Tag Archives: The Cultch

Call For Visual Artists By The Cultch For 2022/2023 Exhibition Season

8 Mar

The Cultch, 1895 Venables Street, has put out its annual call to visual artists to submit applications to exhibit their work during the 2022/2023 gallery season. Each exhibition will run for 3 to 4 weeks between September 2022 and July 2023.  If you are an artist, why should you exhibit?

  1. The Cultch is excited to be able to showcase your work on their walls again.
  2. Exhibiting artists are paid an exhibition honorarium.
  3. Exhibitions are now in person on the gallery walls and online.

The Cultch has built a reputation over the past 45 years as one of Western Canada’s most innovative and exciting presenting venues. The mandate of The Cultch is to contribute to the enrichment of the city and community’s social and cultural life through the presentation of innovative programs of contemporary music, theatre, dance and visual arts by established and emerging artists.

The Cultch Gallery is a multi-use space and not a traditional art gallery as it also serves as the lobby for performances and is occasionally used for meetings and other small events. Due to the diverse nature of this space, submissions that include sculptures or free standing art will not be accepted.  Further, they will only be able to show works that hang from their gallery ‘rail’ system that does not have a depth of more than 12″ inches in depth.

Submission Criteria for Artists:

  1. An artist statement
  2. Artist bio(s)
  3. Resume/CV
  4. A complete list of images you are submitting, which should include title, size, medium. These images do not have to be the work you will be showing. They want to get a good overview of your work.
  5. You can submit up to 10 images and not necessarily the images you plan on showing, but so they get a sense of the range of work you do. Image files should be in .jpeg format. No PDFs. File names must include the artist name, title of artwork and size of the work when framed: (example: Yuri Arajs – Sunny Day -18 in x 30 in. jpg). Images should be 300 dpi.

Deadline for applications is May 31, 2022. Email your submissions to gallery@thecultch.com. If you have any questions, you can email Yuri Arajs, the Gallery Coordinator at The Cultch gallery@thecultch.com.

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The Cultch Presents Beautiful Man February 24 – March 5

20 Feb

The Cultch presents Beautiful Man, from Pi Theatre, at the Historic Theatre, February 24 – March 5, 2022.

Governor General Award-winning playwright Erin Shields’ Beautiful Man examines traditional gender roles as they are portrayed in popular media, and turns them on their head. In this satirical play, three women chat about the Hollywood movies they have been watching. Only, in the world of Beautiful Man, men are the objects, while women are the subjects. From genre to genre—everything from cop shows to greek tragedies—the absurdity of traditional conventions are brought to the surface. Beautiful Man not only mocks the media’s representation of women, it exposes the underlying violence of objectification with a sharp wit.

Vancouver’s Pi Theatre has made a reputation producing plays that are “intellectually alive and emotionally charged.” In business since 1984, and under the leadership of Richard Wolfe since 2008, they have produced over 100 shows, and been awarded 34 Jessie Awards. “I chose to produce Beautiful Man here in ‘Hollywood North’,” says Wolfe, “because I feel Erin Shields’ relevant play takes an incisive look at how capitalism packages bodies, most often women’s bodies, and sells them as mere objects of entertainment.” Chosen specifically for the task of directing, Keltie Forsyth feels that rage is a powerful tool. “I have shared that rage many times in my life. As has every femme person I know,” she says “… In this piece, Shields finds a way to channel her rage and use it to target the ways the media feeds and upholds patriarchal structures.” Part of The Cultch’s fifth annual Femme Festival, Beautiful Man brings a powerful feminist perspective. Here’s what people are saying about Beautiful Man:

“Erin Shields’s Beautiful Man is a razor-sharp satire that hilariously skewers the tropes of female characters in film and TV.”
Samantha Edwards, Now Toronto

“Shields is a very talented, intelligent, and funny writer with a powerful message”
Ilana Lucas, Mooney on Theatre

“Beautiful Man is a deeply insightful criticism of gender roles enforced by society through the media we consume…”
Isabella Perrone, Broadway World review 

“[Shields is] still writing directly in dialogue with contemporary culture, getting inside it, wrestling with it, taking the royal piss and then throwing it down.”
The Star

This is an in person production with Covid-19 protocols in place. To purchase your tickets, visit The Cultch.

Photo Credit: Emily Cooper

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Find Out What’s At The Bottom Of The Ocean In Sea Sick Coming To The Cultch Feb. 9-19

5 Feb

The Cultch brings you Alanna Mitchell’s production Sea Sick to The Cultch February 9-19, 2022.

Based on Mitchell’s international bestselling book, Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis (2009), Sea Sick is a critically acclaimed production about climate change, and the state of the global ocean. This production has toured Canada and the world including two previous sold out runs in Vancouver (2015 & 2019). Mitchell’s non-fiction play uses science and delicate wit to tell us about her journey to the bottom of the ocean, the demons she discovered there, and her hope for the future.

An award-winning Canadian journalist and author (New York Times, CBC’s Quirks & Quarks, Globe and Mail, and more), Alanna Mitchell writes about science and social trends specializing in investigative reporting. Before writing Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis she set out on a three year quest to find out information from top scientists all around the world. Over the course of 13 journeys, from Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico, to Zanzibar, and even to the very depth of the ocean in a submersible, Mitchell sought the answers to her questions. Her book, and later her play—commissioned by The Theatre Centre, with directions from Franco Boni and Ravi Jain—would open many people’s eyes to the perilous state we find ourselves in if we do not pay attention to our oceans. What people are saying about Sea Sick:

“Almost like a glacier, Sea Sick steadily and robustly ploughs through the vast ecosystem  that is the current discourse on climate change, and indelibly transforms the  landscape which came before.”
Exeunt Magazine

“This isn’t a lecture about the catastrophic repercussions of burning fossil fuels, or a guilt trip about how we’re to blame for the state of the Great Barrier Reef. Instead, it’s an unravelling – an unveiling – of a crisis; a clear-eyed pathway toward comprehension and a knitting together of the important, largely siloed work of marine biologists across the world.”
The Guardian

“80 minutes flies by because of Mitchell’s inspired storytelling… Terrifying, laugh-out-loud funny, and ultimately hopeful, Mitchell’s Sea Sick is a must-see”
Vancouver Observer

This is an in person production with all Covid protocols in place and 50% seating capacity. To purchase tickets, visit The Cultch.

Photo Credit: Alejandro Santiago

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Songwriters In The Round December 3rd At The Cultch

22 Nov

Sarah Jane Scouten, Samantha Parton and Suzie Ungerleider are talented Canadian songwriters who are making their way to The Cultch Friday, December 3, 2021.  They are all uniquely talented Canadian songwriters whose combined achievements include multiple world tours, Juno nominations, Canadian Folk Music Awards and several studio recordings as solo artists and as members of acclaimed acts like the Be Good Tanyas and Oh Susanna. They will be bringing you a round style concert sharing their original music, stories and collaborations and invite you to join them for one evening, December 3rd.    This is an in person event. Tickets are $30. To purchase yours, visit The Cultch.

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East Van Panto Returns With Alice In Wonderland November 24 – January 2

12 Nov

We are excited to hear that the East Van Panto is back for its 9th year! This year it’s a trip through the looking glass with a terribly bored Alice who follows a White Rabbit onto the Skytrain, she falls down a hole only to find herself in a Grandview-Woodlands Wonderland. While tracking this elusive bunny, she encounters transit police officers Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb, a busking Cheshire Cat, gets some questionable advice from a cannabis connoisseur caterpillar, and has a heck of a time at a Commercial Drive leftist tea party. Once Alice discovers that the dastardly online mega-store owner, The Queen of Hearts, is using cookies (chocolate chip, that is!) to secretly steal East Van-ers data, she decides to stop her before all the local shops are priced out of existence!

The Cultch and Theatre Replacement are thrilled to welcome everyone back to live in person theatre at The York for all the fun. If you aren’t quite ready for attending in person, you also have the option of joining them online. To grab your tickets, visit The Cultch online. Online tickets start from $35 and in-person tickets from $69.

Photo Credit: Tim Matheson

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Farm To Table – A New Kind Of Dinner Theatre Coming To The Cultch

9 Oct

The Cultch invites you to join them for a truly unique interactive experience. Farm To Table comes to their stage and your kitchen November 17 to 21, 2021.  Think of it as a Zoom cooking lesson with some drama and a whole lot of laughs. The added bonus is that you can cook along with the show.

Farm to Table is a new kind of dinner theatre in which Nadine, a struggling restauranteur has broken up with her boyfriend, closed her restaurant and moved-in with her mother.  Things are going smashing as you can tell. In an attempt to get back on her feet, she’s pivoted her passion for making delicious food into creating an online cooking show.   This is where the fun begins.

The Cultch has partnered with FreshPrep which ticket gets you the Chef’s Kiss Package delivered to your door so you can cook along with the show. Of course, if you prefer, you can buy your own groceries to cook, or just watch the fun unfold via Zoom.  Prices start at $29 for a solo ticket show and up to $69 for the Chef’s Kiss Package which, of course, includes your ticket for Farm To Table.  To purchase your ticket, visit The Cultch.

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23rd Annual Improv Festival Returns To The Cultch October 12-17

3 Oct

The Cultch invites you to join them for the 23rd Annual Improv Festival being held October 12-17, 2021. You can choose from in-person or online programming during this year’s festival. The event features a line up of local talent including Mind Of A Snail, Hip.Bang, Fistful of Kicks, Brunch Comedy and Blood Feud. For those of you that wish to dabble in improv yourself, you are in luck. They will be hosting public improv workshops which will be open to all experience levels. To check out the full line up at The Cultch or Vancouver Improv Fest.

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1 Hour Photo Returns To The Cultch May 28-30, 2021

9 May


As part of an unprecedented virtual tour, Tetsuro Shigematsu’s award-winning play 1 Hour Photo returns to The Cultch in a cinematic adaption May 28 to May 30.

1 Hour Photo is the story of Mas Yamamoto, a man whose life was swept up by the major currents of the 20th century. From growing up in a fishing village on the banks of the Fraser River, to being confined at a Japanese Canadian internment camp during World War II, to helping build the Distant Early Warning Line in the Canadian Arctic during the height of the Cold War. “Mas’ life is a story of resilience, and the triumph of the human spirit,” says playwright, Tetsuro Shigematsu.

In 2017, 75 years after Japanese internment, vAct premiered 1 Hour Photo at The Cultch, to sold out crowds. Mas Yamamoto’s story, gleaned from hours of recorded interviews with Shigematsu over the kitchen table, illuminated a snapshot of Canadian history, which in many ways had gone unrecounted. It resonated with audiences, and went on to win a Jessie Richardson Award for Significant Artistic Achievement, while also being short-listed for a Governor General’s Award for Drama. 

Now, almost four years later, 1 Hour Photo is back at another juncture in history where the story is needed more than ever. “Back in 2017, 1 Hour Photo was a highly personal celebration of my friendship with Mas,” says Tetsuro Shigematsu. “But now, with hate crimes against Asians on the rise, this story has become a timely reminder that the best way to fight xenophobia is by feeling the kind of empathy only powerful storytelling can incite.” 

Under the strong leadership of Producing Artistic Director, Donna Yamamoto, vAct made the decision to take this important story on tour in the only way possible. “Our theatre/film hybrid came about when I was trying to figure out a way of filming our touring show, 1 Hour Photo, that had quality, and the feel of a live audience, by bringing them into a conversation with the playwright at the end of each show,” says Yamamoto. By bringing Vancouver based film production company Brightlight Pictures on board, vAct was able to produce a high quality, cinematic adaptation of 1 Hour Photo that could be toured across the country (and to Los Angeles) digitally*. The Cultch is one stop on this one-of-a-kind tour. For tickets, visit The Cultch.

“1 Hour Photo is a powerful piece of writing that insists that the complex history of Canada, including the wrongs imposed on groups of people, must be remembered.”
University of Toronto Quarterly

“Wrestling with questions of life and death, 1 Hour Photo is most heartfelt in its exploration of Yamamoto’s life. Ultimately, we are all a little better off for his willingness to share it through Shigematsu.”
Mark Robins, Vancouver Presents

“1 Hour Photo animates an extraordinary life with vivid props and projections…
the play is a buffet of sensory textures.”
Kathleen Oliver, The Georgia Straight

Image Credit: Terry Wong

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Fluevog Shoes Hosts A Virtual Spring Shopping Party April 29th

22 Apr

The Cultch invites you to their first virtual fundraising party with Fluevog Shoes. On April 29th from 6:00 – 8:00 pm you will be invited to purchase shoes during this Zoom event with the one and only John Fluevog in attendance. The bonus, is that 50% of the proceeds go directly to The Cultch and supporting the arts. An RSVP is required so to grab your spot, visit The Cultch.

As an added bonus, you will also have the opportunity to purchase and enjoy a bottle of wine from Liberty Wine Merchants who have curated a selection of discounted wines exclusively for this event. A list of wines will be provided with your RSVP confirmation.

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The Cultch Presents The Essentials April 16-18, 2021

25 Mar

The Cultch and Soft Cedar bring The Essentials to the stage for three online performances incorporating live and pre-recorded elements, for a unique concert experience, April 16-18, 2021.

For three days only, live from The Cultch’s York Theatre, renowned Vancouver musician, Khari Wendell McClelland is joined on stage virtually by local and international musicians, scholars, and poets in a multidisciplinary performance exploring the question: What is essential and needed in these times? With the help of award-winning poets as well as acclaimed scholars, Khari and the musicians joining him each night, probe the pressing questions facing us today as we encounter unprecedented societal, environmental, and public health challenges.

While the full allotment of poets and scholars will be a part of each performance, along with sound bath artist Faye Mallet, other musical guests will be different each night. Friday, April 16 sees Wendell McClelland joined by the gospel trio The Sojourners, Kwakiutl Hereditary Chief Henry Seaweed, the St. James Music Academy, as well as the folk duo, Twin Bandit. Saturday, April 17 brings another night of incredible performance with JUNO award-winning oud/guitarist, Gordon Grdina, as well as Soul/R&B heavy hitter, Tanika Charles. Sunday, April 18 will be Inuit style throat singing duo, PIQSIQ, and Vancouver’s favourite high energy dance band, Queer As Funk. 

If you wish to check out this unforgettable performance that aims to bring people together in this time of isolation, visit The Cultch for tickets.

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