Lots and lots of ‘buzz’ for Hot Brown Honey at Edinburgh Fringe!
There are so many amazing shows coming up in our 17/18 season, and it is really hard to choose our favourites, but here is one that we don’t want you to miss – we think it is going to be one of our most popular!
If you haven’t gotten your tickets for Hot Brown Honey yet, make sure you get them quickly; this show may be in January (9-20th), but the tickets are already going fast!
Right now Hot Brown Honey is tearing up the stage at Edinburgh Festival Fringe! We couldn’t help but share some of the amazing buzz these amazing performers are getting in the twitterverse. Follow these FierceMamas @hotbrownhoney for the latest ‘buzz’.
We interrupt you’re summer shenanigans to remind you that before you know it autumn will be here…okay, okay, pipe down with the booing! Though, it may be difficult to think about autumn just yet, we wish to remind you about all the exciting shows coming up in our 17/18 season!
Check out a few of the shows our staff just can’t wait for:
Why: I love poetry and I love circus! This show is based on the narrative poem, Goblin Market by 19th century poet Christina Rossetti. The visuals for this sexy -adult only- circus show are stunning, and I hear that it melds story and athleticism flawlessly. Incredible acrobatic feats combined with classic poetry…what is not to like?!
Name: Elysse Cheadle
Job Title: Head Front of House Manager and Volunteer Coordinator
Why: I have been obsessed with Toronto-based Buddies in Bad Times Theatre since I saw their production ‘Obaaberima’ here two years ago. I still get chills thinking about that performance – every element felt so alive and necessary in the telling of their story. Black Boys brings the return of the incomparable Tawiah M’carthy (of ‘Obaaberima’). We are so lucky to welcome back a performer of his calibre to our theatre! I expect ‘Black Boys’ to bring ferocity, humour, honesty, sex, and humanity. What more could you want?
Head Front of House Manager & Volunteer Coordinator, Elysse Cheadle
Black Boys runs Jan 16-20. Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, Tawiah Ben M’Carthy and Thomas Olajide by Tanja-Tiziana.
Dublin Oldschool runs Jan 30- Feb 3. Emmett Kirwan and Ian Lloyd Anderson. Photo Credit – Fiona Morgan
Why: It’s an Irish two hander with DJ tunes and re-connections. It seems gritty and real. I look forward to being invited into a world far away from my own but with (hopefully) some relatable elements.
Vancouver Pride – a great time to celebrate diversity in the arts!
It’s that time of year again! Time to dig our your favourite rainbow wear; time to embrace sparkles, sequins and feathers; time to celebrate diversity with friends and family – IT’S PRIDE!
Although there have been Pride events happening all month, Vancouver Pride Society has lots of great events planned for the next couple weeks leading up to the Pride Parade on August 6th. Check out their event page here.
The Cultch is proud to be an accepting and open place to work and play for people of all identities and orientations. Over the years we have been honoured to present many LGTBQ2+ performances that have been enjoyed by all.
Here is a look at a few of the shows in our 17/18 season that celebrate diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities:
Hot Brown Honey turns up the heat, delivering lashings of sass and a hot pinch of empowerment in the smash-hit that packs a punch of Hip Hop politics. The Honeys will make you laugh, cry, clap and shake what your mama gave you.This stellar posse of phenomenal women make noise as they defiantly smash stereotypes and remix the system.
“Subverting sexual politics is a recurring motif, from a literal “pussy power” routine to a spot of raunchy lesbian beat-boxing.” – The Sydney Morning Herald
A raw, intimate, and timely exploration of queer male Blackness. Three individuals seek a deeper understanding of themselves, of each other, and of how they encounter the world, subverting the ways in which gender, sexuality, and race are performed.
Two heterosexual men – one of whom likes to dress in women’s clothes – just happen to fall in love with one another. An exploration of the constructs we adopt to make our own realities and ways of imagining a life that’s not only endurable but quite possibly magical.
Hot Brown Honey runs January 9- 20. Photo credit Dylan Evans
Black Boys runs January 16-20. Photo Credit Jeremy-Mimnagh
CONTEST: Win a night at the theatre with a $200 prize pack from The Cultch!
Single tickets for our 17/18 season go on sale on August 8th! We just cannot wait for you to see all of the wonderful shows that we have in store for you this coming season!
Carmen Aguirre’s Broken Tailbone runs Feb 13 – 24.
The After After Party runs March 6- 17. Photo credit Sarah Mabberley
Little Dickens: The Daisy Theatre runs Dec 5 – 22.
Hot Brown Honey runs Jan 9 – 20. Photo credit Dylan Evans
Goblin Market runs Oct 3-14. Photo credit – Loork
The History of the World Based on Banalities runs Apr 25 – May 5.
The Explanation runs Apr 17-29
Pss Pss runs Feb 20- Mar 4. Photo credit Pipo Gialluisi
A little summer celebration is in order – LETS HAVE A CONTEST!
PRIZE
FOUR seats to any performance in our 17/18 season ($192 value) and four drink tickets ($36 Value)
CONTEST
One winner will receive FOUR seats to any performance in our 17/18 season ($192 value) and four drink tickets ($36 Value).
TO ENTER, for your chance to win a $200 prize pack from The Cultch, do at least one of the following – one entry per action!
WATCH our season trailer (below) and leave a COMMENT on this blog-post telling us what show you’re most excited to see this season (1 entry)
#CULTCHCONTEST: 1718 Single tickets go on sale Aug 8! Share the season trailer to win: https://youtu.be/OREBFrVwraE
Contest entries will be accepted from the time and date of publishing until 11:59 pm on August 8, 2017 (when Cultch single tickets go on sale). One winner will be chosen at random and contacted through the platform they used to enter.
It’s summer time (Yipee!) – a time for getting outside, meeting with friends and exploring the city with those you love.
Here at The Cultch we are all hard at work getting ready for the upcoming season (our first shows, Goblin Market and 1 Hour Photo start October 3rd). We are all enjoying the sunny summer we have been having, but summers are quieter at The Cultch and we miss you all!
Come hang out with us this Sunday, July 30th and share a few laughs and some delicious grub! We will be flipping pancakes from 10:30 am-1:30 pm. The Pancake Flip-out is a Cultch Community event – everyone is invited!
Mmmmm, piping hot pancakes slathered in ooey, gooey syrup!
This is an opportunity to meet some of the people in the community, those physically close and those close at heart. Good food, good friends, good community!
Congratulations to all 2017 Jessie Richardson Theatre Award winners!
On Monday night, June 26, the 35th Annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards took place at the Commodore Ballroom. To all the nominees and winners, we want to offer our sincerest congratulations. It is so wonderful to be a part of such a vibrant and diverse community of theatre professionals!
It has been noted by several, including The Georgia Straight, that this year The Jessies celebration highlighted growing inclusivity and a truer representation of the diversity of our community. Truly something to celebrate!
If we were to create a list to mention all The Cultch friends and family who were honored by the awards, the list would be too long and complex, however we want to offer a special congratulations to some Cultchers who were awarded Jessies:
Jamie King (award in hand!), Brian Cochrane and Heather Redfern at the 35th Annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards! Candid shot captured by Bahareh Shigematsu!
Jamie King took home the Ray Michal Prize for Most Promising New Director.
Rohit Chokhani won the award for Significant Artistic Achievement – Large Theatre for Outstanding Work in Expanding the Diversification of Vancouver Theatre through Excellence in Festival Programming for his work with Diwali Fest.
Leslie Dos Remedios was part of the Presentation House production of Baking Time, which took home the award for Significant Artistic Achievement – Theatre for Young Audiences for it’s Outstanding Audience Engagement.
Rohit Chokhani accepts his Jessie from Tetsuro and Bahareh Shigematsu
Cultch Sales Associate, Leslie Dos Remedios
In addition, several shows from our 2016/2017 season had nominees in various categories: The Fighting Season, am a, and Elbow Room Cafe: The Musical. We are thrilled to be able to congratulate Kyle Jespersen for winning Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role– Small Theatre for his role in The Fighting Season.
Kyle Jespersen in The Fighting Season. Photo by Javier R. Sotres
Oh…and pssst, Quelemia Sparrow won the Sydney Risk Prize for Outstanding Original Script by an Emerging Playwright for her new play O’wet/Lost Lagoon, which is part of our upcoming 2017/2018 season! You don’t want to miss it when it plays in the Historic Theatre (May 8 -12).
What an amazing year it has been! The 16/17 Season was one of The Cultch’s most successful thanks to the continued patronage of all of our amazing supporters!
With 21 theatrical shows in our three venues, as well as countless amazing rental and festival shows; 11 Gallery shows; plus three nights of great music including, The Sicilian Project, DakhaBrakha, and the inaugural East Side Live, 16/17 was a great season for us, and we are so glad that you joined us for it!
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We had many grand adventures together; here is a look back at a few of the many highlights:
We joined together to watch a version of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night completely in Hindi (Piya Behrupiya).
Photo by Company Theatre
We saw paper fights break out between audience members and bendy contortionist performers (The Pianist)…maybe we threw a few pieces ourselves…
‘The Pianist.’ Photo by Roaming the Planet
We saw the dawn (dusk?) of a new era in US politics ushered in as we sat in the dark Historic Theatre and did a little voting of our own (Fight Night).
Cast of Fight Night
Together we raised money for Cultch Connects, bringing over 1,200 people into the theatre who might not be able to attend otherwise; including families who are struggling to make ends meet, caring for a child with a serious illness, or who are new to Canada.
Cultch Connects brought over 1,200 people to the theatre with your help!
We joined together with our friends and families to make the fourth installment of East Van’s favourite holiday tradition the biggest selling show in The Cultch’s history! (East Van Panto: Little Red Riding Hood) Go Panto Go!
YAY Panto! Photo by Emily Cooper
We celebrated the powerful work of creative women for an entire month during Femme February!
Femme February included Mouthpiece, NeoIndigenA, am a, and the book launch of Girl Positive
We chuckled, chortled, and cackled together as we paid tribute to the 30+ year legacy of a local restaurant with a big heart, while singing along to catchy hits like ‘Testosterone’ and ‘Let a Girl Eat’ (Elbow Room Cafe: The Musical).
Elbow Room Cafe: The Musical cast members sing ‘Testosterone’. Photo by Tina Krueger Kulic
We spent time with old and new friends as we gathered to watch some of The Cultch’s favourite performers like: Esme Massengill, Mrs. Edna Rural and everyone’s favourite flightless fairy -Schnitzel (The Daisy Theatre).
No one is immune to the cuteness of Schnitzel! Photo by Alejandro Santiago
We felt the spray of ice on our faces as we gathered on the ice of Britannia Ice Rink to see Vertical Influences.
Audience members sit on the ice during Vertical Influences. Photo by Roaming the Planet
We mourned together as we watched heartbreaking and poignant Children of God, and then we sat together in the theatre to discuss how to respond to the dark legacy of residential schools.
Children of God cast members lead a discussion after the opening night performance. Photo by Roaming the Planet
And, after so many shows and fabulous events – we joined together to share meaningful conversation over many a glass of wine!
Sharing a drink with friends in the York Theatre. Photo by Roaming the Planet
We would love to hear some of your favourite memories of the 16/17 season; what are your favourite moments?
Don’t forget to buy your subscription for our 17/18 Season soon. Shows are already filling up, get the best seating while you can! Click here for the full lineup.
Thank you for choosing to make The Cultch and the arts a part of your life!
Upintheair Theatre is back at The Cultch for the fifth annual rEvolver Theatre Festival. rEvolver runs from May 24th – June 4th, and presents new work by Vancouver and Canada’s most exciting up and coming performers and theatre creators.
We are so pleased that the fabulous Elysse Cheadle, our very own Head Front of House Manager & Volunteer Coordinator, was able to give us a little behind the scene insight into the exciting fifth chapter of this great Vancouver theatre festival.
Elysse Cheadle. Photo by Elliot Vaughan
Elysse, tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a theatre-maker, performer, and writer living in Vancouver. I am interested in theatre that is curious and playful, that forces you to consider your own spectatorship, and that carefully uses shape, space, movement, texture, and sound as much as it does text and story.
I also happen to work at The Cultch as the Head Front of House Manager and Volunteer Coordinator and was lucky enough to be this year’s guest curator at The rEvolver Theatre Festival.
How did you come to be guest curator for the rEvolver Festival?
I have been involved in The rEvolver Theatre Festival in the past as a performer in both the Reading Series (The Peaceful Sea – Theatre Elsewhere) and Main Stage Series (The Peaceful Sea – Theatre Elsewhere), and have had my work presented in the festival (Mr.Snortoose and the Machine-Children’s Machine). On all occasions, my festival experience with rEvovler was unique; Dave and Dan really put a lot of effort into selecting artists with interesting perspectives, and then providing the opportunity for them to build connections and community with one another. Being given the encouragement to support and connect with the other artists in the festival has led to long lasting, meaningful artistic relationships. The value of these relationships is as useful to a young artist as the opportunity of having work presented. I think Dave and Dan are very smart that way, and I wanted an opportunity to work with them. Therefore, last Spring when they announced that they were looking for somebody to help curate and produce the festival, I jumped at the opportunity and applied.
What was the experience of programming shows like?
Difficult! I did not anticipate the challenge of trying to examine each selection so holistically; a show can be wonderful, but simply not fit within the larger scope of the festival. For example, we had a lot of applications for one-person shows. Many of them seemed powerful and we really wanted to give them a chance to be presented, but for the sake of diverse programming we could not select all one-person shows. We had several different festivals mapped out with various combinations of pieces. Each of these potential festivals had their strengths and weaknesses. In the end, you have to trust your gut with which to choose – and then, of course, you cross your fingers that the artists accept your offer when you send it to them!
Are there any shows or events you are particularly excited about in this year’s festival? Why?
Oh boy – I think we have a great line-up this year! If I had to pick a few, I would say I am really excited to see The Princess Show (gender bending! bass guitar! lip sync!), NeOn (I missed it at the Fringe this year and continually was told how wonderful it is!), and Soliloquy in English (the concept is so perfectly simple!).
The Princess Show, starring Princess Edward & Abel T. Suckizone
Also, I absolutely love seeing work that is still in process. I think some of the most impactful artistic experiences I have had have happened when being invited in to observe something that is not “done” yet. Artists seem to give themselves more permission to take risks and to try out totally new territory in the earlier stages of creation. Pieces can still feel raw and challenging when they are just finding their shape. Therefore, I am really looking forward to going to Resounding Scream Theatre’s Sunday afternoon event Plunge where we will be invited to watch and discuss three separate pieces that are still in the process of being constructed.
What’s next for you?
I am currently working on expanding a new piece called Fuchsia Futures which is a surrealist domestic drama about a family in the wake of a great loss. It is loosely based on the life of infamous population geneticist George F Price, who is known for boiling down altruistic behavior into a neat little probabilistic equation, before losing his mind in an effort to disprove his own findings. In ‘Fuchsia Futures,’ we follow the family after George’s suicide. There is a lot of humor, and existentialism, and music played on the banjo.
Also, I am going to be performing in a festival in Taiwan in July in a piece called Between Two Rocks by Robert Leveroos.
Elysse in Between Two Rocks. Photo by Lukas Engelhardt
Check out the great line-up of shows happening this year!
Here are four ways you can enjoy this years reVolver Theatre Festival:
With the 6-show flex pass, the passholder can see up to six individual shows, take five friends to one show, or any combination in between!
If you can’t see 6 shows, you can still save by purchasing a 3-show pass instead!
RAVE REVIEWS: Children of God is the show to see this year!
The cast of Children of God | Photo credit: Emily Cooper | Production design by Marshall McMahen and lighting design by Jeff Harrison
If you haven’t yet seen Urban Ink’sChildren of God, make sure you book your tickets right away. Reviews are pouring in, and everyone agrees; this is an important work that is not to be missed!
REVIEWS:
“If you see one work of theatre this year, make it this one” – Marsha Lederman, The Globe and Mail
“A beautiful and very powerful moment of triumphant solidarity between the stage and audience…the kind of reconciliation this country desperately needs but hasn’t yet earned”- Jerry Wasserman, The Vancouver Sun
“This is a brave work, and a starting point for important conversations …See it.” – Kathleen Oliver, The Georgia Straight
“Not a dry eye in the house, as far as I could see” – Lincoln Kaye, Vancouver Observer
“Children of God will stand as a catharsis for some, an introduction for others, yet a point of connection for us all” – Chelsey Stuyt, Vancouver Presents
“Julia and Tommy’s story will break your heart. Then sort of mend it.” – Jo Ledingham
“Children of God is necessary…Go see it.” – Colin Thomas, colinthomas.ca
“Children of God is a story of redemption…Payette’s play should certainly be seen by anyone, religious or secular, who has an impassioned sense of injustice.” – John Jane, Review Vancouver
“Children of God is a powerful work of living history and it should be seen by audiences across Canada.” – Peter Dickinson, Performance, Place, and Politics
“I don’t remember the last time I saw a more incredible, moving, beautiful or powerful theatrical production” – Emme Rogers, Emmerogers.ca
“[Children of God] lifts us beyond despair with a surprise ending that inspires a communal response. If that sounds vague, it’s meant to be. See it for yourself.” – Paul Durras, Vancouver Plays
“If you call yourself a Canadian then you have a duty to see this dark but illuminating work”- Alex Waterhouse-Hayward
“It was a healing, cathartic, and powerful moment that I won’t soon forget.” – Tessa Perkins Deneault, tessaperkins.ca
“It is obvious to me that this show was created and presented in a spirit of fierce compassion and hope, as is evidenced in the writing, the direction, and the provision of emotional support workers and a talkback. As such, this show is a salve. This is the kind of healing that we need and must decidedly work to carry forth.” – Sarah Thompson, Sad Mag
Children of God runs at the York Theatre, May 17-Jun 3. Book tickets online or by phone by calling The Cultch Box Office at 604.251.1363.
May 19th is a very special night for The Cultch. It is our immense honor and privilege to present Children of God in collaboration with Urban Ink Productions, National Arts Centre English Theatre, and Raven Theatre! After two amazingly received preview presentations (May 17-18) it is finally time to present this timely and urgent musical to the world.
The cast of Children of God | Photo credit: Emily Cooper
In this powerful musical, the children of an Oji-Cree family, Tommy and Julia are sent to a residential school in Northern Ontario. Children of God is a story of redemption: for their mother Rita, who was never let past the school’s gate, and her kids, who never knew she came.
Brother and sister, Tommy (Herbie Barnes) and Julia (Cheyenne Scott) in Children of God. Photo by Emily Cooper
It may seem like dark subject matter for a musical, but as Writer/Director Corey Payette says in The Georgia Straight, “How I understand musicals to work best is they express emotions that are beyond words, so when characters can no longer speak, they sing. This felt like a perfect fit.” In fact, when you hear Corey speak about it, the more and more a musical seems like the clear choice to start a conversation about residential schools. “What I’ve been taught from the elders I’ve worked with” Corey says in an interview with The Vancouver Sun, “is that you cannot tell a story without that story having a song. You cannot sing a song without that song having a dance. And you cannot dance without that dance telling a story. So for me, the musical form really lends itself to indigenous performance.”
Watch this video with Corey Payette as he describes the story of Children of God.
Residential schools are a dark part of Canadian history. According to Reconciliation Canada, over the course of roughly 130 years, over 150, 000 children were forcefully removed from their family homes and taken to residential schools to be re-educated and converted. Today, it is estimated that there are over 80,000 residential school survivors living in Canada. This isn’t ancient history, this is our current reality; the last residential school didn’t close it’s doors until 1996.
“Children of God demonstrates the intergeneration impact of a cultural genocide,” says Payette. “It shows how this chapter in Canadian history changed the course of lives. We hope that it will help people understand what happened. We hope that people will enter the theatre one way and leave it changed” states Corey in an interview with BeatRoute Magazine. As Colin Thomas says in his blog, Fresh Sheet,“As Canadians, all of us are connected in some way to the legacy of residential schools. Corey Payette’s new musical, Children of God, which addresses that legacy… may be one of the most important openings we’ve seen in years.”
Cast of Children of God. Photo by Emily Cooper
Children of God may have dark and triggering subject matter, but it offers moments of hope, and it is a true celebration of the strength of our indigenous peoples.“When I spent the years meeting with survivors and their families talking about the story I wanted to tell, the thing that I wasn’t prepared for and that I didn’t fully understand was the strength it took for survivors toforgive” says Corey in a Q&A with Artslandia. “I felt those conversations changed the direction of the show to be about celebrating the strength of Indigenous peoples to overcome this tragic part of our history, and this strength is not widely reported in the media; it’s powerful and a kind of resilience that is overwhelming to imagine.”
The response we have been getting at our previews has been overwhelming. This is a powerful piece of theatre. Here is what one audience member had to say: “Last night, Brent and I went to Children of God. I was astounded by the message, the play, the actors, the lyrics, the music and the incredible way it was all combined so completely. Corey Payette and the team did an amazing job. It was so thought provoking, disturbing, shocking, and beautiful , and I left the theatre full of emotion, guilt, strength, and sadness from the resonating messages. We need to get PM Trudeau in to see it on Friday when he is in Vancouver!”
Watch this great video with Corey Payette (Meet the Creator) describing the journey of creating Children of God.
If you want to know more about Children of God you can listen to Corey Payette and Kim Harvey on Roundhouse Radio speaking with Kirk LaPointe. And dont miss this great interview with Corey Payette on The Early Edition with Rick Cluff (interview starts at 2:39:57).
Children of God runs at the York Theatre, May 17-Jun 3. Book tickets online or by phone by calling The Cultch Box Office at 604.251.1363.
Contains swearing, sexual content, and haze.
Due to the triggering content of the performance, Emotional Support Workers will be available to provide support to audience members who may require it.
