to be bringing White Noise back to The Firehall stage after our close to sold out run last April,” says Firehall Arts Centre’s Artistic Producer, Donna Spencer. “Audiences were so moved by the play and its connection to here and now. White Noise has many comedic moments, is powerful and thought-provoking, and makes us think about our role in reconciliation and our responsibility to gain a greater understanding of the Indigenous people and their history here on Turtle Island and in Canada.”
Tickets are available online at Firehall Arts Centre. Here’s what people are saying about White Noise.
“White Noise is completely frickin’ original. It has vision. And it comes with the slap of urgency.” – Colin Thomas
“Taran Kootenhayoo left us with this beautiful offering. We are lucky that he shared with us the beauty that so clearly lived inside him.” – Eden Fineday, IndigiNews
The Cultch and The Search Party YVR (Vancouver) bring a contemporary adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull, STUPID F*ING BIRD to the stage April 12 – 23. This is a whip smart comedic tragedy about unrequited love, missed connections, lost dreams and the pursuit of happiness. The production features original songs, live music and multi-generational tales that reveal the danger in our own desires and the elusive pursuit of happiness. Tickets are now on sale and start at $25. To purchase tickets online, visit The Cultch.
ILiveInEastVan.com 